What the hell? Why would anyone include this in a sales pitch for something that clearly, should be a great tool to help people hedge gas prices? Seems to me that something is phishy with Genesis 255 - so I decided to do some checking.

First stop, we have a report here from the Rip Off Report. It provides the expected complaint of this being some hair brained buyer’s club. As it turns out, it is more than that - Genesis 255 is allegedly a scam according to this media source. Apparently, the latest videos have either been edited or redone to mention that this Genesis 255 is actually using a fuel wafer, not some fuel hedging opportunity to save people money.

Does it work? I have no idea, but one thing that bothered me early on is that I found no simply means to just “buy it” Instead, it is direct sales only and there seems to be an emphasis on recruiting others to do the same direct sales with/for you.

Go for it if you must, but if it was me, I would be very wary of this and consider this a bit of a Genesis 255 review of sorts.

Perhaps one of the worst in this area is a problem known as affiliate link hijacking. This is generally the worst with services such as ClickBank among others. So what options do I recommend to protect yourself?

• JavaScript cloaking -You could trust that something weak like
  a href="YourAffiliateUrl" onmouseout="window.status=' '; return true" onmouseover="window.status='AnyTextHere'; return true" is actually going to protect your commissions.
• Cloaking with frames - Yet another easy to bypass method, definitely not recommended if you are concerned about commission theft. Not saying it won’t work, you just need to have the right kind of tools in place.
• A meta-refresh- Good luck using this one with AdWords. That and it is not fool proof, anyway.
• Scripts using a cloak or redirection- Again, it comes down to how much trust you really want to put into a free, unproven method.
• Use covertLinks- Like the methods above, it has a framing or PHP option. But using convertLinks ensures that the right cookies are being set ahead of time, thus not leaving your commissions to chance. I use this on other sites I own, it has yet to fail me.

(Also read up on: Finding legitimate online jobs)

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(Also read up on: Free Reverse Address Lookup)

(Also read up on: Caller ID Spoofing)

You have done a reverse phone number search. And to further things along, taken all the steps to get yourself on the do not call list and put a stop to the harassment. Unfortunately there may be a lull in time where the calls are still coming in. So here are some additional ways to stop telemarketers from calling you.

• Stop the telemarketer cold. Once you receive a live person, immediately ask them if they are calling to sell you something. If they lie and claim that they are not selling anything, promptly ask for their name, the name of the company calling and then report them to the FTC for breaking the law.

• If they admit to selling you something, immediately reply with a request to be put on THEIR do not call list. If you catch them violating this later, file a complaint with the FTC to prevent further harassment.

• Also ask for the call rep to provide you with a written copy of their do not call policy. Again, by law they have to oblige. As you might expect, this will confuse them so you will want to ask for a supervisor.

• If the harassing telemarketer does indeed, call twice within a twelve month period after you specifically asked them to add you to the do not call list for that company, you have a right to sue them in small claims court. The damages to be requested is generally $500. Unfortunately however, there is a legal defense commonly used by the telemarketer called the “affirmative defense”, despite any feelings of harassment on your end.

• Join the Private Citizen and learn how to use the DMA (Direct Marketing Association) against these vultures.

• Shred everything. Buy a really good shredder, then use it. Anything with your name on it goes into the device, no exceptions.
• Secure your postal mail. Unless you have a locking mailbox, you should use mailbox service from someone like Mailboxes Etc. to better protect your identity from theft.
• Birth certificates and social security cards. These must stay at home, in a bolted to the floor safe or safe deposit box at the bank. Losing this items is the fast track to having your identity stolen.
• Monitor your credit report. This alone can help you catch much of the surprises that can take place if someone should happen to get a hold of your identity.
• Consider identity protection services. While this may see like overkill, these days, it truly is not. A few dollars a month truly can protect you from losing your identity altogether.
• Learn how to better protect yourself! Seriously, what you could learn today could save you thousands of dollars down the road. Do your research and be careful out there.

(Also read up on: Gas Station Identity Theft - Time For Prepaid Gas Cards?)

