The Truth About Free Laptop Scams

Free laptop scams: You've seen them. Whether you are logging into Facebook or Myspace, you'll witness the far too common sight: "To receive a Mac book in any color...click here!!!" I've come across them and I have to admit that they entice me. I even tried to fill out a form and stopped at the very end when the shipping and handling prices popped in front of me.

The thing is, when your mom told you, "There's no such thing as a free lunch", it was true. Everything with value comes with a cost - either monetarily or otherwise. And trust me, it may be more than what you are willing to pay. Let's consider the pros and cons, shall we?

First of all, you are providing your credit card number to a questionably reputable website. How do you know that your information is safe? With several cases of identity theft worldwide, how can you be sure that you are not willing giving your financial future and information to a perfect stranger? If signing up for this offer, you have just sold your information to slammers and spam artists around the world.

Now, granted if you accept all the requisite offers to receive your free laptop, they will send you a free laptop. However, the person that has sent the offer, is making money from your clicks on the "three Premium" offers to receive your "free" laptop. You also have to consider that on any of the offers you accept, your are required to pay shipping and handling for all items sent.

Although, most of these items are offered at a free trial, please keep in mind that you are required to cancel these items at the close of the trial. Imagine if you have signed up for eight offers, how will you remember to cancel them all? And, what if the offers don't all terminate on the same date? You find yourself with numerous of authorized charges on your credit card that you would not be able to dispute!

The final step in receiving a "free" laptop is to consider taxes. Any free item that you receive that has a monetary value can be subject to state and federal taxes.

After receiving this information, that laptop doesn't seem free anymore, does it?

Remember: After adding up all the time and effort you'll put into getting your "free" laptop, you may actually be better off simply purchasing an inexpensive laptop. You won't get the junk mail you won't get the security risks. And with laptops available for less than $300 these days, it's not that much of a drag on your finances.

So, instead of wasting hours filling out forms, signing up for shady deals and arguing with customer service reps, why not take on some extra shifts at your job or save $5 each month to buy a laptop? It'll be far more rewarding and far less of a hassle.

Gretta is a writer and free laptop scams expert. Gretta loves writing about computers, notebooks and netbooks and is always looking for awesome deals.