Fake News Websites Pitch Get-Rich-Quick Schemes

Company response

Scam Alert heard back from Derek R. Young, who said he was representing a company called Yolo Marketing. "Our testimonials are real," he wrote. "We do not make up our success stories."

"In the past, when we used the real names and locations of our customers," Young wrote, "some of those customers were contacted directly by the general public. Consequently, we now change the identities of our customers in our advertising in order to protect their identities from the consuming public."

He called the BBB's "F" rating "skewed," saying it doesn't "take into consideration the size of the company or whether the complaints were generated by knockoff sites using our address in their spam."

Concerning the lack of information about what the product being sold consists of, Young said that "revealing to our competitors and the general public the details of our methods and content would eliminate any value to our purchasing customers."

That's his explanation. But Scam Alert suggests you heed the following from the AARP Bulletin, a legitimate news venue: Don't believe everything you read.

Sid Kirchheimer is the author of Scam-Proof Your Life, published by AARP Books/Sterling. Have a look at our Scam Alert archive for past warnings about the con artists who too often seek to part Americans from their hard-earned money. If you don’t find your answer there, send a query.