At one point Jen told me I could use an online discount code to pay a lower fee.

She was, however, unable to tell me whether the media outlets whose logos were depicted on the shopping-cart page had actually aired coverage about the organization's services, and if so, where I could locate those reports.

A Broader Problem

The Better Business Bureau's national office in Arlington, Virginia, has seen an explosion in sites that make offers tied specifically to the stimulus package.

"We've received complaints from people who had to actually cancel their credit cards to keep from getting billed, because they couldn't get hold of anyone to cancel the service," says Alison Preszler, a spokesperson for the Better Business Bureau.