Here is a list of things that literally anyone can do:
- Run an advertisement in the classified section of the newspaper
- Start a website
- Send an email message
- Tape a poster or sign to a telephone pole
This is an important fact to remember when you’re considering whether or not to call a phone number or give your name and other personal information out over the Internet.
I was reminded of this when I heard that the U.S. Postal Service jobs scam I wrote about just the other day had showed up in one of the newspapers here in Northwest Indiana. An employee here at REGIONAL called the number, just to see if it was the same rip-off I posted about. She told me, “The first thing out of her mouth was, ‘It’s $129.95. Will that be credit or debit?'”
There is no vetting process in the classifieds. Newspapers do not check out alleged businesses before running their ads. I could call them up right now and, as long as I paid for it, run an ad that said, “Build your own flying saucer out of household materials! Capable of inter-planetary travel. Seats 4 adults. Plans only $99.95” and they would run it (just like they would also run one that said, “Be a secret shopper! $483/day!”). They just don’t have the resources to verify the claims of every advertiser.
The Internet is the same way, only worse. Anybody can create a website, and make it look very slick and professional. There is absolutely no physical barrier to lying on a website, or setting up a fake business that just steals money or personal information.
Heck, I could say this site is “as seen on MSNBC,” even though it hasn’t been. Yet.
Actually, when you link to a CNN.com article, as I’ve done a few times, a link to your article shows up at the bottom of their page in the “From the Blogs” section. So I could say the Fraud Prevention Unit is “as seen on CNN,” right?
Right?
Okay, fine. I’ll have to wait for my Larry King interview. Or maybe an hour-long special! Or…