Washington, DC, March 27, 2000 - In the largest ever international law enforcement project to fight fraud on the Internet, 150 organizations in 28 countries, including seven U.S. Federal agencies, 49 state and local consumer protection agencies, and 39 Better Business Bureaus have swept the Internet targeting phony get-rich-quick schemes. “Internet con artists are bad actors without borders,” said Jodie Bernstein, Director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “We want them to know that the borderless Internet marketplace is not a free zone. The partnership we’ve put together represents 150 organizations from 28 countries on five continents working together to fight Internet fraud.”
Ken Hunter, president and CEO of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, the umbrella organization for the nation’s BBBs, said that the Internet fraud sweep “clearly demonstrates the power of public/private partnerships.”
“Regulators and self-regulators accomplish more by working together,” Hunter said in remarks at the press conference.
Dubbed ‘GetRichQuick.Con’, the surf involved fraud fighters from the U.K. to Uruguay, from Korean to Kansas. Together the surfers collected and forwarded information to the FTC on more than1,600 suspect sites.
“The FTC and our partners are putting get-rich-quick schemes on notice that we’re monitoring the Web and that we intend to take law enforcement action against those that continue to make fraudulent or deceptive claims. Though we speak different languages, on the subject of Internet fraud, it’s with one voice -- con artists will not threaten the safety of the ‘Net on our watch,” Bernstein said.
More than 100 volunteers and staff at 39 Better Business Bureaus in the United States and Canada participated in the surf, identifying 289 web sites and earning BBBs the “top surfer” ranking.
“BBBs are all too aware of how many consumers fall victim each day to get-rich-quick offers, and we know that such schemes are jeopardizing consumer trust and confidence in the Internet,” Hunter said. “By partnering with law enforcement, we knew we could maximize our impact in weeding out these insidious frauds.”
The surf project was conducted primarily during the week of February 28. Members surfed the Net looking for bogus work-at-home offers, business opportunity scams, pyramid schemes, illegal lotteries and other sites offering easy riches. The initiative relied heavily on the Internet itself. Partners for the international effort were recruited via e-mail, and a step-by-step manual for conducting the surf and collecting evidence was posted on a password-protected Web site. Upon finding a suspicious promotion, a surf participant located anywhere around the globe could use this Web site to submit information directly into a database administered by the FTC in Washington, D.C. Warning e-mails are now being sent to the targeted sites, with hyperlinks to the partners’ consumer and business education materials at www.consumer.gov - a U.S. government Web site developed and hosted by the FTC that contains information for consumers from 140 Federal government Web sites.
“If these bad actors can use this new technology to deceive consumers, we can use it to catch them,” Bernstein at the FTC said. “And we have.”
The law enforcers will continue to monitor the sites to see if they’ve changed their claims in response to e-mail messages and will undertake a coordinated law enforcement effort to shut down sites that demonstrate they won’t comply with the law.
BBBs participating in the Internet fraud sweep included:
Abilene Better Business Bureau, Inc.
Better Business Bureau of Central, North Central, and Southeastern Washington
Better Business Bureau of Central Florida
Better Business Bureau of Central Illinois
Better Business Bureau of Central Indiana
Better Business Bureau of Central Ohio
Better Business Bureau of Chicago & Northern Illinois, Inc.
Better Business Bureau of Coastal Carolina
Better Business Bureau of Dayton/Miami Valley, Inc.
Better Business Bureau of Greater Hampton Roads
BBB of Mainland British Columbia
Better Business Bureau of Metropolitan Houston
Better Business Bureau of Metropolitan Washington
Better Business Bureau of Middle Tennessee, Inc.
Better Business Bureau of New Hampshire, Inc.
Better Business Bureau of New Mexico, Inc.
Better Business Bureau of North Alabama, Inc.
Better Business Bureau of Northeast Kansas
Better Business Bureau of Southeast Texas
Better Business Bureau of Southern Arizona
Better Business Bureau of Southern Colorado, Inc.
Better Business Bureau of the Pikes Peak Region
Better Business Bureau of Utah
Better Business Bureau, Inc. of West Florida
Better Business Bureau of Western Michigan
Better Business Bureau of Western Pennsylvania
Better Business Bureau serving Asheville and Western North Carolina
Better Business Bureau serving Central North Carolina
Better Business Bureau serving Central Virginia
Better Business Bureau serving Wisconsin
Better Business Bureau, Inc. in Augusta, Georgia
Better Business Bureau, Inc. in Cleveland, Ohio
Better Business Bureau, Inc. in Columbia, South Carolina
Better Business Bureau, Inc. in Omaha, Nebraska
Better Business Bureau/Canton Regional, Inc.
Denver/Boulder Better Business Bureau
Long Island Better Business Bureau
Mountain States Better Business Bureau
A complete list of the surfing partners and copies of the consumer and business education material associated with this ‘GetRichQuick.Con’ surf project are available from the FTC’s web site at http://www.ftc.gov and at http://www.consumer.gov/bizonline.
