(July 15, 2008)

Q – Tell us about the BBB Golf Scramble.

The Bureau’s only fundraiser the annual Golf Scramble will be held on July 25th Friday at the Corpus Christi Country Club.

The proceeds for the event go towards scholarships and consumer education (warnings on scams and bad deals) - Alan

Q-What is our scam of the week?

A- Gasoline schemes and scams. Consumers can expect all types of scams and offerings related to the high cost of gasoline Today we have two examples, one national and one local.

One national gas-related promotion is Miami based

MyGallons.com has earned originally an ‘F’ rating by the BBB. The company markets a prepaid gas card supposedly good at major gas stations across the country. By paying for a prepaid card, the consumer locks in the price per gallon. The problem cited by the BBB is one of "a material omission of fact". That ‘fact’ is that the company, despite its claims, does not have a credit card processing agreement with any credit card processing entity. Without such an agreement, the consumers’ gas cards are worthless. Thus far over 6,000 people have obtained the MyGallons.com cards nationwide. So be careful with promotions offering cheap gas. Although this may not be an attempt to defraud people, Consumers should be very cautious with great sounding deals on the Internet.

A local promotion involved the placement of flyers on car windshields and on counters in various businesses.

The flyer promises that if you send a $25.00 money order to the promoter, he will send you a Valero gas card valued at $40.00. Imagine sending $25 to a stranger based on the promise in a flyer. The address given is a personal mail box. The BBB checked with Valero and they stated that they knew nothing of the promotion.