One of my clients, the manager of a station in Libby, MT, passed along this notice he received from the Montana Association of Broadcasters, and I thought it worth sharing here:
As long as there have been moneymaking opportunities in any business, sadly, money-stealing scams seem to follow close behind. Yesterday, we received an urgent message from Cary Pahigian, President/GM of Saga's eight-station Portland Radio Group in Portland, ME. Pahigian wanted RAMP to help spread the word about an insidious radio scam that targeted his cluster firsthand yesterday; it's an elaborate con that some fear could be more widespread than anyone anticipated. "Scam artists have been calling local businesses and identifying themselves as WPOR account executives selling advertising packages," Pahigian states. The fake AE also informed these clients that part of this fictitious ad package included a donation to a charity. "They have detailed information about our programming and personalities, plus they use a toll-free number and accept credit card payments," Pahigian says. "We called the number and played along and confirmed the scam. We also spoke with local police and the state Attorney General's office, and this appears to be a well-conceived, ongoing nationwide con game... one that will be difficult to shut down."
Pahigian says they were initially tipped off by a local business "who is not a client, but is aware of our solid reputation and figured out quickly something did not smell right." Pahigian is using his own unfortunate experience as an opportunity to warn his fellow broadcasters to be on guard for similar illegal schemes. "All eight of our stations are running this as a news story today," says Pahigian, who also e-mailed his fellow Saga GMs -- and his competitors. "This cuts right to the heart of our reputation in the business community," he tells RAMP. "How many businesses might think it's us calling and simply say, 'No thanks,' and then assume that radio is sold in such a sleazy, over-the-phone manner?" he says. "Our staff is now on high alert for any calls or inquiries from area businesses." If you have experienced a similar scam in your market, please let us know so we can make our readers aware. After all, forewarned is forearmed.
When I forwarded this to Rod Schwartz (my dad and boss), this is what he had to say:
Becky,
I'm going to forward to this to Marie at the Pullman Chamber of Commerce. Suggest to all our RSC members that they do likewise in their own markets.
Confirming whether something like this is a scam (or not) is as easy as getting a call-back number from the telemarketer, then calling the local radio station to double-check on the validity of the project. Let's make it tough for these people to get a foothold.
RS
Please let us know if you find out about anything like this going on in your market. Thanks!
