My colleague and good friend turned me on to YourFree360games.com recently (actually my son already discovered this sort of program and brought it to my attention, but I digress). The way it works is that you sign up for two online offers that earn you points; when you earn enough points you redeem them for merchandise. The trade-off is that they have your e-mail and can spam you for the rest of your time on our planet.

So in good faith, I offered up my AIM email and purchase two products. The result is that after redeeming the coveted prize – in this case Guitar Hero: World Tour with controller – my account was abruptly cancelled accusing me of violating the TOS (Terms of Service). To make matters worse, one of the orders pulled a bait and switch for merchandise totalling nine times my agreed purchase. Now I have to stay on top of that to return the merchandise.

Avoid YourFree360games and other similar points/rewards programs.