(Also read up on: LinkedIn Makes Phishing Easy)

1. Become a handyman. Perfect for general contractors put out of work due to the housing market crash. Existing home owners will pay handsomely when you appeal to those who can afford your services.
2. The Odd Jobs person. Consider becoming a single person temp agency. Take on those jobs others would rather avoid. Walking/bathing dogs, cleaning gutters, landscaping - the list is endless and if you do a little of everything, you will be busy and able to pay the bills.
3. Specialized trades. While certainly more competitive, training to become a plumber or an electrician happens to pay very well. And guess what, plumbing and electrical work is a year-around gig - so obviously it is recession proof.

At the end of the day, coming up with smart recession proof business ideas is not all that difficult. Just look at the needs vs the wants, then filling in the blanks.

(Also read up on: Finding legitimate online jobs)

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Whatever it was, learning from the possible cause can help to prevent future issues should you wish to continue with your spouse or even in another future relationship.

There is no polite way to snoop.

Trying to determine if a spouse is cheating and doing so delicately is no easy matter. Not for a lack of options, rather doing so with any level of tact for the other person’s trust. Understanding this, I only recommend that you try any of the following with the provided understanding:

• Check the laws. Before going all private investigator or using any sort of snooping software, check the laws out in your area. If you get yourself questioned by the authorities, this would indicate that you chose not to consult with a licensed professional first. Keep it legal, if possible, hire a PI.
• Accept reality. By merely having a strong suspicion that your spouse could be cheating, if it turns out to be false, clearly the need for professional counseling should be self-evident at this point as a total lack of communication has taken place. Get professional help for you and your spouse.

Is your spouse actually cheating?

When toying with the idea of using various means of watching your spouse to see if they are cheating, consider the following options (local laws allowing, of course):

• In some instances, people have been known to use keyloggers to see if there is any unusual activity. The plus side is that this provides you cheap, instant information as to any suspicious activity when using the computer. Such as chatting with a secret love for instance. The downside is that unless you live in a very liberal area, you will be breaking the law by using one - even on your own computer.
• Hire a professional private investigator. Obviously overkill for people who are just dating. Yet for married couples, it may be worthwhile depending on your personal feelings.

Other recommendations.

• How to catch a cheating spouse? Perhaps the most cost effective way to double check suspicions, using the techniques in this product will enable you find out legally and ethically if your spouse is up to no good.
• Save your marriage! Once you know for sure, why not consider finding a way to save your marriage? Using the advice and techniques, you will have the tools needed to repair what infidelity has potentially undone.

First though, let’s examine what the attraction of using a free reverse address lookup to begin with? In most cases, it is used to track down dead beat parents, lost loves, tracking down debtors who are trying to avoid paying a debt before a debt statute of limitations runs out on a particularly old debt.

Now for a harsher truth - there are instances where not protecting your personal data can land you in a world of hurt. Malicious individuals using reverse address lookup can find out all sorts of private details about you despite you not fitting in with any of the descriptions above. It’s true, using Google, or many of the other search engines, it is generally very simple to track down using Google, along with a little commonsense.

(Also read up on: How easily can you be tracked down?)

(Also read up on: Caller ID Spoofing)

(Also read up on: Free Reverse Phone Number Lookup)

Bill Gates - using free reverse address lookup.

What does the software tycoon have to do with anything? Well if he did not have his own security in place for his personal safety and that of his family, there might be some concern. Consider this: using nothing more than his name and reverse address lookup, I was able to find out the following.

• On 1/3/1996 (other sales records date back to 1995, but the core one to note is in ‘96), the sale of the previously mentioned residence was sold to a Mr. William H. Gates III.
• The residence was built in 1992, has 7 bedrooms, and 9 bathrooms.
• It is heated via gas/hot water and the house has its share of fireplaces.

I am going to stop there as I think my point has been made. If I can get all of this about a multi-billionaire who has gone at length to protect most of his privacy, imagine what one could get on YOU using freely available reverse address lookup tools? Prevent identity theft and use your head.

Caller ID Spoofing and Caller ID Spoofing Defense

Caller ID spoofing is the act of calling someone using a fake caller ID, then to make things worse, acting as if you are someone else altogether. Yes, this means that an unscrupulous individual might use this technique to defraud someone rather than playing a practical joke.

