Down on Scammers - dsinfotek.com

How To Protect Yourself and Stay Legal

In light of the recent press coverage of money making scams
and internet buzz about the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
filing criminal charges against some website owners, it might
be appropriate to address the topic.

In a recent move, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) initiated
a sweeping crackdown on what they termed "Internet
Scammers" and "Deceptive Spammers." The FTC, state and
federal officials filed 45 criminal and civil law actions and froze
several corporate and personal assets of various internet
marketers.

Specific targets included deceptive schemes and illegal scams
like auction fraud, illegal sale of controlled substances, fake
business opportunities, fraudulent money-making scams,
advance-fee credit card offers, and those involved in identity
theft.

In the long run this crackdown will clean up the internet and rid
internet marketing of the stigma it has received from all the
scam artists preying on the gullable and unsuspecting. Honest
online businesses and merchants have suffered at the hands of
these scammers long enough. Ultimately they have caused
consumer fear and a reluctance to conduct business online.
With these new measures consumer confidence will begin to
rise and eventually online sales will increase.

At the moment the fear is that some legitimate enterprises may
get swept up in the government crackdown. Innocent victims
stand a chance of getting caught in the crossfire.

What can you do to protect yourself?

If you operate any business online, or plan to set one up, the
following guidelines should help you avoid problems.

Tell The Truth

Do nor promise what you can not deliver and do not use
semantics to try and trick or confuse your customers. Promising
one thing and delivering another is a good way to get yourself
in legal hot water.

Do Not Make Outrageous Claims

Don't make outrageous claims you can't substantiate. A big
difference exists between good salesmanship and making
claims that no sane person, or at least the average person,
could ever achieve.

You can tell people that you can show them "how to get
thousands of hits to their website." or show them "how to make
money online" but do not say that you will "show them how to
get thousands of hits to their website by tomorrow" or "show
them how to make $10,000 this weekend."

Your Site Should Have The Correct Legal Documents

Your best protection is maintaining the proper legal documents
in order to operate within the guidelines set forth by the FTC.

Remember, ignorance of the law does not excuse breaking the
law!

You must know whether your business needs a disclaimer,
terms of service, privacy notice and other legal documents.
And, by the way, the time to find out you should have posted
them on your site is NOT after you've been served with legal
papers by the government!

Ask Yourself One Simple Question

Would you feel happy or sad once you did business with
yourself?

Do you give your customer their money's worth? Do you feel
you have been fair and honest with them. Would you be happy
if another business treated you in the same manner that you
treat your customers?

Your gut answer to these questions will go a long way toward
keeping you out of trouble with the government.

Remember the "Golden Rule" of "do unto others as you would
have them do unto you" is always the best policy to avoid
trouble.

If you don't know what your legal standing is you can get a
copy of "The Online Marketer's and Website Owner's Legal
Information Booklet" here

The Online Marketer's and Website Owner's Legal Information
Booklet

About the Author
The author is a spectacular failure at making money on the
internet and shares his exploits on his blog in order to save you
the disappointment of not making money either. His articles can
be found at; Make Money for Beginners

The U.S. Government Cracks Down on Scammers