Okay so what the heck....... Someone makes a site. Says he's a millionaire. Puts up a fake picture of himself. Then half the time also puts up fake testimonials. Meanwhile he's Joe in shit apartment and everything's a lie. How is he not in jail for it? How can all that be legal?
They are not in jail because there is no Internet Police, thank goodness! If someone sues them for fraud, or makes a complaint, they might get investigated, but I think the moral of the story is don't believe everything you read on the internet, especially if it is someone wanting your money!
It's not illegal to lie unless you are illegally defrauding someone in the process. A survey of the online dating industry even found that the majority of online daters lie in their profiles, mostly about how much money they make or how much they weigh. You see eBooks all the time - How I Made $1 Million in Three Months and You Can Too! It's likely that the person selling the ebook has never made even $10,000 in three months. Unfortunately, we live in a society of deception. It's widespread. Even politicians know that "image is everything" and you have to portray what the American people want to see, not necessarily who you are.
lol I have no real input for the op, but it reminds me of something I saw on tv where it showed what the woman on the other end of a 900 phone number probably looks like. (fat, hairs coming out of a mole, no teeth, etc.) I apologize in advance if I offended anyone who looks like this.
Yea but what the hell the people selling the ebooks are defrauding people aren't they? How is it not fraud when you lie about what you look like, what your name is, and how much money you have? How is that not fraud when you're doing that to sell the ebook?
It is fraud if they are lying. They are usually not prosecuted because people don't file a complaint. However, not all of them are fraudulent. There are fairly strict guidelines in most countries about what kind of claims you can make, how you can make them, and whether they require a disclaimer. There are always more people breaking the law than there are people getting caught.
Highly abnormal for such persons to be prosecuted, the internet is made up globally, with all the law variations and what have you, nobody bothers to take real legal actions, it would cost some money, and would take time, to be real you would need to be a no-life to be concerned about such things, especially if it doesn’t have a direct relation to you. So it’s best to just let it be. The term mind your fucking business comes into play, cause that’s what the tiresome judge preceding will be thinking in his head, when its said it doesn’t have direct relations with you.
Addressing the OP's question, if you're going to lie, at least lie upwards. It's called "pretending", not a legal definition of "fraud". Misreprenstation of matter of fact is just one criterion and that alone isn't enough. Based on the first post I don't see any damages or rights violated. Besides, with fraud there's always a third party involved. Who is the third party? For some funny reason I just thought about defamation charges on oneself if the person in question has a personality disorder. Anyone else following the thought? LOL.
Because it's currently not proven in a court of competent jurisdiction the party in question has broken any applicable law.
Lying and misrepresentation is not just on the web. Look at all those weight loss and 'make a million in real-estate' infomercials on TV Or how about those fast-food burgers that look so great on tv, then you buy one and its a nasty half-squished POS.
You're referring to a form of false advertising (which may not necessarily be fraud). The OP's scenerio is quite different.
Have you tried to contact the authorities? A local prosecutor of the offender might be a good place to start. Also the FBI handles most internet fraud. Not sure where you get the idea something is legal just because it's being done. I am pretty sure there are a lot of crack dealers on the streets right now but that doesn't make it legal. People do immoral acts and illegal acts online quite often. The chance of jail is low but I think that's because less people complain.
Frauds are everywhere. Govt, banks, credit card, phone companies, tv programs, etc do it every day. They know that if they target a small group of people that doesn't have a loud voice, they can make money while avoiding prosecution. They also know that the smart people won't be fool by them so only the stupid ones is left to do the reporting if they even know how.
Most of the people responding are assuming that the OP is inferring Fraud. I didn't get that in my initial reading, however. From the first post not much detail was given then in post 5 the OP's talking about Ebooks. It would be nice if the OP can clarify with more detail of the person(s) in question.
I just mean all the sites talking about how they're self-made internet millionaires when they aren't. Isn't it illegal to lie about yourself to sell a product? and isn't it illegal to put a fake picture of yourself and change your name to sell the product?
Ahh...It's OK to lie if nothing is on the table. Addressing your questions, it really depends on the lie and the affects it has on the product or service. If the product or service does as advertised then fraud would be harder to prove. Here's one example: You buy a product (let's say for acne), use it and it works for you. You find out later that the person who's selling the product has a problem with acne and the product didn't help this person. In the advertisements the person said that he/she is not only the founder but the client (some sort of pitch to hype the product). *Notice I left out certain details. A (major) criterion for fraud is damages of some sort to a third-party whether it's money, rights, whatever. The product works for you. What claim do you have against the product? Let's say for kicks that the product didn't work for you. Unless the person said that the product is 100% guaranteed to work for anyone who uses it, you took your chance. Even then fraud is not clear cut. As a consumer, it is your responsibility to do the research and not buy into everything that is sold under the sun. Use common sense and be diligent whenever you're investing money.
yea but it's still false advertising right? Isn't that illegal? Like where's the line between using a pseudonym as an author and using a fake picture and name to sell a product? It's got to be illegal I don't get it.
What does the picture have to do with the product? Take the food commercials (how about a burger). Most are sprayed with all of these chemicals that for one, are not edible, and secondly makes it look so shiny. You go out to buy that burger you saw in the commercial only to find out that the lettuce is brown and withered-looking, beef not as rich and full, bun smashed up against something that resembles cheese. Most people don't bother asking for a refund or asking for another preparation. Figures. Most products you'll find are not WYSIWYG.
yea but that's different they still showed you a burger. maybe in it's best condition but that's different from an out and out lie. It's gotta be illegal to lie about your income and name and what you look like to advertise a product. I'm so tired of all these sites with stock photos of themselves and saying they're millionaires.