Home Online Profit Education (HOPE) claims to help people make money from home.
A woman named Heather Smith says she created the program after having a “chilling day” and discovering how to post links from home. Now she wants to help you do the same.
But could this really just be an elaborate scam designed to get your hard earned money?
Read this review to find out the real story…
What Is Home Online Profit Education (HOPE)?
HOPE is one of those programs that sounds amazing, but in reality it’s nothing like it seems.
They make it sounds as if it’s a ‘home job’ where BIG companies are in desperate need of people to post links for them. You even get an income calculator which shows you how much you can earn ‘per link’ posted.
![Link Posting Income Calculator](https://affiliateunguru.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/link-posting-income-calculator.png)
Unfortunately, there’s nothing real about this ‘income calculator’. It’s fake.
To be clear, you can earn money online, and it does involve the posting of links depending on the method you choose. But the keyword here is INVOLVE.
The process of making money online with links, is affiliate marketing. And it’s entirely different from how they explain it. For starters, it’s NOT a job of any kind. It’s a business.
Companies pay you to bring them customers, through your affiliate links. In and of itself, this is a legitimate business model.
What would I know? I make a full-time income as an affiliate marketer.
The way these websites explain the concept is deliberately and grossly misleading. Plain and simple. I wrote an article detailing why link posting is a scam if you want to learn more.
Who Is Heather Smith?
Put simply, Heather Smith is a fictional character.
Her story is NOT real, she’s a stock photo, and this routine is used across hundreds of identical link posting scams. For example, a while back I came across a program called Online Income Program featuring the same Heather Smith.
Here’s Heather Smith on the HOPE and Online Income Program websites…
![Heather Smith](https://affiliateunguru.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/heather-smith.png)
Now here she is on a stock photography site called ShutterStock:
![Stock Photo of Woman](https://affiliateunguru.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Stock-Photo-of-Woman.png)
As you can see, she’s a stock photo.
But what about the credibility of her ‘rags to riches’ story? Well, this SAME exact story is used across many similar programs run by many other alias’ too.
For example, here’s a common alias they use known as Kelly Simmons:
![Kelly Simmons](https://affiliateunguru.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/kelly-simmons.png)
Clearly, the whole story is fake. It’s just something they made up, and keep on rehashing time and time again. The name of the program changes, along with the names and stock photos. But the story is almost always the same.
More importantly, the underlying program they’re pitching you, is the same across all of them.
Is Home Online Profit Education a Scam?
Yes, Home Profit Education is a scam. Here’s why:
- Link posting is not a real job or busniness
- They pretend to be endorsed by the news
- They use fake scarcity to trick you into buying on impulse
- Fake alias’, fake testimonials, and fake stories are common fair
- The training is very basic, and not worth the money
- There are many high ticket upsells awaiting you
- Your information is sold to other marketers who SPAM you
I’ve already discussed the fact that link posting is a hoax. But allow me to run through the other points I made about some of the tricks they use to convince people to buy. Legitimate companies simply do not use these tactics, so the following section may help you spot this kind of thing in future.
Fake News Endorsements
One of the things that catches many unsuspecting people off guard, is how these websites pretend to have some kind of affiliation or endorsement with news networks.
![Fake News HOPE Program](https://affiliateunguru.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/fake-news-HOPE-program.png)
They do not, have not and will never have an endorsement from any credible news company. Period.
When you look closer at this videos and logos they use, you’ll come to realise it’s all very general in nature. They’ve literally just copied the logos and pasted them into their site, and used generic ‘work from home’ videos.
They even go as far as to create fake news stories too, featuring successful entrepreneurs and public figures such as US President Donald Trump. I’m not kidding, this stuff really happens.
But why do they do this? Quite simply, it’s a trick to gain your trust.
Most people instinctively trust the news, and respected public figures, so when a work from home program is ‘endorsed’ by someone you trust, you’re WAY more likely to buy.
