No one likes to scammed, especially when it comes to real estate. The Federal Trade Commission is supposed to make sure that people are getting the fair treatment they deserve. Recently, the Commission discovered some fishy business in Pittsburgh, where an infomercial sent over one million people to the bank to get their money and invest in real estate details over the internet. Unfortunately, the infomercial's claims that people could "get rich quick" with these investments was terribly flawed. The worst part is, the Federal Trade Commission can't guarantee that these victims will even get their money back.

The FTC works hard to protect Americans from financial scams like this one, and they are seeking $450 million to return money to consumers who were caught up in the trick. The marketers who were running these crafty commercials have discontinued the advertisements since the lawsuit went underway. According to a local Pittsburgh news station, the tricky advertisements were for companies called "Jon Beck's Free & Clear Real Estate System", " Jeff Paul's Shortcuts to Internet Millions" and
John Alexander's Real Estate Riches in 14 Days." Apparently, the commercials claimed that by purchasing a $40.00 instruction kit customers could make millions. Almost every customer has lost money since purchasing the kit.

For example, "John Beck's Free & Clear Real Estate System" claimed that consumers could make money easy without much financial investment. The program explained that customers could purchase homes at tax sales for pennies on the dollar, and would end up with a massive profit. Not only were these claims untrue, but devious. The program that customers signed up for enrolled them into a sort of real estate club that costs $40.00 a month. They were being charged without consent, and the only people making money were John Beck's team of scammers.

While the investigations were going on, the court determined that marketers were selling personal coaching systems to customers for up to almost $15,000. The consumers believed that they would quickly earn back the heavy cost of the program, and that by taking this digital course they would be better equipped to make millions. Sadly no one was able to make back their money from the expensive program. The FTC hopes that they will be able to supply the jilted consumers with the money that they lost, but cannot guarantee anything at this moment. Normally the criminals cannot come up with the money needed to repay their victims, and there is no way to reimburse the cheated individuals.

There are plenty of other housing scams that take place over the internet. Whenever you see an advertisement or receive an e-mail regarding a get-rich-quick e-mail investment, you should carefully think through the implications of consenting to the proposition. Many times these e-mails and commercials are only meant to scam consumers out of their money. Sometimes e-mails will circulate where a foreign individual will ask for money to purchase a home, and promise to repay you back promptly. Also, there are times that home-selling websites, or other selling sites like Craig's List, will advertise homes for "too-good-to-be-true" prices.

If you have encountered a home on the internet, but the seller wants you to send a large down payment before seeing the home, then you should always steer clear. Sometimes these homes do not even exist, and are a fabrication created by a scammer to get extra cash. While the FTC works very hard to catch these illegal scammers, they often find a way to avoid the government and continue their devious acts. Make sure to contact the authorities if you discover a scammer trying to persuade others into real estate investments.