You know it's always been said that there is never a free lunch. With the government making it very well known they are passing out all this money for the stimulus plan, scammers are jumping at the chance to take advantage of this publicity. Check out the PC World article
"Scam Alert: Don't Fall for Bogus 'Stimulus' Checks".
Most likely there are several reasons we're seeing this upturn in on-line scams. First, people are in a bit of a panic; panic being fed by the over abundance of financial doom and gloom stories in the news. It's not surprising that average folks are looking at any way possible to get a leg up in this time of uncertainty so they're more prone to getting involved in a get rich quick scheme. Throughout history, frauds and carpetbaggers have taken advantage of times like these to line their own pockets by preying on the uninformed or panic stricken populous. In the news we hear about how bad the credit market is yet in the commercials we see someone who will fix all our credit problems. It's like they are the miracle cure for the problem I've just been told I have. Do I really have a problem? Most likely no. Hey, I've got an idea; why doesn't the government tell AIG to go over to one of those companies who advertise that they can boost my credit rating? After all if they have the ability to fix my problem why can't they do it on a larger scale?
I'm not saying we don't have problems, it's obvious that with the downturn on Wall Street and the decline in the job market that something is going on. There are tons of indicators out there that point out that we're in a real mess but the problem is that we also have all these folks out there with seemingly miracle cures to our financial woes. Do you realise that most of the folks out there saying they can fix your credit score are going to do nothing more than what you can do for yourself? The companies that tell you they will intervene with your creditors to lower your payment are doing nothing more than the same thing
you can do for yourself. Although perfectly legal it's still a scam because they're charging you for a service you don't need to buy.
Another reason scammers are becoming more prevalent is the anonymity of the internet. The article at PC World outlined a few scams that were targeting ads posted on Facebook. These ads are simple, cheap, and can be done from anywhere in the world. The very thing we love about computers and the internet help us create the illusion of security. We go to a website looking for some tidbit of information and the sites are saturated with advertisements. Here's what I'm talking about; go to your favorite search engine and do a search for Disneyworld. You'll find many websites with information but only a few that are actually run by Disney. Click on one of the ones that looks like a site from the Orlando tourist bureau and you are suddenly on a site that surrounds you with ads for hotels, travel agents, car rentals, everything but information on the park. These sites have now become a revenue generation device created by folks that have no interest in providing you what you want. All they care about is that you click on one of their ads.
Google is getting into the ad fray as well. With AdSense, you can allow Google to place ads on your blog or website and you will supposedly get paid if people click on the ads from your site. For a blog like mine I'm sure they potential for revenue is very small but what about some of the more popular sites? I'm sure a site like PC World or Disney generated millions in ad revenue just by allowing someone else to advertise on them. Facebook is becoming replete with these types of ads. Along the right sidebar of Facebook is a column dedicated to ads like the one that was outlined in the article. Are they scams? Well I'm sure some are but they're not going to be removed unless people complain. The key to AdSense and Facebook is that they need to look legitimate but they don't really have to do anything. The cost and effort is low but the rewards potential is great; a "perfect storm" for scamming. When you click on one of these ads they activate their counter one more time so someone can claim their advertisements work. Someone is getting paid with every click but we are the ones that are paying. Advertisement revenue is at an all time high and we users are the ones paying for it. And on top of everything else, the folks generating income from illegal activity are advertising right along with the legitimate ones.
Both Facebook and
AdSense have people dedicated to fighting fraud in their advertisements but they only focus on the ones people complain about. This is how we get involved. If you see one that is a fraud, something that looks too good to be true make sure you report it. In Google you can contact AdSense but in Facebook you have to click on the "thumbs down" icon below the ad. It's a short and simple process either way but could potentially have huge rewards for all of us. There's nothing wrong with either of these advertising service but they are being preyed upon by the scamming community just like us. In order to reduce the scammers success though, we all need to get involved and tell these companies about the frauds. As a rule of thumb, if it's too good to be true, too easy to do, or just flat out false we should report it. The other way we help fix the problem is to simply not click on the ads. A little "mouse discipline" will go a long ways in reducing the income of the criminals and they will go elsewhere to peddle their fake wares.
