Followup: April 2023
Now Victor Bastos is selling his platform and email lists - so even though I unsubscribed from everything on his worthless platform years ago, I'm getting emails from this con artist again. He's telling me "just hit unsubscribe" and I'm telling him "remove every trace of my private info including my email address from your platform and email lists." He is refusing. So, apparently he's gone from selling products he never delivers, to selling the email addresses of everyone he ever scammed. What an absolute loser.
This past week I decided to sign up for OnClick Academy's offer for it's founder's CEO to share some of his client base.
Note: I didn't really need his clients. I have my own. But, I had a bit of free time that I 'could' fit some extra work in if the offer didn't end up a total scam. So, it was an offer to hook me up with some work, which I was
- qualified for (vastly overqualified for actually)
- willing to do if any actually materialized
So, I signed up for the low low price of fifty bucks.
Note: I would have done the work if there was any (there wasn't, this is a total scam, don't sign up for it) but my main objective was to see if there was any truth to Victor's promise (with just HTML and CSS knowledge, he could hook a junior dev up with $5k to $10k worth of work a month) because if it was true, I know a number of junior devs that this would be a really good deal for. (It's not true, don't do it.)
Here's the actual offer I signed up for
Here is what I actually received for my fifty bucks
imagine an entire field of crickets chirping
After signing up
I received an email asking me to fill out a skills inventory. I provided all the requested information. (Note: I am vastly overqualified for the 'you just need to know basic HTML and CSS' offer. I know HTML and CSS, well beyond basic, plus JavaScript, TypeScript, PHP, Python, Angular, React, etc, etc and have been a successful freelancer for over a decade.)
A couple days later after receiving zero response from Victor, I sent a follow up email asking if there was anything more he needed from me.
crickets
On Friday, I asked for a refund.
On Monday, he sent out a mass email about how he was getting a bunch of complaints so he was going to have to work out a system to ensure that work was distributed evenly. He managed to work in a plug about that 'one guy' who's made $4k so far.
I responded that I'd really just like my refund and that I would sign up again later once he'd ironed out the logistics.
He responded that he'd be happy to refund my money 'until Friday'.
We spent several hours arguing back and forth about the difference between the meaning, in English, of 'I will refund your money until Friday' and 'I will refund your money ON Friday'.
Eventually, I was done arguing and told him I'd just open a PayPal dispute then he could refund it through that. I was really starting to feel like he'd taken my money last week, spent it, done nothing to provide the service he promised, and was trying to kick the can over to next week in a never-ending brush-off intended to jerk me around until the PayPal dispute option deadline passed.
He came back with the most ridiculous responses imaginable. Apparently:
- if I open a dispute, it will take me far longer to get my refund (I took this as a threat that if I open a dispute, he'll drag the process out as long as he possibly can to 'get me back'. He says the dispute process naturally just takes longer. I responded that he could just pay the refund and the dispute goes away the second he does so.)
- he has a contact at PayPal he'll call up (to presumably wreak vengeance upon me for disputing a charge he has already agreed to refund.)
And then - I get another mass email from him (presumably sent to his entire mailing list) trying to get even more people to sign up (this time for the low low cost of three monthly payments of $19 each.)
The takeaway
If you are a Junior Developer getting Victor Bastos' emails promising you access to his client network, and you're thinking 'this just might be my chance':
DON'T DO IT
It is a scam.
The emails say you'll be included in his private facebook and linkedin networks. The emails say you'll get client work. The emails lie.
There might be one dude who signed up who's actually made $4k - I don't know, personally I'm dubious. What I do know is that as a highly qualified senior engineer, I got no invite to either a Facebook or Linkedin network, and I made exactly $0 and am disputing via PayPal to get my (wasted) money back.
Top comments (34)
Hi, I'm really sorry for the bad experience you had in the past with OnClick Academy. The first thing I can tell you is that we are not a scam, we are a team of people working really hard to provide the best learning experience to all our students. Please let me know how can we fix this, have you received a refund for this? we can also provide you a new access to the Freelancing Course Program that you mentioned which is now available at our school (onclickacademycourses.com/). Best Regards.
Chiming in to say that I signed up and it was a bunch of tutorials ripped from youtube.
Hi John, most of our tutorials/courses are from youtube through partnerships (this is clearly mentioned on our disclaimer about page). But we also have our own courses such as HTML/CSS, JavaScript, PHP/MySQL and others that are also available on Udemy under my name with good reviews. Check here: udemy.com/user/victorbastos3/
Access to these courses are completely FREE at onclickacademy.com/. If you have any complaints about other past products please contact us at support@onclickacademy.com OR victorcruzbastos@gmail.com and I'll be glad to help you.
