The Daily Deal for Sunday, April 20, 2008

Yes, the offer sounds too good to be true. Therefore it probably is. But it's splashed in true living color on the Internet and they say it's available to people like you and me. You may get a FREE Gucci hand bag and watch. Be warned though, I'm advised that the site has already been put under watch by McAfee as a source of possible excessive email spamming. That's the problem with these once in a lifetime internet offers. They're designed mainly to harvest email addresses, among other things.

To become eligible for the Gucci gifts, the offer is subject to the following conditions. First, you must take membership in a promotional purchasing program. You must register, provide a valid email address and provide a shipping address also. Then, you must complete what I interpret to be three surveys and six product promotions from sponsors of the offer. It sounds like a giant phishing scam to me, but hey, who am I to judge?

You must be 18 to apply and you'll be filling out a credit application (of course you will). The site page warns that failure to submit accurate registration will cause forfeit of your eligibility. By then however, they'll have enough information to purchase a house using your name. The site also disclaims any endorsement by the manufacturers of the products it offers. As if we might suspect that Gucci would have a hand in something like this.

One last note: This offer is not valid in Ohio. Do you think they might know something the rest of us don't?

Are you perpetually in love with handbags you can't afford? Do you wish for the means to be among those who carry Gucci and Louis Vitton?

If so, look no further. Bag, Borrow, or Steal gives ordinary women the chance to carry high-end handbags without the expense of purchasing them. The concept is simple: After paying a membership fee of $9.95 per month, you can rent any bag in their collection for as long as you want. Rental fees start at $15 per month (which doesn't get you much) and go all the way up to $2,000 per month for rare vintage bags.

Typical rental fees run from $100 to $500 per month, and get you access to names like Donney & Bourke, Coach, Fendi, Kate Spade, and Burberry. Higher monthly fees are reserved for Gucci, Prada, Chanel, and Dolce & Gabbana.

Does it sound like a deal to you? Well for those who like traditional looks and are known to carry the same bag for a year or two, renting a bag won't make sense. For those whose tastes change frequently, Bag, Borrow, or Steal makes perfect sense.

And if you fall in love with a handbag that you can't bear to part with, you can "Steal It," purchasing the bag after the company evaluates the condition of the bag and the availability of it on the open market.

Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, MBA, CFE performs fraud examinations and financial investigations for her company Sequence Inc. Forensic Accounting, and is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud.

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