Never in the history of e-commerce has the warning, “Buyer Beware” been so crucial and harbored such boding undertones.
Internet fraud is rampant and doesn’t seem to be subsiding any time soon. With thousands of scams being reported to authorities annually throughout the world, one can only imagine what a daunting task it is for law enforcement to gather information, launch investigations and prosecute alleged scammers.
Admittedly, the posse has been riding far behind the bandits for quite some time, and the prospect of them catching up any time soon looks rather bleak.
However, we can do our part by being savvy shoppers, by taking the time to do our research, by making smart choices and by taking action when necessary.
The basic human instinct when discovering we’ve been victimized is to try to get beyond it as quickly as possible, and quietly hope someone else does the unpleasant job of taking care of things.
Unfortunately, many times silence is interpreted as consent, even though it may not be consent! Although good-hearted, well-intentioned individuals would be more than happy to sign a petition or vote in a poll at the click of a mouse, they balk at taking further steps in helping to fight online crime.
Perhaps it is just a matter of not having the correct information available to report fraud and in that case I have taken the liberty of compiling a list of web-sites which may prove to be quite useful.
Feel free to peruse them at your leisure and remember to bookmark them for future reference:
The GPTBoycott Forum offers members a chance to submit complaints and discuss various programs.
At the Internet Fraud Complaint Center, you’ll be directed to file complaints about individual businesses, which will then be disbursed to appropriate agencies across the globe. Sites which have closed should not be precluded. Keep in mind there may involve statutes of limitations. You may also present general, sweeping concerns regarding the Paid-To-Read industry as a whole.
You will find pertinent domain ownership registration information through the “InterNIC” and “Who-Is” web-sites.
Remember, we have an innate right to expect payment for work performed. Excessive alterations to the Terms of Service; suspicious deletions of member accounts; improper, forced and unbalanced conditions and ultimatums; giving away or selling databases and closing debt-ridden sites without compensation are all unlawful practices many program owners have grown accustomed to due to apathy, tolerance and acceptance.
Please do your part by taking a moment to file these much needed complaints.
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