There's nothing better than listening to music on a trendy iPod, unless that iPod comes for free.

The Web site www.freeipods.com has given away close to 5,000 free iPods to people who sign up for Web site referrals, said Peter Martin, co-president of Gratis Internet.

Gratis Internet owns the Web site, and the company has delivered more than $1 million worth of iPods since the beginning of June, when the Web site was created, Martin said.

"It definitely skews toward the college-age demographic. It's not only because [iPod] is more popular, but it's also because [students] are Internet-savvy users," he said.

Cole Camplese, director of Information Sciences and Technology Solutions Institute, said these kinds of offers are not a new trend.

"The whole idea of getting a popular item and using it as a bait is not a new phenomenon," he said.

Choosing the iPod as the free product has been important to the Web site's success.

"Our company tends to follow trends on what's hot, and the iPod is by far one of the hottest products out there, and we wanted to reach that popularity," Martin said.

According to the Bureau of Consumer Protection, there have been no complaints filed against Gratis Internet. But Senior Deputy Attorney General Barry Creany said people should be concerned about what information they give out for these kinds of offers.

"I'm not as comfortable with it and you have to first find out about the privacy policy of this site because you're likely to invite more offers," he said. "Maybe you're actually compromising a lot of information."

The concept of the Web site follows a two-step process, Martin said. Users must first complete an offer and then refer five more friends who also carry out an offer, he said.

Examples of offers include signing up for a credit card or registering for a free trial with Blockbuster Video. Terms for completing the offer vary from company to company. After completing the two steps, users can get a free iPod or a $250 gift certificate.

Jeremy Vallimont (junior-science) said he found out about the Web site from someone who was waiting for his iPod to come in the mail.

"I signed up for it on Monday, and I had three people by the end of the night. You give out your e-mail and mailing address, but for [the offer], you have to give out a credit card number," he said. "I've already had one person complain to me that they got a lot of junk mail."

Colleen Taylor (junior-public relations) said she found out about the Web site from a friend who sent her the link.

"I thought it was a scam at first, and then I signed up later. I saw that other people had signed up for offers and that it was legitimate," she said. "I figured out it was a pyramid scheme, so I didn't care for it."

Finding a popular item is the key to getting people interested enough to sign up to participate, Camplese said.

"It's an evolution of trends that have gone off in the past by choosing popular consumer products, in this case the iPod," he said. "[It was done] 15 years ago or so, when you could sign up and get 10 CDs for a penny."

The iPods are very popular among students, said Jim McLuckie, computer product specialist at Best Buy, 1650 N. Atherton St.

"We generally sell out of them very fast -- as soon as we get them in. They're the one of the most popular items," he said. "We do get a number of students who come in for it. I don't know if it's because of Napster or the overall popularity of it."

Web sites like www.freeipods.com do not really affect sales, he said.

"I don't think it has a major impact because there's the issue of believability -- [whether] it works or not," McLuckie said.

Vallimont has already completed the offer and said he did not really have any concerns.

"The hassle is worth the $200 that an iPod would normally cost," he said.

Creany said giving out personal information is an important concern to take into consideration.

"I would be more concerned about what privacy information you give out and how they use that," he said.