Ads displayed on straightdope.com possibly part of scam

[paperbackwriter]

Those ads that promise “one weird tip” or some similar phase for a tiny belly or better sleep have been linked to a large fraud scheme by the FTC. I’m posting this here instead of one of the other fora because the PTB should be interested. I frequently see these ads both on the main straightdope.com front page and in fact there was one there as I was coming here to report this. I know these are served by a third party but the PTB have in the past asked for help in finding ads that should not be shown. Hence this thread.

The Web site operators are known as affiliate marketers because they’re allied with, but independent of, the merchants whose products they’re promoting. The relationship works like this: The affiliates seed the Internet with the “1 Tip” ad and put up the testimonial Web sites with their own funds. When a would-be customer clicks the links on the affiliate site and orders products from the merchant’s site, the affiliate receives a cut of the purchase. The payment varies from company to company, but FTC investigators found evidence that it can be as much as $30 per order.

…The FTC says that none of the Web sites can back up their weight-loss claims. But the real heart of the scam, it says, is the offer of a“free” sample. …Someone who orders a sample offered by one hCG marketer, for example, is technically agreeing to pay an additional $79.99 for another shipment of the product two weeks later, and another $79.99 six weeks after that, according to the disclaimer. The charges and the product keep coming until the buyer calls a toll-free number to cancel.

But that’s easier said than done, investigators found. Canceling often involved time-consuming phone calls and frequent hang-ups that left customers frustrated and angry, the agency said. In the meantime, the charges continued to roll on.

Essentially, these scamsters are farming unsuspecting people’s credit cards. I would think the Straight Dope would not want to be hosting such a scheme.

Now that I’ve probably seeded this thread with all kinds of juicy keywords, I assume that the Law of Universal Irony will require some of those ads to be served on this thread.

[TubaDiva]

Reported.

[Cicero]

Darn. I’ll be fat for ever. And poor.

[voltaire]

There was already a thread in GQ about this where the same article was linked.

[Jackmannii]

At the very least, the ubiquitous ad featuring the woman with a facial mudpack should be blocked, as it induces major nausea.

[cochrane]

@Jackmannii

At the very least, the ubiquitous ad featuring the woman with a facial mudpack should be blocked, as it induces major nausea.

Is that what that is? I seriously thought it was a picture of an orangutan.

[TubaDiva]

Ha! The same page a t the Washington Post that reports the study also has a similar ad. Obviously a scam. It truly is everywhere.

[MeanOldLady]

@Jackmannii

At the very least, the ubiquitous ad featuring the woman with a facial mudpack should be blocked, as it induces major nausea.

I would kiss the hand of whoever can make that ad go away.