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As we have observed in our previous reviews of sites such as ExpenseFriend, Ebookcase, Geeker and more, there seems to be a trend of dubious companies providing subscription services whose business model appears to be to lure unsuspecting consumers into signing up for hefty monthly subscriptions with the promise of free prizes and a 3-day trial.
Though these companies are technically not doing anything illegal, it is difficult to believe that they have the best interests of their customers in mind. We received several complaints about a website named Themindtask.com which seems to be following similar dubious business and marketing practices.
As soon as I visited Themindtask’s website, I saw a familiar offer for a €1 trial and a ‘Membership reward of Apple iPad. This offering is identical to the 97 brain training websites we uncovered in a previous review. I found it extremely odd that the website has multiple ‘Cancel my subscription’ buttons prominently displayed. Though it is a customer-friendly practice, it hints that Themindtask expect’s people to visit their website with the primary intention of cancelling their subscription.
Reading the fine print reveals that the “Membership reward” is not for every subscriber. Only the member with the “highest activity” will win a prize every month even though it is portrayed as though anyone who signs up will receive an iPad. Subscribers are only eligible for the reward after they have already subscribed for 90 days. The monthly subscription for the site costs €55, therefore, subscribers have to spend at least €165 and subscribe to Themindtask for at least 3 months before they can even be eligible to receive the reward.
We have received several complaints on ScamAdviser by subscribers of Themindtask who had no clue why they were being charged a monthly fee. Many of them claim to never even have heard of or visited the website until they noticed that they had been charged subscription fees.
The website also contains the following information about a Dutch company (with a UK phone number):
Semja B.V. (73878286), Jakop Slegthof 41, 1384 AC Weesp, The Netherlands+441217900314
I did not find anything when I tried searching for other websites that Semja B.V. may be running. However, when I analyzed the website content, I found that there are at least 8 other similar websites with identical offerings. The names of these sites are given in the Appendix section. There are almost 70 more websites residing on the same servers and these have also been named in the Appendix.
All these websites contain either of the below company information, with most of them being operated by Stonewall Media Ltd.:
Both these companies are registered in the UK. Looking up the company registration information revealed that both of them were created on the same day but have different Directors. The registered office addresses given for both of them seem to be residences and not offices. Therefore, it may be likely that Groundwork Technology Ltd and Stonewall Media Ltd are shell incorporations created by an overseas company.
When I tried searching for other websites run by these two companies, I came across 4 identical video streaming subscription sites. These sites are also offering the same €1 subscription trial and the promise of a free prize. The only difference seems to be that they are providing a video streaming service instead of brain training games.
The websites being operated by Semja B.V., Groundwork Technology Ltd and Stonewall Media Ltd may not technically be scams, but they appear to be operating on a business model that involves getting people to subscribe to their services using misleading marketing tactics. As stated in their Terms & Conditions, subscription fees are non-refundable. This means that users can cancel an existing subscription but cannot demand a refund for money already deducted even if they never used the service.
We advise our readers to always pay careful attention to the fine print before sharing your personal details with any unknown company as you may unwittingly end up losing significant amounts of money with no way to get it back.
List of websites operated by Semja B.V., Groundwork Technology Ltd and Stonewall Media Ltd:
Related domains (sites residing on the same server):
This article has been written by a scam fighter volunteer. If you believe the article above contains inaccuracies or is missing relevant information, please contact ScamAdviser.com using this form.
