Scammers and Neighbors -- Today's Connected Neighborhoods
Community is about practical matters -- like mutual safety!
"When you have something to share that's truly valuable, you may or may not need to tell a friend, but you definitely need to tell a search engine." David Berkowitz, MarketersStudio.com
David relays how he used the search engines to get the word out about real estate scammers. How the power of searchable names and phrases can be a great tool to stop what law enforcement can't readily stop. It's similar to the concept of "the best neighborhood watch program is a grandmother sitting on her front porch!".
When these scams were brought to my attention, I was relieved that my friends figured out the ruse before sending any money out, but as we were all shaken up and had little direct recourse to pursue the scammers, I realized there was one way I could help. One of my friends sent me the entire text of his correspondence with the scammer, and I posted it in full on my blog with a summary of the scam, omitting my friend's personal details. I didn't care in particular about informing my blog's readers, as it may or may not have mattered to them. Rather, there were four or so readers I hoped would catch it -- Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, and Ask. Humans, at first, were irrelevant. If the search engines could access the post, then other people would be able to see it in time.
Sustainable community means that we are good neighbors. And being good neighbors has always meant that we help protect one another from dangers and harm. Today, our neighborhood has grown to global scale and it takes a global tool to connect us in our great diversity of interests, business dealings and interactions.
So if you have a blog, you might think about the "neighborly safety" role you can play...and if you don't, you might want to know which of your friends does have a blog that can be your channel to the neighborhood.
Edited by Carolyn Allen, managing editor of Solutions For Green
Publication Date:
1/15/2008
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