Trust plays a HUGE factor when it comes to buying online, or offline for that matter. So unfortunately, this kind of misleading BS actually works quite well. But only if you skim over the fine details!
Fake Scarcity Pressure Selling
Another common trick is how they use pressure selling to get people to buy on impulse. They do this by saying things like “there’s only limited spots available in your area” and so forth.
![Limited Spots Available Fake Scarcity](https://affiliateunguru.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/limited-spots-available-fake-scarcity.png)
Again, it’s not until you look a little closer that you come to see the truth.
This one’s easy to bust, just visit the same page again in a week, it’ll say the same thing. Every time.
They use tools to identify your IP address, and display the approximate location your from too, which makes it more believable. In reality, affiliate marketing is a global business, and it doesn’t matter where you’re from. These sites always say the same thing, and just tailor the message depending on where your visiting the site from.
Since they’re trying to make it look like a ‘job’ this makes the whole thing appear more realistic.
Either way, it’s fake and it’s very misleading.
Fake Testimonials
The use of testimonials is a good way to show people a given program works. In and of itself, this is an ethical marketing strategy and there’s nothing wrong with it.
Provided the testimonials are real, which in this case, I don’t believe they are because they are virtually the same ones used in many other versions of this site, which I prove in the link posting article I linked to earlier.
Makes you wonder why such an ‘incredible opportunity’ would need to use fake testimonials, right?
Useless Training to Get You In the Door to MASSIVE Upsells
If you do decide to buy, you’ll soon realise the $97 you paid was just the beginning.
Here’s how it normally plays out:
- You buy the program because your desperate to make money online quickly and easily
- The training is thin, and doesn’t help you get a job or build a business of any kind
- You receive a ‘coaching call’ from a pushy telemarketer
- During this call, you’re encouraged to spend $1,000’s on high ticket coaching
- You realise you’ve been scammed, and lose hope in the idea of working from home
This is the real process that takes place, and what really happens once you buy. It’s a shame, because most people who fall victim to this stuff are desperate for money. Hence why they look past the finer details and don’t do their homework.
Why Your Personal Information Is Not Safe
Something I always mention when I review these scams, is how your personal information is not safe. The people behind this program intend on selling your information to the highest bidder.
![Sharing Personal Information](https://affiliateunguru.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/sharing-personal-information.png)
As a member, you’re already in line for a ton of email, phone and direct mail SPAM. But once they sell your info, it gets a LOT worse, and it’s near impossible to stop. Your information is continually shared from marketer to marketer, who are all just trying to sell you more stuff.
Conclusion
Unfortunately, the HOPE program is not going to help you earn money online. It’s a sneaky scam and the people running care about one thing only- getting as much money from you as possible.
If you haven’t purchased this, you can now avoid it. If you have purchased, you know what to look out for next time.
Link posting scams will continue running under various names and alias’, so it’s up to you to protect yourself moving forward.
My advice? Avoid anything relayed to ‘link posting’ and look closely at the details before buying anything in this space. There’s a lot of opportunity online, and many legit programs, but there’s also a lot of scams.
I love that people think everyone is so stupid as to not research these kinds of things. I just received an “alert” that I was chosen to begin making money starting tomorrow. $300+ a day if I act now and send $45 or some nonsense. I’m glad I don’t jump on these kinds of offers. Anyone out there who comes across this message should be aware now more than ever. I thank Tim McKinlay for posting this article for me to find when the time came to need to look into this “Heather Smith”. Thank you Tim.
My pleasure Tyrone, glad you found it helpful and thanks for sharing.
Nevermind I looked into and Everything on there is Exactly what it said and showed. Do Thank God I looked into it and seen this post. So Thank You For Saving Me From Losing My Money Also!?
Tim is right. They do not explain the whole process. I tried i didn’t make any money. I was keep posting links people were looking but no one make any purchase. In order for me to make money they spouse to buy something from the link. I was lucky that i could get my $99 back from them after 3 months later
Thanks for your research very helpful