Who's Who scams have been around for a long time and they never fail to con people out of their money. For different reasons, thousands of victims of this swindle don't think twice about paying big money to be listed in a Who's Who directory.

Being listed in a legitimate Who's Who directory is an impressive honor if a person has actually done something notable and deserving of being listed in such a publication. Graduating from high school, obtaining a college degree, or writing church newsletters is not enough to get listed with a legitimate Who's Who company, but these and other common things are what the fraudulent Who's Who directories use to dupe unsuspecting people into buying products and services that often don't really exist.

This bait-and-switch scheme begins with a postal letter or an email telling the recipient that he or she has recently been appointed as a biographical candidate to represent the city that he lives in. The letter states that his candidacy was approved on a certain date, and that his prompt response in needed to ensure that his professional information is correct. A personal website is provided for the receiver to visit to verify his biographical information. If Internet access isn't available, a reply card is enclosed so that the information can be mailed back to the company.

The letter states that the office of the managing director appoints an individual based upon the person's current position with information that is obtained from researched executive and professional listings. The addressee is told that the director thinks that she will make an interesting biographical subject and that individual achievement is what the company is all about. In the closing paragraph of the letter, it is declared that upon final confirmation, the recipient will be listed among thousands of accomplished individuals in that particular company's Who's Who directory. The last sentence says: "Remember, there is no cost to be included. "

It all sounds good until we consider that thousands of people receive these letters and emails, and that the majority of them are ordinary people. To give an example, Leona Gillespie recently received one of these postal letters. She was ecstatic because she had never been considered as being important in such a way as to be recognized all over America. Leona is married and has two college degrees, one of them being a Bachelor of Science in her field of work. She reads to children at an elementary school, participates in a few committees, and is loyal to her employer. She hasn't done anything that is anymore extraordinary than anyone else in her circle of friends and family.

Leona went to the personal website that was given in the letter. The site contained her name and address but no biographical information. There wasn't anything to verify as the letter claimed. There were fields that could be filled in with information such as telephone number, email address, and business affiliation. Leona didn't fall for the ruse, but curious to see what would happen, she decided to fill he fields in with the requested data.

Two days later, Leona received a phone call from the Who's Who Company asking if she had time for a brief interview. Interested to know what would ensue, she granted the caller the interview. She was asked if she had any degrees or certificates, if she was employed, if she had children, what she did for her employer and if she liked her job and what satisfaction she got from it. Leona answered the caller's questions truthfully. Five minutes into the interview, she was placed on hold. When the caller came back on the line, she congratulated Leona on being so accomplished and for being accepted for inclusion in the company's Who's Who directory.

The caller proceeded to describe to Leona the services that the company would provide to her for being acknowledged and admitted into their exclusive society of important people. The services sounded wonderful for someone that was truly a person of notable accomplishments that could use them for professional purposes; however, for someone like Leona, it was a buildup to a letdown.

The deception was in motion from the origination of the letter to the receipt and response from the recipient. By responding to the letter and giving the company her information, Leona was a prime target to be switched from the purported 'free listing' in the directory to a costlier listing that had nothing to do with the original letter. She was expected to pay for being acknowledged, thus playing on her pride. The caller told her that she was eligible for a gold membership for $569 or a platinum membership for $769, and encouraged her to select the platinum membership. It was requested that payment be given over the phone by credit or debit card. When Leona asked about the free listing in the initial letter, the caller dismissed it by telling her that the free listing was only for her name and didn't even include her biography.

So much for ethical business practices. These companies prey on people's vanity and their desire to be acknowledged and appreciated and switch their desires into a revenue stream at the consumer's expense. The only goal of these Who's Who fraudsters is to part people from their money. Reports from various consumer agencies indicate that the majority of these vanity companies never provide the listing or the services that the victim paid for. There are different variations of the letters but the main goal is to get money from gullible people.
The best way to avoid being scammed by these companies is to ignore their letters and emails. To feed them is to breed them; starve them and they eventually die.

© Copyright 2009 Patti McMann. All rights reserved.