Membership? - **WARNING ** BEWARE** - Download p2p Clients ONLY Thru Official Sites

[NEON69]

I just found out I was scamed and I'm not happy. I paid something like $25.00 for a liftime membership and it s worh squat! Great! the site was themusicmembersarea.com and they have a bunch of downloads like limewire, 360 sharepro, and winmx, just to name a few. Now I just bought a new computer with vista on it and I can not get either one to work and wondered if maybe that had something to do with it?

[ddhort]

There's an Associated Press story today(8 ar '04 where the Federal Trade Commission is being urged to probe music sites that we have been discussing in this thread by a group called the Center for Democracy and Technology. Thanks,however,for posting a tidy list of these rogue sites.

[Shelelagh]

I too am ashamed to admit that I fell prey to the site mp3downloadhq site. I have learned a valuable lesson, and can only hope that one day these people will be stopped!

My question is this: I paid for my 'wonderful' membership via PayPal on my credit card. I am concerned about whether or not this scam of a company will be able to charge my account once again afterwards. I assume that since I have gone through PayPal and used a credit card, I am safe - but is there any way to be sure?

I do not consider myself to be green, but I can tell you that I am sickened to think that I have fallen prey to this garbage. I will be extremely careful in the future.....

[Lord of the Rings]

If it's too late to cancel the transaction thru your bank/credit card company, then contact them anyway & inform them this is a scam site & that you want to prevent any future possible chance of them re-charging you. Some scam sites do charge monthly or yearly. Most banks/credit co.'s do have some type of special dept. dealing with these matters. So if you've reported them there will be a record & hopefully they can do as you request. Another point would be to go back to the original site & see if there is a cancel membership option. Generally this would be found under support or membership pages. It will most likely be in very fine print.

[elaporte]

I was also scammed for 38.95. I was very confused when I downloaded the software and saw the screens abou lime wire pro ... thought if they are trying to get me to upgrade why did i pay 38.95.

The site was http://www.limewire-downloading.com/...&gtkw=limewire

[elaporte]

it has only been about an hour since I was scammed and I am now inundated with junk mail ...

[Shelelagh]

Here's another thing I would like to know - and maybe this has already been asked and answered....HOW is it that these companies (mp3downloadhq, etc etc etc and so on forever and ever) are legally operating!?!? It seems to me, that what they are advertising is CLEARLY not what they are selling! Isn't that fraud? Isn't that illegal? Now, I'm sure that they have their loophole, but I would really like to know what it is.

One thing I can say is that from reading this forum, I have learned a great deal, and definitely know what to avoid in the future - I thank you all for that.

[stief]

Originally posted by Shelelagh
Here's another thing I would like to know - and maybe this has already been asked and answered....HOW is it that these companies (mp3downloadhq, etc etc etc and so on forever and ever) are legally operating!?!? It seems to me, that what they are advertising is CLEARLY not what they are selling! Isn't that fraud? Isn't that illegal? Now, I'm sure that they have their loophole, but I would really like to know what it is.

Well, if they do it legally is uncertain--see http://p2pnet.net/story/4150 for more. However, this snip probably shows WHY it's so quick, easy and profitable. By the time the "laws" can get going, the sites have moved, changed their names, or just gone laughing all the way to their tax shelters

One individual who ran a website similar to the two identified in this complaint reported that she received 20 to 30 subscriptions a day over a 3 month period

I guess $100,000 is just too much to resist, and is probably easier with less risk than robbing a bank.

[brae54]

Well I too fell for the membership scam at http://www.limewire-downloading.net/ I signed up for the .99 per month, but when I got the email showing what I was charged it was 34.95, and the itemization didn't quite make sense. I'm going to check into this with my credit card company etc. I guess that's what I get for being in a rush, as I was the day I fell for this. Just when you think you're too smart to be scammed you get suckered... oh well, live and learn.

I won't even read the entire contents of this lengthy thread, but I ask you:

Why would it be necessary to purchase software that is promoting illegal file distributing? Nobody should have to pay for P2P software...

What about thedownloadplace.com?
I accidentally paid twice, so have been scammed twice...do I have any chance of getting my money back?

[Lord of the Rings]

ASAP go to your bank/credit company & explain it was a scam. You need your money back.

Did you receive any software? Is it Limewire? What did you get?

yea mint

Well, I'll join in and admit that we were also duped by imusicsearch.com. We joined the lifetime membership...I know, I know, it was stupid...for about 40 bucks. We thought since the whole stink with Napster that you could only get filesharing software if you paid for it. My brother in law, who the biggest "soulseek" fan you'd want to meet, kept telling me that I shouldn't have to pay for anything. I should have listened to him. When I asked for a refund, they told me the 30 day refund time has passed and I'm out of luck. Anyway....here's the email transaction between me and the oh so bright one at imusicsearch.com

Unfortunately, I didn't realize that your service was a scam until today
when I actually became educated on the hundreds of these scams running on
the net that take unsuspecting people's money for a service that you don't
even offer...or for a better choice of words, for a service isn't yours. I
can go to limewire.com and download it for free..completely without your
service. It certainly shouldn't have cost me $43.15. So what exactly is this
"lifetime" membership giving me? Filesharing software that's free to
download if only you know to visit their website? But that's ok. I will be
reporting this and passing this information on to to others. I will also be
filing a claim with paypal about your service. Hopefully they will be able
to assist in the refund of my $43.15. If you would like to read more
information on your scam and hundreds like yours just visit
www.gnutellaforums.com.

Their reply:
We don't sell the software you use. We only provide tech support for it.
GnutellaForums is a sight maintained and operated by LimeWire.com and is
biased against all others. Our service is not a scam and is a valuable
service to many of our customers. For some it is unnecessary which is why
we offer a 30 day refund policy. Try getting that from any of the other
sites.


Sincerely,

Marshall
iMusicSearch.com
info@imusicsearch.com

What more can I say?? But I really appreciate you guys informing people that these guys are cons. I'll chalk it up to experience but maybe posts like this will help other uninformed people make the right decision.

[MissBliss]

Well it seems i've been done to by iMusicSearch.com!!
Paid like $80 Aus!! What a loser!!
I am sooo comforted to know im not the only one!!
Im hoping they refund me now, scince luckily i found out in 2 days!!
Dont know if the bank can stop the transfer, I'll phone them tom.
This is terrible!!