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FTC Names Top-10 "Dot-Con" Types
stereoroid writes "InfoWorld has an article describing how the US Federal Trade Commission" has listed the "Top 10 Types" of "Dot-Con" scam. The main web page does not name names, but the PDFs downloadable from there certainly do - hundreds of names. Then there's the list of last month's actions, including MS WebTV's "Deceptive Advertising Claims". "
Okay, maybe the redial thing is a legit scam for people who don't understand computers, but these are just the same cons that get perpetrated on people everyday in the non-internet world.
Multi-level marketing, credit card fraud, paying for something and getting either cheap crap or nothing (this is on the list in four different variations), and bullshit investment advice have all been going on for a long time before computers. People don't need the internet to fall for this stuff.
Don't forget that Friday is Hawaiian shirt day.
After reviewing a few of the "scams" on the list, it seems like most of these could be eleminated (or at least lessened) by taking just a "few" precautions.
1) Do NOT download/install/run software from agencies/websites that you don't "know and trust." If software is offered for download from a "news agency's" website -- fine. If you are offered "Joe Bob's Brand X Debt Eliminator program" From "Joe Bob's Webyard" -- well, just dont even try it.
2) Be VERY wary of most auction sites. Online Auctions are wonderful things -- I frequent ebay and onsale auctions all the time -- but they can also be a big area for fraud. If you see an item at an unbelievably low price, excercise buyer caution. If available, look at the information regarding the seller and info that might suggest that he doesn't sell in "good faith." Also, whenever possible pay through a "mediator" program like PayPal or through a credit card, as these services allow you to recover money lost because of fraud.
3) "Pay 1 dollar to everyone on this list, and add your name to this list. I made over 120,000 dollars my first time!!" -- Plain and simple: DO NOT BOTHER... that and report whoever you receive this from to your/their ISP.
While there are a lot of things to "check up on" and avoid, the biggest and most important thing to remember is to excersize some common sense -- if you wouldn't do it in "meatspace" dont do it on the net.
If you get whacked for not reading the fine print, you're an idiot. Period. It's your buck and if you choose to be careless with it, don't whine about it when the bill comes.
Those dialers get a bad rap, but the one's I've seen clearly anounce the fact that you're dialing a toll number and paying for access with a telephone call instead of a check or credit card. Seems like a viable alternative to people that don't have credit cards to me. It also seems like a viable alternative for online merchants who get shafted everyday by the credit card company's oligopoly.
It's a governmental function that monitors fraud in the market. WebTV is outright lying in their advertisements. This is a public channel that warns consumers about such actions, allowing them to be the informed consumers our country needs to function properly under the tenets of the free market. Personally I plan on using this as a reference when warning others away from such devices, they are severely limited and always will be. But that's not what the AOLTv commercials will say.
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Have you read the FTC's complaint against WebTV? http://www.ftc.gov/os/2000/10/webtvcomplaint.htm.. . basically boils down to, "WebTV says the box-top set is great and replaces the need for a computer to get on-line, but WebTV doesn't tell you can't use WebTV to download files or open common email attachments." Oy. It's a lengthy complaint probably costing us several hundred dollars of tax money.
I could not justify my existence if I were a turkey farmer. Would I terminate myself? Undoubtably, yes.
Contet doesn't matter in this instance. The FTC is concerned because some (most...) of those dialer programs dial numbers in foreign countries, usually somewhere in the Caribbean. It's very much like long distance slamming, where you get shunted from the service you expect to be using to one with incredibly high rates.
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Am I the only one who thinks Microsoft is a misnomer? Perhaps Macrosoft would be a better fit?
From the article ... "One common complaint involved consumers who were automatically disconnected from their ISP (Internet service provider) when they downloaded software used to view entertainment, said Eileen Harrington, director for marketing practices at the FTC."
Would you still feel bad about the scam if you knew it was't just "entertainment" but PORN? Doesn't the FTC want us to know that they're looking after our PORN-viewing rights?
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