Leonard Bowcott

I don’t often have to post a warning about affiliate programs because I’ve been around long enough to pick up on the tells that hint at scams. I can also usually detect those that are going to fail and disappear shortly. Unfortunately, I wasn’t paying close enough attention to CamSense.com, an affiliate program that is apparently operated by CC Network Inc. of Amsterdam, Netherlands.

This is the actual Camsense.com cheque that was not honoured, and that the company’s bank returned NSF (Non Sufficient Funds).

CamSense.com is a pseudo dating site, with people connecting via webcams. I thought that was a cool idea so I signed up for the affiliate program. For a while all went well. I received payments relatively on time, but since none were large I would expect nothing less.

My first clue something had changed for the worst should have come when I confirmed a cheque for just US$60.77 had been sent but a few days later I received an email informing me that the cheque had been stopped. The email suggested something about it being drawn on the wrong bank necessitated the stop payment. The same email assured me a new cheque would be issued immediately.

The initial cheque arrived of course and although it was date the day affiliate payments were supposed to have been issued,  it arrived much later than it should have if it had actually been posted on that day. I suspected this was a clever ploy to stall payment without actually breaching the company’s own affiliate program terms. Also, since it was only US$60.77 I saw no sense in making a big deal over what I assumed was simply a cash crunch.

The replacement cheque eventually arrived. I found it odd that it was cheque number 4, and had been filled out by hand. This did finally raise a flag. A new bank account, with no proper company cheques for a company I knew had been around for many years smelled fishy. It was in US Dollars, but was written on a bank in the UK. This is not unusual, but I suspected it could have been yet another attempt at delaying payment because overseas cheques take forever to clear.

Well, I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised when the check was returned NSF (Non Sufficient Funds) by Barclays Bank. The cheque bouncing was bad enough, but I had to pay twice for the currency conversion, lost the fee I paid to deposit an offshore cheque in the first place, and I had to pay an additional fee for my bank dealing with a returned cheque. In all, it totalled over 60% of the cheque amount.

Naturally I demand a PayPal or bank transfer for the original cheque amount that bounced, plus my applicable costs. In the email I assured CamSense.com accounting department I was not interested in another worthless cheque. Maybe I’m too trusting or just gullible, but even after all this I still gave CC Network Inc. the benefit of the doubt, thinking maybe some Nigerian identity scammer got hold of their affiliate list or something.

That was two weeks ago, and I’ve heard nothing back. Obviously there’s no honest mistake at play, and likewise no intent to honour what the company owes me. The only conclusion left is for me to accept that CC Network Inc., operating as CamSense.com, is either broke, or no longer to be trusted. Regardless, this firm no longer deserves my business and I strongly recommend no one else deal with them either.

I only ever promoted CamSense.com but the same affiliate program includes other websites. I have to assume if  CC Network Inc. isn’t paying affiliates due money for the promotion of one of their websites, they’re unable or unwilling to pay affiliates period. Obviously then, the entire network of affiliate promoted websites should be avoided. The ownership records I was able to find through GoDaddy.com is…

Registered through: GoDaddy.com, LLC (http://www.godaddy.com)
Domain Name: CAMSENSE.COM
Created on: 25-Aug-03
Expires on: 31-Oct-13
Last Updated on: 20-Oct-12

Registrant:
CC Network Inc.

Zekeringstraat 17
Amsterdam, 1014 BM
Netherlands

Administrative Contact:
Watts, Charles admin@cameb.com
CC Network Inc.
Zekeringstraat 17
Amsterdam, 1014 BM
Netherlands
+31.205241300 Fax — +31.205241300

Technical Contact:
Watts, Charles dns@ccnwebcams.com
CC Network Inc.
Zekeringstraat 17
Amsterdam, 1014 BM
Netherlands
+31.205241300 Fax — +31.205241300

As always, if someone wishes to clarify something in this post, use the comment section below so my readers have the benefit of both sides of this situation.