« Interior Designers Serving Big Canoe - Cynthia Aiken | Main | Big Weekend in the Big Canoe Community! »
Death Threats, Lost Dogs, and Real Estate Marketing
By djelliott999 | April 30, 2008
Anyone who reads this is probably wondering how death threats, lost dogs, and real estate marketing could possibly be tied together, so let me explain by fleshing out the title a bit more:
First, let me explain the death threats.
The metro Atlanta area has a very popular talk show personality named Clark Howard that hosts a consumer advice program. Last week Clark spoke with a female caller that had received an email out of the blue that claimed she had been marked for death. She went on to explain that the sender of the email claimed to be a hitman hired by an enemy, and after some careful consideration the hitman had decided not to whack her. Of course, this would only occur is she paid a large sum of money to the hitman. Clark went on to explain that this was most likely a scam albeit a tremendously unsettling one.
Now, let me tell you about the lost dog.
Our real estate company, IBA Mountain Homes, is located in the North Georgia mountains in the Big Canoe community. Our community is really tight knit, and many of the residents are true dog lovers (including us). Last week, we bumped into a young woman that was handing out flyers in an attempt to find her lost dog. She related a story to us about how she had placed a notice for her lost dog offering a reward on a popular online “List.” Within hours, the young woman started receiving emails claiming that her dog had been found, and unless she forked over some cash, harm would befall her pet.
So how does this tie in with real estate marketing?
Our real estate company has a business model that relies in part on internet marketing. The internet marketing is a fantastic way to get to know prospective clients. Social networks, blogging, and having a good looking (and useful) web site are great ways to get your name and your listings in front of potential customers. The problem is that for all the good that comes from having a large internet footprint, all that exposure presents a big, ripe target for scammers and con artists. IBA Mountain Homes must receive a new advance fee fraud aka 419 scam every week. While we do receive good solid leads from listings placed on services such as “Craigs List,” many of them are just variations of advanced fee fraud schemes.
Web based marketing has been and continues to be a true boon to many individuals and companies (ours included). For all this good, there is also a really seedy side, and if you’re advertising anything on the web, always keep in mind that you’re exposing yourself to some degree. Unfortunately, it appears that it isn’t just advance fee fraud aka 419 scammers anymore, but it’s con artists attempting to exort money! It makes me wonder what the next step is for these scammers. It seems like death threats and extortion is pretty much scraping the bottom of the barrel. Anyway, take it as cautionary advice. Be careful where you place your ads, be careful of who you are dealing with, keep your wits about you, and above all exercise common sense.
~Karin Elliott
IBA Mountain Homes
Life in Big Canoe, Real Estate in the Mountains
Topics: All Posts, Real Estate Marketing |
May 1st, 2008 at 10:35 am
Hi Dan,
Thanks a lot for this provocative article, complete with the perfect shadowy illustration. You make some great points about the upside and downside of network marketing, and what a shame it is that some demented people out there use cyberspace to shield their unsavory and illegal exploitations. Unfortunately, this sort of scamming obviously yields enough and is risk-aversive enough for them to continue and for the practice to proliferate. We met the woman in Big Canoe who lost her dog, and it’s really distrubing that anyone would stoop to such a level. Keep up the good work, Dan.
Margo Vallone
MountainHomeResales.com
May 9th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
Great Aricle, I listen to Clark Howard often and cant beleave the people who fall for these Scams.
Common sense is the only real defence aganst them. Btw did she ever find her dog ?
May 10th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
I looked for Ellen’s dog on several occasions and had no success. To try and scam someone who has just had a terrible experience is beyond description. I’m sure glad I live in Big Canoe where scams are unheard of.
May 12th, 2008 at 11:05 pm
Believe it or not, Ellen did find her wayward pup! You can read the whole story about Ellen and her lost dog in Big Canoe here.