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Beware of Fake TV news sites

jal41

jal41

http://www.11alive.com/news/article_news.aspx?storyid=111894
http://www.wmgt.com/node/6444

Some scam artist has set up a website for a WACT Action 25 News in Macon, GA. Only there is no Action 25 (there is a WGXA 24, which is Macon's Fox affiliate).

Scam site: http://www.action25news.com (Remember - this is a scam)

They apparently are using the site as a front for training DVD's. They have someone pretending to be a consumer reporter is giving glowing reviews of these DVDs - which if you order, you will never recieve.

The address they give for their studio location does not exist, but a radiator repair shop is located in the spot where the address would be if it were real (the owners of the shop had no knowledge of the scam until WMGT/Macon showed up at their door).

If the consumer reporter is giving a glowing opinion about something (and it is not a consumer advisor like WSB's Clark Howard, who is clearly not a reporter), it is a scam (Alarm Bell #1).

I looked at the site, and it looks like a real IBS site (IBS does websites for Cox, NBC, Hearst-Argyle, and Meredith). The scammers behind this site have lifted some code from the WSOC/Charlotte website, because there is a section refering that says "If you are having trouble viewing Channel 9 or Action 64, please tell us your Zip Code and check one of the following:" (Action 64 is WAXN). But they are using an RSS aggrigator to get the news headlines from Google (Alarm Bell #2).

The site with the review (accessed by clicking on the "Action 25" link on the top navbar) is another site at another domain with a completly different design altogether that looks like there was no lifted code (Alarm Bell #3).

The domain name is registered to a Frank Milian, but it is a private registration. It was registered on 12/2/07, so this scam has only been around the past month or so.

If the FBI or the FTC doesn't shut them down, Cox and IBS need to sue these scammers for stealing website code. That should shut these people down (for a while).
 
Hey, that's another alarm bell. The entire news team is white! Now, I'm not trying to be racist, but the obvious is that, especially for a station that's supposed to be "in the south", they're going to have, at least, one black reporter, if not a black anchor. The consultants would've told them it would make them look "more balanced".

Here's something else that's retarded: The Legitimate news station, WXIA-TV Atlanta, an hour and a half away from Macon used the report from NBC News. What?! Network's covering something in your own back yard?! I know that Gannett and 11 Alive's got their problems, but Gannett also owns WMAZ-TV in Macon, and they couldn't get a local reporter to cover the story?

Ammendment: I originally posting this at 00:35, but after looking at WMAZ's website, they localized the report and posted the video story: http://www.13wmaz.com/video/player_news.aspx?storyid=49391&aid=48083
 
Just looking at their website, I bet the distributors of The Andy Griffith Show and Oprah would just LOVE to know they are being used in a scam!
 
Scammers are always out there some place willing to stick their hand into pockets they have no business being in.

This idea was too creative to just go away.

It'll most likely resurface as the same scam under a different name...perhaps even in another Country.

Google anything that relates to what they were claiming to sell, and watch google find it...somewhere in the near future.
(no fact intended, just mere observation of a clever scam)
 
The re-emergence is already in the works. Supposed consumer reporter Dave Howard has changed his name to Jack Howard. And it looks like the new site will claim to be based somewhere in Florida.
 
It's not the first time these scam artists tried this. Last year, they used a "consumer reporter" named Ron Jamieson at WRWD-TV in Dayton, OH. WRWD is assigned to a country station in the Lower Hudson Valley region of New York. They've also used WFYZ in Tennessee and a "consumer reporter" named Dan Stafford. The call letters are no longer used, but were assigned to a TV station in Murfreesboro.

Amazingly, they use the exact same template for all of the "consumer reporters", only changing the state where they are located.

More on these scam artists can be found at http://www.scam.com/showthread.php?t=33478
 
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