Scamster - The World According to Paybox

You know, usually I am the last person to be out scam hunting as it were, but because of Facebook and a number of people promoting it on there I felt it became my due diligence to look into a program that kept popping up on my newsfeed, a program called Paybox (www.paybox.me). 

The early descriptions were pretty mind blowing, especially for someone like me, who likes free things on the web.  Between doing surveys for mysurvey.com, tinkering with Swagbucks for Amazon gift cards, playing Scratchix and Booty Slots on Facebook and my time spent on things like Coke Rewards, it is safe to say that I invest a decent amount of time in programs that have either paid out I have seen decent results from friends that would lead me to believe I could earn something.  Heck, just this week I got DVDs from Coke and a new mini camcorder from Marlboro, so I am not close mined on the possibility of earning things on the web.

That being said, along comes Paybox.me, with the suggestion that they want to be the next online payment software, and to do so they are starting to recruit members.  When you sign up as an early bird user, your Paybox account is instantly credited with $50, plus you get an additional $20 a day for logging in daily and participating in surveys and what not pending the official launch of the service and another $5 for every person that you refer to Paybox.  And all you have to do initially is give them your email address.  That is quite a hefty chunk of change for launching an online payment processor, so much so that to me it seemed to good to be true.  So I did a little digging, and then some more digging and finally some more digging.  Needless to say, what I found wasn't all that promising, quite the opposite in fact.

First there was the terms of service, offered up on Paybox's own website.  The number of problems I have with it are too many to count, so let's start with just a simple walk through and see some of what set of the alarm bells in my brain.

"All account balances are held in PayBox currency. PayBox maintains a currency that is autonomous and independent of all nations and governments. The PayBox currency is denominated in dollars and cents (similar to the currency of the United States and over 20 other countries). The PayBox currency is currently in a closed system, and cannot be exchanged or spent. Before long we plan to open our currency to be spent and exchanged just as you can with any other currency. Our plans include person-to-person transactions (via the Internet and over cell phone text messages), integration with merchants and shopping cart systems, debit card transactions (through an issued debit card linked to your account), and more. The value of our currency is estimated to be close to that of the U.S. dollar. As is the case with any currency, once the PayBox currency becomes openly exchangeable, its value as weighted against other world currencies can and will fluctuate due to forces beyond our control."

And here we have our first problem, all of that money they are promising to sign up?  It's not real money, it is Paybox money.  Not that they come out and say that to the people signing up, rather you have to go into the TOS to find out you are in fact earning what very well may amount to a worthless currency.  Meanwhile, they have your email address and a list of other suckers like yourself looking for a quick cash fix that they can package and send out to other outfits looking to do more of the same. 

"We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason at any time."

Well isn't that a kick in the teeth.  At any point they can refuse to allow you access to your account.  Even if the site does eventually start trading in real cash, which I believe to be a dubious proposition at best but more on that later, they can deny you access to it for no reason whatsoever. 

"Your use of the Service is at your sole risk. The service is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis."

Well I can't think of a safer place to have my cash than a website that claims my using it is at my sole risk.

"PayBox.me does not warrant that (i) the service will meet your specific requirements, (ii) the service will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free, (iii) the results that may be obtained from the use of the service will be accurate or reliable, (iv) the quality of any products, services, information, or other material purchased or obtained by you through the service will meet your expectations, and (v) any errors in the Service will be corrected."

I like to call this the "I didn't do it" clause of the TOS, because what we have here is Paybox clearly stating that they are not responsible for anything, including the security of the accounts that they are holding.  Nor is there any form of buyer or seller protection here.  For as much as Paybox wants to claim they will be the next Paypal, this statement right here is about as far as you can get from Paypal. 

"You expressly understand and agree that PayBox.me shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or exemplary damages, including but not limited to, damages for loss of profits, goodwill, use, data or other intangible losses (even if PayBox.me has been advised of the possibility of such damages), resulting from: (i) the use or the inability to use the service; (ii) the cost of procurement of substitute goods and services resulting from any goods, data, information or services purchased or obtained or messages received or transactions entered into through or from the service; (iii) unauthorized access to or alteration of your transmissions or data; (iv) statements or conduct of any third party on the service; (v) termination of your account; or (vi) any other matter relating to the service."

Just in case you didn't get the fact that they aren't responsible for anything, they double down on telling you once again that they aren't.  Your alarm bells going off yet?  Wait, it gets even better.

"PayBox.me reserves the right to update and change the Terms of Service from time to time and without notice. Continued use of the Service after changes to the Terms of Service shall constitute your consent to such changes. You can review the most current version of the Terms of Service at any time at: http://www.paybox.me/terms.php "

Okay, I missed one and it is a pretty big one at that.  Basically they can change the terms of service without notice and once you log in after the TOS has been changed, you have in fact agreed to the changes, even though you haven't been notified of any changes as such. 

Now I have reason enough to stay away, very far away.  But my work here isn't done nonetheless.  After all, while I raise some significant questions with the above stuff, not everyone may think so, or they may be looking for some reassurances from the management about the service.  Good luck with that, as there is no contact option on the main page, only a link to a blog and with many of the blog entries the comments are turned off.  Now, with my curiosity sufficiently piqued, we are all about the web sleuthing, so lets get all techie shall we.

If I can't get a message through to them from their webpage, I can at least look them up online, right?  Guess again kemosabe.  A lookup of the domain name finds that the ownership of the site is protected by a group called WhoIsGuard, an outfit out of California whose job it is to protect the names, addresses and phone numbers of domain holders.  Using the address on the domain look up to send snail mail will just send it to the offices of WhoisGuard.  A similar lookup of Paypal, the site that Paybox says it is trying to emulate, gives you this  Host Master
        PayPal Inc.
        2211 North First Street
         San Jose CA 95131
        US
Quite a difference there in business philosophies. 

But we are not done yet, not by a long shot.  Also of note regarding Paypal is the expiration date on the domain name, that being July 14, 2018, so they plan on being there a while.  The expiration date of the Paybox domain?  August 2nd, 2011, less than one year after they started soliciting email signups.

One person who claimed to have signed up for Paybox mentioned in a blog entry that Paybox has released the plan for their rollout as it were to go live.  You know, when you can actually take those Paybox dollars amnd make them real dollars or rubles or pesos or whatever currency it is you are working with.  From the entry

Stage 10
Target Timeframe: December 5, 2011 – January 9, 2012
Launch PayBox currency exchange, allowing for open exchange with all major world currencies. This will enable users to convert their PayBox account balance (or any portion thereof) to any major world currency for withdrawal, or convert back for deposit.
This document is to be used as a general guideline only. The dates shown for each stage are estimates, and may be moved closer or delayed if necessary to accomodate unforseen {sic} circumstances.

Yes that is right kids, your currency exchange will take place 4 months after the domain name expires.  Now sure, they could repurchase the domain for another year (or two or twelve), but isn't it ironic that while they plan on not being fully functional until December 2011 in their rollout plan, their initial ownership of the domain ends in August of that year? 

As the adage goes, fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me, but fool me this many times and well, shame is the least of the things you deserve.