The next time you think about ordering a "free sample" from a Web site, think again.
Some sites offering their products for free are legitimate, but many of them are outright cons.
Elayne Sawaya was intrigued by an online ad offering a free trial of the anti-aging pill, Resveratrol, and all the ad said to pay was shipping and handling.
The sample came shortly after another bottle - and then her credit card bill came, with two charges for more than $80.
Elayne said she went ballistic.
M. Chanel Pinkett, lured by the promise of weight loss, ordered a free sample of Acai, but the company billed her credit card for $200.
"No matter what time I called, it said the same recording," Pinkett said. "I was never able to get through."
Free sample ads have invaded the Internet.
What you may not see buried in the fine print is that you're signing up for continuous shipments of the product and that none of the news organizations listed prominently on the sites endorse the merchandise.
Also, the Web sites may offer useless tools to lure you in.
On a site for AcaiSlim, we claimed to be seven feet tall, weigh 50 pounds, and trying to drop to 30, and it "determined" that we were the perfect candidate for the product.
ABC15 tried contacting several of the companies to no avail.
Federal and state law enforcement agencies have gone after similar Web sites, and still thousands of consumers continue to file complaints.
"It's really become a game of Whack-a-Mole trying to keep these Web sites down," Alison Southwick with the Better Business Bureau said. "You'll have one taken down and then another one will be up the next week or in a couple of days."
Online free-offer scams can be posted on otherwise legitimate sites without the host's knowledge or approval, which is just one more reason to be leery.
Also beware free offers which ask for a credit card number -- if it truly is free, they won't need it.
