Google has filed a lawsuit against a company based in Salt Lake City, Utah for using the name of the search engine giant to defraud customers.
The lawsuit filed in Utah District Court names Pacific WebWorks along with 50 other defendants referred to only as “Does 1 through 50.”
Google claimed that Pacific WebWorks ran deceptive ads using the Google brand. The ads include “Use Google to Make 1000s of Dollars!” or “Easy Cash with Google: You Could be Making up to $978 a Day Working from Home!”
Pacific WebWorks charged $1.97 to $2.95 as access fee for these kits, but those who have fallen prey to this scam didn’t get anything from the company except high recurring charges on their credit cards and virus-laden DVDs, Google said.
Pacific WebWorks, a software development firm, is also facing a class-action suit in Illinois state court. Google decided to take its own legal action against the company because the class suit is limited only to Illinois and does not seek injunction to stop Pacific WebWorks from continuing to use the Google brand in its advertising.
Google has been swamped by complaints from defrauded consumers who thought they were ripped off by the search engine giant. The victims demanded refunds and cancellation of the recurring charges.
Google assured them that it is not affiliated with the work-from-home scammers and advised the victims to lodge their complaints with the Federal Trade Commission. While the FTC subsequently obtained an injunction against some websites that use a similar scam, however, those exploiting the Google name were able to continue their operations.
Google is asking the court to ban Pacific WebWorks and other companies from use of its name in any way. It also seeks control over Google-related domain names such as www.googlefortunemembers.com and www.googlemoneyprofits.com.
Moreover, Google will remove the URLs of these scammers from its index as well as permanently deactivate the AdWords accounts of websites that defraud consumers.
Nevertheless, the Google camp said it is still possible for similar schemes to be visible on the Internet if they use a different network or run the ads under a different name.
How do you avoid getting ripped off by bogus websites promising easy cash? Google said the following names are just some of the red flags to watch out for: Google Cash, Google Fortune, Google Biz Kit, The Home Business Kit for Google, Google Works, and other variations.
Google published a blog in July that gives tips on how to spot money scams. Todayshow.com contributor Laura Coffey also gave an insight into how these scams work as well as advice on how consumers can snag legitimate home-based ventures.
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