So is this practice legal? Not a lawyer, so if you are concerned about trying this out as a joke, I would talk to one before taking such a thing for a test drive. That said, I am sure there is much humor to be had pretending to be someone you are not when the other party is a trusted friend - again, check the local laws before trying this folks.

(Also read up on: How easily can you be tracked down?)

(Also read up on: Free Reverse Address Lookup)

(Also read up on: Free Reverse Phone Number Lookup)

Voice changing software.

Another increasingly common practice is to use voice changing software to further create the illusion that a fake caller is who they claim to be. This sound crazy, but the increasing frequency that this is happen is something not to be ignored.

What you can do to prevent becoming a fraud victim.

Despite this sort of thing often times being done in good fun, it it critical that you are able to protect yourself in case you receive a call from someone claiming to be from the:

• Hospital
• Bank
• School
• or even your place of employment

The level that this form of caller ID spoofing can head into leaves the sky being the limit. Understanding this, you should never provide and of the following to someone calling you:

• Your credit card, bank account or bank name.
• Social security number.
• Any personal information you would not feel comfortable pasting to your front door.

Remember, just because the caller ID claims it is something that is official sounding, does not by any means that it is not anything more than a caller ID spoof looking to see how gullible you really are. Just remember, your only have your privacy protected once. After its gone, good luck getting back.

A possible flip side to this is when the caller is not a solicitor and in fact, a someone who could potentially be a threat. And to make matters worse, the police and the phone company are of little help unless a clear threat has been made, which can make dealing with the situation rather troubling.

Then finally, we have the question of whether or not there is infidelity afoot. Obviously a less common threat for most people, but in some cases odd phone calls coming out of nowhere can in some cases be a sign of a spouse cheating in the relationship.

(Also read up on: How easily can you be tracked down?)

(Also read up on: Free Reverse Address Lookup)

(Also read up on: Caller ID Spoofing)

To better combat this problem, here are some tools you can add to your arsenal to keep this sort of thing from getting out of hand.

Annoying phone solicitors.

• 800Notes - First find out who it actually is. I recommend using 800Notes for this as they have a small community that likely have users having calls coming from the some problem as you are. Even better, discover a phone number that could potentially be linked to a suspected scam so you can warn others in the same area.
• DNCR - Get your phone number on the Do No Call Registry here in the US, if this is your country of residence. Canadians should have something similar here soon it looks like. After 30-some odd days, the calls should all but stop.

Harassing phone calls.

When dealing with calls where no ‘explicit’ threat has been made and the authorities have been of no help whatsoever, there are some things you can do in the short term.

• Contact your local phone company - Depending on the local laws, in some locations they can even place a “trap” for the harassing caller, that can then work toward giving you a stronger case to later present to the authorities.

Late night mystery calls.

In this age of cell phones, the practice of a late night phone call from someone unknown has become something of a blast from the past. In short, it just does not happen that often anymore. Still, should it occur, knowing how to deal with this can prove helpful.

• Google the number - Assuming you have the phone number off of caller id, just paste the phone number into Google and often times you will find a lead as to who it might belong to.
• Reverse phone number lookup - Utilize a reliable reverse phone number lookup service like this one for help.
• Mobile Reverse phone number lookup - If the previous tool is not work for you, consider utilizing one designed specifically for mobile phones instead.

As many scams that are out there for medical transcription jobs, it should be noted that legitimate opportunities do exist with a little research. Today, I will show one some ways of getting started.

(Also read up on: Finding legitimate online jobs)

(Also read up on: Building A Recession Proof Business) 

(Also read up on: Other Legitimate work at home jobs)

• Scouring the freelance websites. While the competition is fierce, if you have some assistance with what to look for, you can do fairly well here. The key will be balancing a freelance reputation for yourself along with making sure finding a means building up some experience with the business itself.
• Hitting up websites where others in the field are networking. You will want to spend some time at websites like workathomemoms.com can help you to learn about who is hiring and what they are looking for.
• Two critical for finding actual transcription jobs. Remember that even in this digital age, your local newspaper can yield results for finding jobs today in this area. That said, do not rule out Craigslist or mtdaily.com, either.

Remember, like any work at home opportunity, you need to be persistent and patient. Medical transcription is just like any job and like any job, you will have to compete to get work along side everyone else out there.