It's the second time this month someone has tried to use Channel 5's name in a scam. First it was the Jamaican lottery, now it's colon cleansing and diet products. When a Lake Forest Park man got caught in a spot, he decided to get Jesse.
Doug Beatty is sifting through a "News-5" Seattle investigation of the acai berry. He read the article, and thought enough of it to buy two products.
"It looked kind of credible to me, so I thought a four-week free trial, 30-day free trial, I thought I'd give it a shot.",
he said.
Needless to say the marketing of these products is a complete scam.
"They are taking your money and they are calling it free!" said Doug.
Fine, but I wanted to know more about Julia Miller, the author of that so-called "News-5" investigation.
My search began in the KING 5 newsroom. After going all over the building, it turns out, she doesn't work here. She's a French anchor named Melissa Theuriau. The address for the company is a front. It's just a woman answering a phone in a Scottsdale, Arizona office building that businesses use to have an address when they don't want to be found. And the use of News 5 Seattle in that report is a fraud too. But that took some work.
"It looks very authentic. People might think it's an actual news website," said Rebecca Henderson, a computer forensic specialist with the Attorney General's Office.
She says the scammers are using an Internet tool called 'geo location' to target victims.
"It's very dynamic, what is loaded on that website, it varies for every person who views it," she explained.
Here's how it works: Your computer has an Internet provider address, or IP address. That number contains a general provider location. Geo location users can localize information on a website based on a users IP address. So use a Seattle-area computer, the scammers' website will show News 5. In Dallas it would show Channel 8.
"When I looked at it in the office, it showed that it was in Seattle," Henderson said. "When I look at it from a different computer, it might show another local city."
So the next time you see something on the web that looks like it was coming from your community, be careful. They may be scammers going after your wallet.
"This is really slick. Someone invested a lot of money to put these bogus investigations together," she said.
Here's what we know: If you see any news stations promoting one of these items, be very skeptical. We're told rogue advertising companies are behind these fake reports. There are even web addresses that look like real TV stations. The names of the companies change from day to day. So be careful. And, no, we're not endorsing an acai berry supplement or colon cleanser, really we're not.
For consumer concerns, e-mail Jesse at getjesse@king5.com or call toll-free 877-51-JESSE.
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