The absolute best advice I can give any aspiring developer is this:
Never give this man your email address. He will spam you the rest of your life. Eventually, he'll con you into buying a lifetime membership for all his courses. Two months later, there will be a new lifetime membership he'll be trying to get you to buy because "these courses are in a different category". He'll try to get you to buy into joining his freelancer network. Basically, your inbox will be his new litter box. Hitting unsubscribe won't work, it'll unsubscribe you from one list, but this shitstain didn't just put you on this one list ... you will never be free of him. Ever.
Also, because he's bringing up reviews - the quality of his content is absolute shit. If you actually want to learn something, hit App Academy Open, The Odin Project, or CS50. Or, if you really want to pay money to learn, check out zero to mastery (Andrei Neagoie is fantastic). Or, hell, buy yourself a 1 year subscription to Coursera, you can learn a ton on Coursera in a year for $400.
Don't give this man your money. More importantly, don't give him your email address.
I'm sorry you had problems and feel that way about my past products or services. I'm here to help you if you need any help. Regarding the spam or emails you get, me and my team are currently creating campaigns ONLY through "Get Response", so if you already unsubscribed you will not get any more emails. If you're still getting emails from "Victor Bastos" or "Onclick Acadmy" after you unsubscribed, please do report them because they are not mine.
currently all my services and products outside Udemy are free with no cost.
What happened to all the people who paid you for lifetime access to 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, freelancer client products, etc? Did you just end it all after taking their money?
The people who asked for refund have been given a refund accordingly. I have zero complaints and zero refund requests on paypal. And most of my students and clients are actually very satisfied with my products and support. I know you had a bad experience in the past, but as I said before and at this moment, I can only say sorry and apologize for that matter.
And, even after "currently all my services and products outside Udemy are free with no cost." and "If you are still getting emails ... please do report them because they are not mine." THIS WEEK, I get another spam email to an email address I unsubscribed a year and a half ago trying to hook me into yet another subscription ...
So all the people who signed up for all of Victor's previous Special LIFETIME Offers are shit out of luck, all those offers and subscriptions are dead. But now there's a new offer?
"All our features and courses FOREVER" was the scam two years ago, and apparently it's still the scam today. Don't give this man your money. Or, your email. If he actually honored unsubscribe requests I wouldn't have received email confirmation today that he was lying his ass off this week when he said that everything from him outside Udemy was free.
If you're wondering how "everything not on Udemy is free" translates for Victor Bastos, the same week he post that, this was the pricing up on his "not Udemy" site:
Once again this is a legit business and if you doubt it you can clearly see there is a FREE plan there so you can check it is legit. And the rest of discount offers for paid plans are very good deals as they are LIFETIME plans for 1 time payment only. If you received that email is because you were still subscribed to my email list. As I told you, we use GET RESPONSE and once you unsubscribed we cannot send you any more emails. I feel like I'm done justifying things to a person who just wants problems and has a bad intention and hateful discussions. Good luck.
And, now, this week - TWO YEARS after you say this ... I'm getting emails from you trying to get me to buy your mailing list. The mailing list you shouldn't be able to send me emails on, because I unsubscribed, over and over and over again, years ago.
My only intention in this entire post and thread was, and remains, warning people to not give a sleezebag like yourself their email address. You will not unsubscribe them from everything. You will not stop emailing them. And, apparently, you hold onto their email address (even after they unsubscribe) and sell it to others.
You are horrible.
Our new platform now available at onclickacademy.com/
This is super disingenuous. When I asked for a refund you personally were wholeheartedly unhelpful. I had to file a dispute with Paypal to get my money back.
Thanks for writing this article. I too am a victim of this scam too. All of Victors products are rip offs of You Tube videos or other creators work.
Hi, I'm really sorry for the bad experience you had in the past with OnClick Academy. The first thing I can tell you is that we are not a scam, we are a team of people working really hard to provide the best learning experience to all our students. Please let me know how can we fix this, have you received a refund for this? we can also provide you a new access to the Freelancing Course Program that you mentioned which is now available at our school (onclickacademycourses.com/). Best Regards.
Dear Erik,if you personally have any negative experience with OnClick Academy it doesn't mean that is scam! I'm user of this platform for a long time and I never seen any scam or mistake from Victor Bastos.
Please check one of the best YouTube channel "Traversy Media" and you can see there many authors and not only Brad Traversy who is the Owner.
The absolute worst part of the scam is that when you sign up for any one thing, he adds you to what must be a billion mailing lists - you unsubscribe from one, then the next week you start getting emails from another. I've been unsubscribing from his mailing lists for months now.
