Happy New Year Kenneth,

and thanks for the welcome reminder to do our own due diligence.  As Linda has just pointed out,  Communities have their good and their bad sides. 

The old maxim of not mixing business with pleasure is just as valid on the internet as it is in life.  There are times when it is more pleasant to do business with our friends - but first we need to ask ourselves if it is a product that we really want.  For example - if you need a new office chair - you may well buy one from a friend, instead of a stranger - HOWEVER - if you dont need an office chair - you dont just go and buy one to please a friend who sells them! 

Good salesmen are able to create a "need" for their product.  This is where due diligence, which is only a new way of saying  doing your homework is critical  So, then and only when you have made a thorough investigation and decide it is a product or service that has an added value for you  and you would happily  buy it from a stranger,  it is ok to buy it from a friend.! 

The internet is only, as Kenneth has already pointed out, a tool in our hands.  The basic rules of business on and off line are the same.  And Gary Simpson's   magnificent observation on Linda's forum says it all in a nutshell

 "Believe me because I believed someone else." That doesn't make anything legal or ethically true.

Gary, you deserve an award for Quote of the Year

Thanks Kenneth for the reminder to do our own due diligence.  There is no substitute

Saludos
Jenny

Hi, Kenneth, Living, as I do, in a very popular holiday destination, I am absolutely staggered by the 'I left my brain at home' mentality of visitors. Over and over again they get conned by something that they would not have even looked at at home! Why is a holiday resort treated any differently from home when money is concerned? The same thing is true on the internet. 1 - Why would anybody pay for the priviledge of selling somebody else's product? How many affiliates actually paid their employer (if they have one) to secure their jobs? Any commission only salesmen out there are invited to let us know how much they paid for their position. 2 - How many people look in the 'Situations Vacant' classifieds expecting to see adverts saying 'do no work and we will pay you - let us do all the work and we will pay you even more'? Just two examples that are rife on the net. If you wouldn't try them on the high street, why would you try them in cyber space?

Hello kenneth,

Great forum with a ton of great information.  Thank you for trying to keep us all on our toes....May you have a happy, healthy, prosperous and blessed New Year!

For Mary H.,

Everyone should use http://www.callingid.com   This program works.  It is a very useful tool and even if it does show ownership and the addresses.  It also warns if the site is on a blacklist or a known phishing site.   I am sorry that you feel that 'callingid' is not a good resource, but I am of the opinion that it is extremely valuable.  Everyone doing business online should utilize their service.