I hear that folks from the Office of the Attorney General for the State of Florida are knocking on lots of doors in search of shady affiliate marketers.
It seems there have been some very questionable marketing efforts for ringtone offers, and the Florida Attorney General is anxious to bring the bad actors to justice.
Forbidden behavior has included cramming (manually inputting leads without the consumer’s knowledge), as well as marketing offers as free, when there is a fee, via deceptive advertising and the manipulation of landing pages.
If any affiliates have information about this sort of behavior in connection with Buongiorno USA dba Dirty Hippo or Jamster, Robert Schara wants to hear from you. He’s a Financial Investigator for the Office of the Attorney General for the State of Florida.
You can reach him by e-mail at robert_schara@oag.state.fl.us or on the phone at 850-414-3300.
He is also looking for information on CPA networks who might have had knowledge, involvement, or other participation in this effort to game the system.
This is a call to the honest affiliates out there. Don’t assume others are going to step forward.
When outsiders think of affiliate marketing, they think of the scammers. They don’t think of those of us who love the industry.
Don’t let these cheaters define our space – share anything you know to help clean things up.
Stay gold, Ponyboy. Stay gold.
** UPDATE **
The phone number above is the general line for the Florida Attorney General, Bill McCollum.
The direct line for people to share information on this issue is (850) 766-2889. Ask for either Robert Schara or Jon Gillman.