Buyer beware
It's pretty bad when you have to do a story about people using your station's website to try to scam people. WBRE reported this week that scammers were trolling classifieds ads on PAHomePage.com to find people to rip off through so-called advance fee fraud. You know how it goes; seller posts ad, scammer sends check for more than the actual price, asks seller to send difference. Good luck getting your money.(PAHomePage.com's classifieds now sport a warning from WBRE consumer reporter Jeff Chirico on how not to lose your money.)
To be fair, PAHomePage.com isn't the only place where scammers look for suckers. Anyone who's posted a classified ad, in the newspaper or online, has probably gotten a bite from someone hoping to rip them off.
posted by Howard Beale at 10:22 PM
4 Comments:
I'll grant you it's not WBRE's fault. And yes, it could have happened just about anywhere on the web.
But you've got to admit it's embarrassing, more than a little ironic and damn near hysterical to have your consumer reporter go on TV to say, in effect, "We're ON YOUR SIDE tonight with a warning about...US!"
to anonymous....grow up and realize that any bonafide news organization is obligated to report fair and unbiased news stories. i commend wbre for telling the story that effects all classified web sites, not just their's.
I read Jeff's posting and there is no warning about Pahomepage, just a warning of the scammers.
I say kudos to Pahomepage and WBRE for looking out for their viewers over their own backsides.
"I read Jeff's posting and there is no warning about Pahomepage, just a warning of the scammers."
3:08 PM
That's because they changed the post--and softened it. The original was Chirico's 6PM script which talked SPECIFICALLY about PaHomePage.com and the "dozens" of complaints the station had received.
Doesn't seem all the noble to me to fess up when you've been had.
3:08PM issues "kudos" because WBRE didn't try a coverup? Sorry, pal. You don't get kudos for admitting you screwed the pooch: the pooch remains screwed no matter how you spin the story.
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