Scam

            Some scams can end up expensive, the full cost of the IGS Lay Advantage 2.2 software is around $11,900, yes an expensive scam to get caught up in, but I have been told by people who have bought the program that they paid around $8,000 and were told by IGS that once they made a profit of 40K, they could then pay the rest if of the money of $4,000. They had to deposit the money into the IGS account before IGS would send them the software, Some did not receive the software for up to 6 days later and there was no contract upfront that they could review before the purchase was made. (right here is a breach, IGS cannot accept payment until a "Contract" or some kind of "Terms and Conditions" have been viewed by the consumer). IGS sends out a USB memory stick with the programme on it along with a user manual. This user manual is merely an instruction on how to operate the software. If there is any form of contract it may be in a pop up window that you have to tick before the programme will allow you to continue, as is typical with many software products. Of course, at this time, the software has aleady been purchased and its utility is not yet understood. Hence the exchange of monies was done prior to any contract being received. You can normally checked software to be able to view any Terms and Conditions which you can usually review by the "Help" or the "About" tabs on the menu, but there appears not to be any of this information available within this software in order to review any Terms and Conditions once purchased.
           Consumers have started using the programme over the course of a couple of weeks hoping to generate a profit, but were disappointed when this does not occur, and they started to lose money, some that I have spoken to have stated that this scam has caused them to lose thousands. Consumers are asking for refunds, from being mislead and given false information about the product, as the programme proves to be unreliable for the purpose for which it was purchased. IGS refuse to give refunds even if it is within your cooling off period. Because most people were contacted by a telemarketer, it falls under the "Telemarketing Act" which means that if there is No Contract or Terms and Conditions, that you have a 6 month cooling off period, as opposed to a 10 day cooling off period if there was a Contract. (so here is another breach). IGS have stopped responding to consumers who have asked for a refund, and consumers are now being forced to go through the "Office of Business and Consumer Affairs" (OCBA) where they have been told that IGS are also not responding to Consumer Affairs for any negotiations and have been advised to now take their dispute through the "Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal" (VCAT). OCBA have warned consumers about scams like this and advise how you may help yourself avoid a scam by asking yourself this, "If you think it's too goo to be true, then it probably is".
            In the event that consumers are not entitled to a refund under the cooling off period, then they should seek the refund on the following basis;

• A breach was made as an unsolicited call was made to the consumer from a telemarketer and pressure was placed for a demonstration and pressure to buy the product.

• A breach was made at the time of payment, as IGS cannot accept payment until the consumer agrees to Contract Terms and Conditions if there are any. Consumers are stating that they did not see any Contract Terms and Conditions prior to the purchase of the product. And even once the product was received, there were no documents to view any contracts whatsoever, and that the consumer was not made aware of any cooling off period.

• A breach was made under "Damages for misleading and deceptive conduct, false representation or Unconscionable Conduct". Consumers believe that this programme and how it was presented to them, to be misleading, deceptive and a false representation. Promises were made by IGS that were misleading as per the following link.