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Lisa

1334

576

Cheney

Scam Warning

9/11/2006 3:04:57 PM

Hello all,

With today being the 5th anniversary of the horrific events at the World Trade Center in New York, I felt obligated to offer you a fair warning.

I received the following email in several email accounts today. FYI: I have removed all the links. First the email, and then some more information:

Begin email:

$5 of every commemorative order is donated to official 9/11 family charities and memorials. Own a Piece of American History Commemorative Piece of History Own a piece of the Twin Tower Get your sculpture of the Twin Tower Get your sculpture of the Twin Tower Donate to Official 9/11 families

This historic 2-piece memorial transforms into a magnificent standing sculpture of the Twin Towers, and is clad in 24 KT gold and .999 Pure Silver recovered from Ground Zero!

This groundbreaking non-monetary issue will never be released for circulation.

Now, it is available through this special private minting for collectors only!

Own a piece of the Twin Tower

Get your sculpture of the Twin Tower

Donate to Official 9/11 families

Twin Tower Collectors Item!

Click Here!

End Email

Now, why did I send you this as a scam warning? Because it is a potential scam!

This site offers a memorial "piece" of the WTC's, with $5.00 donated to the 9/11 charities.

Red flag number 1- No where on the site does it offer information on which charities the donation will be made to!

Red flag number 2 - There is a link tracker on the link (a software program that tracks how many clicks are made on the link), and the tracker is "masked", meaning you can't see it. IF this is a legit offer of charitable contributions, why would there be a tracker or it? Why would they care? Also, the tracker is ran from a different website that the link forwards to.

Red flag number 3 - Upon investigation of the domain holder, it is found that the owner is listed in California. Wouldn't one think that funding raised for the WTC victims and survivors would be based out of NYC?

Red flag number 4 - Notice the "As Seen on TV" (top right). In my past experience, this means that whomever sent the email is an affiliate of the As Seen on TV site. And yes, they do offer an affiliate program; I checked!

After a second or two on the "As Seen on TV ", I found the exact same offer, with the exception of:

There is absolutely NO mention of ANY percentage of the purchases going towards any charity.

Now, some facts for you.

Did you know that within ONE hour of the attack of the Twin Towers, the scammers were already taking advantage of the victims? It's true. How sad is that??

If you wish to donate for ANY charitable cause:

Contact the charity via telephone;
The charities secure website (https);
Visit the local office of your favorite charity.

Be safe out there!

Toodles,

Lisa :)

Lisa Reddell :`)
Do you love candles?

Carl 5908 782 Edmonton	Re: Scam Warning 9/11/2006 3:09:07 PM
	Hi Lisa, This is a great post as many people will be taken in by that URL. It is unfortunate, the page is very well done as most people don't do the due diligence needed. Thanks again, you probably saved a lot of people a lot of money.
	Carl Haavaldsen http://uwanted2know.com

Lisa 1334 576 Cheney	Re: Scam Warning 9/11/2006 3:16:20 PM
	Thank you Carl. This type of scam just absolutely infuriates me! I can sell the exact same thing for the same amount of money. Granted, whomever sent this email is wanting to make money through affiliate programs; and perhaps it never crossed their mind to include the charity they claim they will be donating 5% of sales to... but I seriously doubt it. Every American looks upon this 5 year anniversary with great sadness. And most of all - emotion. Deep, raw, human emotions. And that is what this person is counting on. I will be contacting the As Seen on TV website about this. Thanks for stopping by Carl! Toodles, Lisa :)
	Lisa Reddell :`) Do you love candles?

Kathy 1695 3270 G. H.	Re: Scam Warning 9/11/2006 3:45:23 PM
	Thanks Lisa. I agree with you & carl it just bursts my bubble that people have to go to that level. Today is sad enough for alot of friends they don't need more on the fire (so to speak). God Bless You & ALL OF OUR ADLAND FRIENDS
	See me for all your Tupperware needs Online Tupperware Parties! Free Online Tools, http://www.rotatrixfriends.net/index.php/public/s

Lisa 1334 576 Cheney	Re: Scam Warning 9/11/2006 3:58:55 PM
	Hello Kathy! Another thing that makes my angry is when someone uses tragedy for their personal gain. For example, the first week after the 9/11 attacks, I started seeing items online exploiting the victims and their families... the whole "terrorist" situation. Someone actually had printed toilet paper with Osama Ben Ladin's face on it, and was selling it. Was I hacked off? Oh, you bet I was! The site was on one of the hosts that offer free websites (note-this was NOT on AdlandPro's free site!), that never actually looks at their users sites. I contacted the owner/host and informed them about the site. It was taken down PDQ. Grrrrr.... Toodles, Lisa :) .
	Lisa Reddell :`) Do you love candles?