Hi P1xt, most of our tutorials/courses are from youtube through partnerships (this is clearly mentioned on our disclaimer about page). But we also have our own courses such as HTML/CSS, JavaScript, PHP/MySQL and others that are also available on Udemy under my name with good reviews. Check here: udemy.com/user/victorbastos3/
Access to these courses are completely FREE at onclickacademy.com/. If you have any complaints about other past products please contact us at support@onclickacademy.com OR victorcruzbastos@gmail.com and I'll be glad to help you.
How does any of that pertain to the comment you replied to?
I still get spam email from you - a year and a half after I wrote that comment. And, now, you're spamming my replies on this site with marketing links to get more people to sign up for your shitty site.
And, none of that changes the fact that what I wrote in my original post was 100% the truth about my experience. I had to file a complaint with PayPal to keep you from just taking my money and giving me nothing.
If anyone is reading this, a year and a half after the fact, take special note that Victor is all about the canned marketing messages - he cut and paste this one at least three times today. But, he doesn't actually read and communicate. If he did, his first response to my complaint that it's impossible to get him to stop emailing me shit would not have been (paraphrased) "I am awesome, here's some links to where you can get my courses."
I'm sorry you had problems and feel that way about my past products or services. I'm here to help you if you need any help. Regarding the spam or emails you get, me and my team are currently creating campaigns ONLY through "Get Response", so if you already unsubscribed you will not get any more emails. If you're still getting emails from "Victor Bastos" or "Onclick Acadmy" after you unsubscribed, please do report them because they are not mine.
So why I don't have such a problems? But I use this resource not from today and never seen the things described by you.
Well, I can say I've been a Victor Bastos follower for a long time and currently a student at onclick academy, and I can say it changed my life. The onclick community is great and I don't have complaints about Onclick Academy, actually, it's one of my favorite places to learn web development right now.
I was a free user and I recently paid for the premium plan, the Onclick new platform is simple awesome, with a few bugs, but they're just starting out as a new social platform and looks really promising to me.
Victor always replies to all my emails, even we are connected on Facebook messenger. I directly send him my queries and get an instant reply.
Agree with you totally!!!
Sorry but this article seems to be just a try to scold OnClick Academy. I use this resource as well but I never seen anything described above. Victor is doing his job as a professional and never ignored any of my messages,I trust him!
I've been trying to unsubscribe from these emails for years. I still get an average of one a day. Luckily it's only in the spam now.
I can't comment on the content of the courses, but I can confirm that unsubscribing is not an option for me (or many others, it seems)
Victor is a scammer! period.
He always send emails to promote products that never exist ( in my case freelancing course).
Then after you pay, he never replies back, delivers the prodcut or sends a refund!
I contacted him so many times, but chose to ignore my messages and keep the stolen money!
I figure it was a scam and had to Google it. Thanks for the info. Didn't want to throw away $20 for a lifetime subscription I figure wasn't real.
Hey mate, you can't publically defame an organization like onClick Academy and it's C.E.O based on your previous experience since personal opinions are biased.
It isn't defamation to honestly review an internet business and its CEO who attempted to defraud you. If he doesn't want people calling him a scammer, he should maybe think twice before attempting to scam people.
This isn't opinion based. It is fact. He tried to scam me. Then he tried to bully me. I'm not defaming him. I'm honestly describing my interaction with him so that maybe others won't fall victim to his scams.
I have the receipts. Enough to fill at least a half a dozen more posts because he was a real jerk in his emails to me. He might want to think about that before he sends another round of followers to shitpost on this one post from years ago that no one but him and the people he sends here even looks at.
I also was not impressed. Everytime he updates his platform you have to re-sign up (At least in my case). On his newest platform I am not even registered with my email. Probably my own fault since I unsubscribed to emails because I was getting so much spam for me to buy his product that I was already subscribed to. Also, found that most of his content was often outdated. I am happy for those who are getting something out of it and Victor responds to you. It seems that he is very willing to respond if you are enjoying his platform but if you are unhappy, this is where he fails. There are many much better platforms to use and/or subscribe to.
Paid:
Traversy Media - Brad Traversy
Zero to Mastery - Andrei Neagoie
Programming with Mosh - Mosh Hamedani
Web Developer Bootcamp - Colt Steele
Free:
FreeCodeCamp
Odin Project
YouTube
All of the above have very active communities, support systems, and reliability.
I decided to not pursue OnClick Academy anymore as I feel like I don't get the best quality and value for my money. The money I gave for Lifetime Subcription is gone and now it is time to move on.
Yeah, Zero to Mastery especially is top notch. I've not seen a course there that was anything less that brilliant.
The spam emails have re-started again today from OnClick Academy, even though I have unsubscribed/muted/blocked/reported them over the last seven years!
Victor, leave me alone please!