There is a common scam or spam called Fly Free Academy where the seller is trying to convince us that it’s perfectly possible to fly free of charge.  How to book $1000 flights for $20 and so on.

Whether or not this is a scam or just a complex game where some people can get free or nearly free flights if they follow the instructions  isn’t the point.

When you type in ‘Fly Free Academy scam” on Google it returns a lot of results starting with

Fly Free Academy Review – Worthy or Scam? – Neuromath

Then Free Academy Review – Does It Work? – Helen Reviews

Followed by Fly Free Academy Review – Derek Pankaew’s System a Scam?

Fly Free Academy – A To Z Product Reviews

My Shocking Fly Free Academy Review – Regionvavid.org

Then some YouTube videos by Fly Free Academy then more reviews

Fly Free Academy review – Richerornot

And so it goes on – there are dozens of these review sites.

But they’re all fake – they’ve been created by the sellers of Fly Free Academy and are just sales pitches wrapped up to look like reviews.

Is this illegal? No.

Is it wrong?  If people realise these reviews are just sales pitches then no harm done but if people think these are independent reviews and not realise they are by the sellers of Fly Free Academy then that’s conning people.

The sellers have also posted reviews on other people’s sites and on social media and must have spent a lot of money and effort on this.

Honesty would be a better and cheaper policy. Don’t create fake reviews.

If you have any experiences with scammers, spammers or time-waster do let me know, by email.

www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk

The Consumer Action Group is an online forum which provides free support and advice to anyone with consumer problems.

This covers dealings with banks, credit companies, retail organisations, employment, armed forces – you can see its wide reaching and it’s a huge forum with hundreds of thousands of members and millions of posts.

There’s also a library of information about consumer rights, an out of date blog, an email newsletter, access to webmail, a consumer action group magazine and more.

But really it’s the forum that makes it work and that’s where people can get free advice.

If you’re new to using a forum – basically people pose questions and any other member is free to post answers or comments. You don’t have to post something if you don’t want to – you can simply search and read on anything that interests you in the realm of being a consumer.

The site is paid for by donations and by advertising. Most of the adverts are at the top of the pages so once you scroll down they are out of sight.

The forums cover all forms of consumer action from buying, to being an employee and there is a community centre with advice on how to stop smoking, technical support for electronic devices, cost cutting tips, weight loss etc.

This is a comprehensive and useful resource generally on being a consumer but especially if you have problems with a supplier’s products or service. Whatever the problem, there is likely to be someone on consumer action group who has been through it before and may be able to help you.

Do enter your email address and click on the subscribe button on top right to keep up to date with new posts.

Legal beagles is a free forum offering support, discussion and help in many areas of life to do with  legal matters. The forum has thousands of members – “dedicated and enthusiastic individuals who are experienced in consumer issues of all kinds”.

www.legalbeagles.info

Legal Beagles has more than 10,000 registered users and 2.5 million visitors per year, so it is a very busy active forum.

The main use for the forum is where someone has experienced a problem that may involve the law in some way but they don’t know where to start. The forum provides a friendly easy way to post questions, describe a situation and they may get free advice from people who have faced the same problem.

The advice doesn’t replace dealing directly with a solicitor of course, but gets people started and that may lead to engaging the services of a lawyer or it may be a problem they can deal with themselves.

A quick look at latest posts shows someone with problems with the energy supplier at a new house, divorcees arguing over a van, how to fight parking tickets on private land, SGO orders, debt management, an eBay scam, misrepresentation and lots more. You can see it’s wide ranging.

There’s also lots of discussions that are not about problems as such e.g. money saving tips, consumer rights, student finance, employment law and much more.

The main categories on the forum are:-

• Court claims
• Employment
• Family
• Parking
• Money and debts

It’s free, can be useful and you certainly learn a lot by seeing what’s going on.

Legal Beagles consumer forum is a good place to start with any matter that could become a legal issue.

They are also active on social media.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/legalbeagles.info

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LegalBeagles