News
http://www.crime-research.org/news/2004/02/Mess0301.html
Beware of Get Rich Quick Schemes
Date: February 03, 2004
Source: News First abc
Attorney General Jon Bruning wants to raise awareness of several scams going on and his message is. . . If it's too good to be true then it probably is. . . . Bruning held a press conference today to kick off the fifth annual consumer protection week. Last year. . .his office received the most complaints for internet fraud schemes claiming to help you “get rich quick.” Bruning says a lot of scams ask for money and consumers should use caution. Postmaster Doug Emery says if you receive anything that appears to be a mail fraud scheme. . . contact postal inspection services in Omaha. “Our goal is to educate postal customers and to decrease the number of consumers falling victim. The top 5 scams this year are free prize conspiracies, foreign lotteries, pyramid schemes, investment fraud plans, and work at home schemes.” Scott Meacham from the better business bureau says if you own a computer, mailbox, or telephone. . . You could be a victim. “You simply can't make hundreds or thousands of dollars a week working from home. If you have to send money, the only person making the money is the con artist you're sending it too.” For more information about the scams. . . Visit the Nebraska Attorney General's website at wwww.ago.state.ne.us
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/688794.stm
BBC News
Get-rich-quick.con crackdown
Consumer groups scoured the net in a global exercise Consumer watchdogs have announced a crackdown on dubious internet sites which promise quick profits for unwary investors. The UK's Office of Fair Trading is sending warning e-mails to the owners of several websites after taking part in a global exercise led by the US Federal Trade Commission to pinpoint questionable get-rich-quick schemes. A total of nearly 100 potentially misleading sites were uncovered by British consumer agencies, including an undisclosed number based in the UK which could now face direct action by the authorities. Trading standards officers have sent a written warning that there could be legislation governing their activities, regardless of where the company is based. Cyber-scams The consumer groups involved in the exercise each spent three hours scouring the internet for bogus homeworking schemes, business opportunities, lotteries, chain letters and pyramid investment plans - known as cyber-scams. OFT director general John Bridgeman said: "People should be very wary of claims that large amounts of money can be earned for little or no effort. If something sounds too good to be true, then it probably is." Among the website claims uncovered by trading standards officers was an offer to make customers into millionaires in return for a "one-time" investment of $25 (about £17). Another claimed: "The most amazing discovery about creating financial wealth and freedom is simply too easy to believe." The sites, which were uncovered during a week-long trawl earlier this month by consumer protection agencies across the world, will be monitored during the next eight weeks to see if they change the wording of their claims. Failure to drop misleading or potentially deceptive claims could result in prosecution by enforcement agencies, an OFT spokeswoman said.