Watchdog shuts down dodgy websites
I am pleased to see that the Office of Fair Trading has shut down twenty-seven web sites run by unlicensed businesses advertising various “debt recovery” services. As the video on the BBC story explains, many of these web sites were blatantly imitating the branding of legitimate and official organisations. Others were using .org domains or variations on the names of government agencies to give themselves an “official” appearance. The goal, of course, was to confuse, rip off, and take advantage of people at their most vulnerable and destitute.
As a professional I have to wonder what sort of web designer takes on a client who asks them to copy a government agency’s web site and buy an imitation domain while they’re at it. Neither my contract, nor my professional indemnity insurance, nor my penchant for sleeping well at night would allow me to even consider it.
I watched a lot of daytime TV when I was more or less confined to the sofa during my last two months of pregnancy. It was an interesting exercise in having one’s intelligence insulted. Nearly every advert which airs is either promoting easy “debt recovery”, with many faking some sort of official status like the web sites discussed above, or is begging for charity donations using pathetic tactics. NSPCC’s “give us money or this child will be beaten” campaign completely delegitimised their work in my eyes, and I no longer take their “experts” seriously. The “easy loan” ad which was so misleading and patronising that it was subsequently banned (read the fine print in the corner of the screen) would air four times an hour, followed by a “pay us or the dog dies” advert from the RSPCA (which, of course, does not operate in Scotland but is quite happy to pinch money out of people in Scotland.) The rule of thumb seems to be – if they advertise on daytime TV, don’t give them the time of day.
