They almost got me but I saw two posts. One from 2008 and one from a few days ago... https://eslwatch.info/en/eslwatch-forum ... chers.html. And as you can see here, they have been deceiving people for 10 fricking years! https://teflblacklist.blogspot.com/2008 ... ricks.html
They tell some really good whoppers and impersonate Chinese officials to get your attention and in a hurry to buy their TEFL course. http://www.esl-jobs-forum.com/viewtopic.php?t=7418
Even more about them at reddit at r/chinascamcentral on page 2. Both companies are own by the same Brit. Warn your friends,
TEFLOnline.com & i-to-i TEFL scam in progress - Beware!
Moderator: Josef Essberger
Re: TEFLOnline.com & i-to-i TEFL scam in progress - Beware!
Apparently you ain't the only one bud. I cut this below from fraudwatch scam reporting website;
"This (OnlineTEFL.com) is a dual scam in progress that specifically targets new English teachers that want to teach TEFL or ESL abroad. Here is the background and how they cost me over $2,000 to go to China after tricking me into buying their boring online training course with some very clever and believable lies followed by a fake call from "Disney English" offering me a non-existent $60,000 job IF i got myself "qualified with a TEFL certificate".
China job recruiters recruit a lot of fake, unqualified foreign English teachers and want them to look real so they refer them to these two companies owned by Max Kurasinski in the UK. They collect a $300 referral fee for sending the teacher to these to OnlineTEFL.com and i-to-i. From there high-pressure sales people take over and take advantage of the ignorance of a new TEFL or ESL teacher. They start by quoting high pricing over $1,000. If teachers do not take the bait, they will back off and call back in a few days with a "great promotion" which is a 50% price reduction or a guaranteed "teaching internship in China" See here for details: https://eslwatch.info/en/eslwatch-forum ... chers.html
In my case, I recognized the sudden price drop as a sales gimmick but showed some interest in the guaranteed teaching internship in China with free airfare. That was a mistake. Two days later I get a call from someone claiming to be Nancy Wu who said she was the HR director for Disney English. I believed her.
Nancy said she got my resume from a local recruiter (who said she could not name because of privacy law - total BS). Anyway she said she would "hire you tomorrow, if only you had a TEFL certificate." Then she told me that i could quickly take an online course and within 30 days I would have a TEFL certificate and working for Disney in China for $5,000 a month. This definitely motivated me.
I called back to the UK and took advantage of that 50% deal especially since they told me the cost was tax-deductible (that tax law is also BS and only applies to tuitions paid to accreditted universities, and institutes). OnlineTEFL and i-to-i is not accredited by anyone!
So they got me for $499 and I took the online automated course which often put me to sleep (BORING!). When I finished they seemed in a hurry to send me to China for my "guaranteed internship" which was even going to pay me $800 a month for expenses plus my airfare. I rejected it because of my conversation with Nancy Wu, and I flew to Beijing to go find her at Disney English.
I was excited to go teach in China where I thought I would get a $60,000 salary because I had a degree in Education from Iowa State and my new TEFL certificate. But when I went to Disney's main office in Beijing I was shocked when I was told that there was no "Nancy Wu" employed with Disney anywhere in China!!!!! But Disney still offered me a teaching position for $2,000 a month. I took the job only long enough to recover my costs and see some tourist sites in China. After 90 days, (my third paycheck) I flew home to Kansas City."
"This (OnlineTEFL.com) is a dual scam in progress that specifically targets new English teachers that want to teach TEFL or ESL abroad. Here is the background and how they cost me over $2,000 to go to China after tricking me into buying their boring online training course with some very clever and believable lies followed by a fake call from "Disney English" offering me a non-existent $60,000 job IF i got myself "qualified with a TEFL certificate".
China job recruiters recruit a lot of fake, unqualified foreign English teachers and want them to look real so they refer them to these two companies owned by Max Kurasinski in the UK. They collect a $300 referral fee for sending the teacher to these to OnlineTEFL.com and i-to-i. From there high-pressure sales people take over and take advantage of the ignorance of a new TEFL or ESL teacher. They start by quoting high pricing over $1,000. If teachers do not take the bait, they will back off and call back in a few days with a "great promotion" which is a 50% price reduction or a guaranteed "teaching internship in China" See here for details: https://eslwatch.info/en/eslwatch-forum ... chers.html
In my case, I recognized the sudden price drop as a sales gimmick but showed some interest in the guaranteed teaching internship in China with free airfare. That was a mistake. Two days later I get a call from someone claiming to be Nancy Wu who said she was the HR director for Disney English. I believed her.
Nancy said she got my resume from a local recruiter (who said she could not name because of privacy law - total BS). Anyway she said she would "hire you tomorrow, if only you had a TEFL certificate." Then she told me that i could quickly take an online course and within 30 days I would have a TEFL certificate and working for Disney in China for $5,000 a month. This definitely motivated me.
I called back to the UK and took advantage of that 50% deal especially since they told me the cost was tax-deductible (that tax law is also BS and only applies to tuitions paid to accreditted universities, and institutes). OnlineTEFL and i-to-i is not accredited by anyone!
So they got me for $499 and I took the online automated course which often put me to sleep (BORING!). When I finished they seemed in a hurry to send me to China for my "guaranteed internship" which was even going to pay me $800 a month for expenses plus my airfare. I rejected it because of my conversation with Nancy Wu, and I flew to Beijing to go find her at Disney English.
I was excited to go teach in China where I thought I would get a $60,000 salary because I had a degree in Education from Iowa State and my new TEFL certificate. But when I went to Disney's main office in Beijing I was shocked when I was told that there was no "Nancy Wu" employed with Disney anywhere in China!!!!! But Disney still offered me a teaching position for $2,000 a month. I took the job only long enough to recover my costs and see some tourist sites in China. After 90 days, (my third paycheck) I flew home to Kansas City."
Re: TEFLOnline.com & i-to-i TEFL scam in progress - Beware!
2021 UPDATE: Over the past years, nothing has changed with these scam artists except they generated a lot of glowing video testimonials that are obviously shills because they over-gushed about everything, and NO TEFL COURSE in this world is so perfect. Also they still remain on all the blacklists. HOWEVER, because they were heavily exposed as a fraud, they created a new entity called TEFL LOVE which they can fool all the newbies with. I guess it's time to spread the word people. They are using the same trick as Foreign HR which now adversities, fishes, and traps under 12 different alias companies! See the new Reddit sub called r/TeflReviews at https://reddit.com/r/teflreviews
Before taking any teaching job in China make a quick visit over to https://reddit.com/r/ChinaScamCentral and https://reddit.com/r/TEFLreviews so your dream job does not become a nightmare.
Re: TEFLOnline.com & i-to-i TEFL scam in progress - Beware!
You got it a bit twisted. They are now scamming under the name of LoveTefl.com , but yes you are right, it is still the same fraud exposed since 2007 https://www.reddit.com/r/TeflReviews/co ... d_warning/
Look Before You Leap at https://reddit.com/r/teflscams