AUTHORITIES TAKE DIM VIEW OF “SCAM” WEBSITES.

It is very pleasing to see the Authorities in this Country have finally decided to act on unscrupulous and unethical practices which have increased dramatically over the past few years.

Fairpatton.com fully supports the efforts of the relevant Authorities in bringing these undesirables to Justice.

The following article has been published in most of the major newspapers in this Country.

Fairpatton.com sincerely hopes Authorities world wide will follow the Australian lead.

The consumer watchdog is investigating 141 Australian websites suspected of scamming the public following an international sweep of the internet conducted by consumer protection agencies yesterday.

The suspicious sites include those providing genealogy/family history services, online DNA testing, lotteries, premium mobile services and arbitrage betting providers, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said.

If the website operators are unable to substantiate their claims they will be forced to make modifications or take the sites down altogether.

"The law is the law. When dealing with traders operating in Australia, the same basic rights apply online as they do offline," ACCC deputy chairman Peter Kell said.

The move comes after 30 government operatives in Canberra yesterday carried out a widespread sweep of the internet, searching for sites that sought to deceive shoppers, investors and researchers with scams, overhyped promises and false claims in general.
They were joined by more than 20 consumer protection agencies around the world, which examined sites based out of their respective countries.

The local operatives included staff from the ACCC, ACT Office of Fair Trading, Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy and the Treasury. They found the sites using predetermined search terms such as "anti-ageing" and "instant millionaire".

ACCC spokeswoman Lin Enright said 751 local sites were investigated yesterday and, of those, 141 had been "flagged for in-depth review".

The Communications Minister, Stephen Con roy, said trust and confidence underpinned the growth of Australia's digital economy.

"Australians should have the confidence that, when they transact online, they have the same levels of protection that they have in the offline world," he said.

The ACCC said it would not release the names of the sites being investigated until it had established there was a breach of the Trade Practices Act 1974.

But among the regulator's findings were genealogy sites advertised as Australian services despite offering only overseas family records, DNA testing sites that were "too good to be true", online lotteries with hidden terms and qualifiers and premium mobile phone services purporting to be free but containing hidden charges.

Another problem area was sites offering arbitrage betting services, the ACCC said.
They falsely claimed to make large sums of money for investors without exposing the investors to risk by placing multiple bets on each outcome with different betting companies.
Results from the sweeps by the overseas agencies were still coming in and final figures were not yet available, Enright said.

This month the ACCC succeeded in shutting down the Designer Brand Outlet website, which promised discount designer clothes but delivered fakes or no products at all.

The regulator has turned to the Federal Court to try to obtain compensation for people who lost money in the scam and has asked any affected Australian consumers to phone (02) 9230 9133.

Kind Regards,

John McCallum
Fairpatton.com

In early May 2007, I decided I could no longer continue promoting and defending PROGRAMS and ADMINISTRATORS whilst at the same time being critical about many aspects of the Surfing Industry. I was of the opinion the only way to rectify this problem was to close this site and my Forum and allow the unethical and unscrupulous element of the Auto Surfing Industry to continue with their LIARS, DECEIT and DECEPTION, however, I was very uncomfortable taking that direction.

Having given this matter considerable thought I soon realized what I had to do, “I have never been a DEFEATIST and I was not about to start now”.

It was time to put my mind to the grindstone, make enquiries, listen to advice, and structure a business plan which was both VIABLE and SUSTAINABLE.

As Referral Commission is ILLEGAL according to the advice I have received, NONE of the following PROGRAMS will be promoted by me on Fairpatton, namely, Auto Surfs, Manual Surfs, Hybrids, HYIP's, HYLP's, MLM's, Paid to Click, Paid to Read, Paid to Promote, Matrix's, Randomizer's or Business Opportunities. Further information about this decision can be viewed on the Fairpatton Forum.

Due to this decision Fairpatton’s Forum will be a PRIVATE members promotional and chat vehicle for those interested. To provide this service there will be a FEE, ranging from $2.50 to $6 a month depending upon the plan you wish to participate.

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