Be Careful with 'FREE' iPad Offers!

This is a story about me winning a "FREE" iPad. As you can see, it's not quite that simple. Be careful with Deal Delivery Gurus or anyone else who randomly tells you that you've won a free iPad.

[Tonithemeloni]

Free iPads? All I gotta do is enter my phone, address, social security, email, race, gender, country of origin… what could go wrong?!

[TimEssDub]

I remember the “Free iPod” ads back in the 2000s where you not only had to support and refer people to sites but you’d also get a lot of ad/spyware in the process.

[JBKiser]

Dude I work for a credit card company and talk about fraud all day. I could tell you some stories. We call these call centers all the time. They never say what company they work for. It's always "press 9 to speak to customer service" and then they answer and just say "thank you for calling customer support". They are so secretive.

[NBPhotography]

This was one of the best commercials I've ever seen. Seamlessly plugging Guardia the entire video while still providing great content at the same time. Advertisers take note, Ben is a master!

[tonys.]

Congratulations on 1 million Ben!!
Much love and respect!!

[RedRubix]

I love how it escalated into a tech review XD

[Sirinxbella]

Really funny how much legal trouble they could actually get in if this was an actual sweepstakes.

[shirleyjcastiglia]

Thank you for your research . I read the small print and discovered I was actually entered into a subscription where I would be charged about $60 each month. This also happens with TV free gifts from Walmart. also from Spectrum for being a customer. Everyone shops at Walmart. I am not a customer of Spectrum. When I type STOP, they don’t. The old adage, if it looks to good to be true, it isn’t. Thanks again Pleasant Green. Blessings

[pantallahueso]

Some things that should have been pointed out:

If you’re told that you won something, but you’re told you need to pay them, whether it’s for taxes or shipping… it’s a scam! No legitimate sweepstake will require you to pay anything to claim your winnings because they’re not allowed to. Yes, there are taxes — but you will pay those to the IRS during tax season.

For-Profit companies (like GroupMe) are not allowed to run raffles, too. Even if they told you in the first place that you’re paying for an entry, they’d still be breaking the law.

These are things that need to be pointed out so that those who don’t know can learn about these massive red flags.

[BenjaminRegen]

Really impressed at how far you tracked this and how much research you did, Ben. Informative and entertaining. I present to you my single humble congratulation! 🤣

[AnonAtry]

I used to work for a credit card fraud team in the UK and this was one of the most common scams we saw during COVID. I would speak to atleast 3-4 people a day that had several charges around £50 and they all thought they were getting an iPad with just paying a delivery charge.

[amoc]

I’m glad you did a video on this! I have been an avid fan, and promoter of the awesome scam-baiters on YouTube, for several years, and I still got to duped by this scam about a year ago, which was aggravating.
Like you said, the layout was very clever, and intentionally made to deceive you into recurring payments.
The difference was I was charged $20, and then $70. I was never able to get through to a customer service number, either.
And when I recorded the scam through my credit card company, they only refunded me the $20, so I still lost $70.
Thank you for all you do to bring awareness to these kinds of scams, congratulations on 1 million!

[Scottieb]

The patience this man has is incredible 😂

[slimrosco]

That website or app you use to generate a card number and set a dollar limit is genius.

[evanmbxx]

I feel like they only sent them in the end because otherwise they were concerned that you would continue to pursue them and cause them potential legal troubles. By giving you that product; they know most of the time you would stop bothering them.

[KSI_Revelations]

I love how you used the 24 countdown clock sound effect at 7:44 ! My favorite show !

[Savio-Sempra]

Most anti scammer channels are about taking down the scammer or callcenter. But you sir, you really explain the details of the scam, even looking up the product, receiving it and comparing it. I like this!

[GERdeathstar]

I love it when you (and other scam baiters) actually follow through with these obvious scams, very interesting to see what happens

I love the face of disappointment in Ben’s face while speaking with the woman, like if he was actually frustrated because he was expecting a free ipad 😂

[lynnef]

Wow, congratulations on hitting over one million subscribers, Ben! 🎉🎊👏
This video is extremely helpful for people like myself, who rarely get online these days, aside from watching YouTube videos from my phone. 😅
Very appreciate everything you do! 👍