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Senior Alerts
Seniors Looking for a Business May Be Tempted by
Sundae Station
 Website
makes it look like a good retirement business, but check the links
By Tucker Sutherland, editor
April 24, 2005 – Are you a senior citizen looking
for a small business that can bring in some cash for your retirement
years? Maybe the Sundae Station is the opportunity for you. It is “your
no risk, no hassle road to riches,” says the Website at
www.wemarket4u.net/sundaestation. But before you get too excited you
better check on the link that says, “Click
here for the scoop on the sweet life waiting for you…”
Turns out it’s a fake. It is a new “teaser” Website
launched by the Federal Trade Commission. They are trying to reach
consumers who use the Internet to find business opportunities and warn
them of the many business opportunity rip-offs that are trying to take
their money.
It certainly looks real and reads like a real
opportunity. It says, “Americans spend more than $4 billion a year on
ice cream! But to help yourself to a double scoop of the profits, you’d
have to open a fancy ice cream parlor or invest in an expensive national
franchise. Until now! Now there’s SUNDAE STATION – the free-standing
turn-key business that’s your ticket to sweet profits and cold cash.”
The FTC says they have used common buzz words and make claims frequently
used by fraudulent business opportunity promoters. They have done a good
job of mimicking the read thing.
The site contains typical claims of fast money with
minimal effort. Once consumers click on any of the links, they learn the
ad is actually a consumer education piece posted by the FTC.
The FTC has the following tips for consumers before
they invest in any new business venture or work-at-home opportunity:
-
Does the ad promise big money for little
effort? Fraudulent ads use similar bait: Fast cash. Minimal work. No
risk. And the advantage of being your own boss or working from home.
-
Before promoters can accept money from
potential investors, the law requires that they give investors
important disclosure documents. If the promoter does not make the
document readily available, find another opportunity.
-
Talk to current investors, but beware of paid
“shills.” Visit other business sites in person. And get professional
advice if you need it. Do not lose your life savings just because
you did not spend a few hundred dollars to talk to a lawyer, an
accountant, or another expert.
This is just one part of a massive criminal and
civil crackdown on promoters of illegal business opportunity and
work-at-home schemes. The FTC, the Department of Justice, the U.S.
Postal Inspection Service, and law enforcement agencies from 14 states
announced earlier they have taken action against more than 200
operations for engaging in fraud and/or violating consumer protection
laws.
Business opportunity and work-at-home fraud cause
substantial consumer injury. In the FTC’s cases alone, the defendants
caused tens of thousands of consumers to lose a total of more than $100
million.
“The dream of owning a business is as American as
apple pie, but business opportunity scammers spoil the recipe for
success,” said FTC Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras. “Scam artists have a
choice – get out of the fraud business and stay out – or you, too, will
have an opportunity of a lifetime: doing time behind bars.”
This enforcement sweep is named “Project Biz Opp
Flop” and contains four key components: (1) criminal prosecutions
against business opportunity fraud artists; (2) civil enforcement
actions filed by the FTC; (3) civil penalty actions filed by the DOJ on
behalf of the FTC; and (4) enforcement actions filed by state
enforcement agencies.
Consumers should visit the FTC’s Web site at
www.ftc.gov/bizopps or
www.ftc.gov/workathome for information in both English and Spanish
to help spot and avoid business opportunity scams.
For a list of all FTC cases and contacts in this
operation –
click here.
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