I don't think we're in Kansas any more

Internet & eBusiness

There was a lot of discussion not too long ago about using fake or non-human profile pictures. Why people do it, what’s wrong with it, that kind of discussion.

But the picture used doesn’t really bother me very much, even though I follow the rules and deny the ones that are obviously not the member’s picture. There is, however, another form of misrepresentation that I see here every day which DOES bother me.

And that is misrepresenting or lying about your location. And I know it’s happening because in many cases it’s very obvious. Let’s face it, most people are very unlikely to misspell the name of the city they live in, aren’t they? And yet so many here do that? A coincidence? Doubtful. Also, so sorry but there is no city named Islamabad in New Jersey.

And let’s be realistic, if you are struggling with the very basics of English grammar then isn’t it unlikely that your name is Timothy Parker from Cleveland?

But does it really matter if you’re not where you say you are? To this I anser with a resounding YES! Your location defines what you have access to on the net in terms of income opportunities. In the GPT industry where I work entering false locations or otherwise concealing your true location is considered outright fraud and is cause for immediate account cancellation and banning by every responsible site and affiliate in the market. This is no small matter, this is primordial cheating and is dealt with severely. The same applies to using a proxy to conceal your location and gain access to offers for countries other than your own (usually US).

But why should I, or you, or anyone else care? I mean, you’re getting paid for the offers and that’s what matters, not whether you’re doing it legitimately, right? What we have to remember is that there are real people and real companies out there paying for these offers, as advertising for their sites and/or products. And they have decided not to pay people in Kuwait to look at advertising for Victoria Secret gift cards. And sooner or later they realize they have been frauded and offers begin to reverse. If you’re lucky (and I am unlucky) you have already been paid and taken your money and run. If not, then it reverses on you as well as on me.

What happens next is actually even worse. Advertisers start to back out, or offer values drop substantially to cover the losses due to fraud. Sites such as mine increase security measures and more and more countries need to be excluded. In the end, we ALL pay for misrepresented locations.

I know of one site owner who lives in what is one of the worst countries in terms of this type of fraud. I won’t say which country that is, because I don’t want to single out any nation and paint them all with the same brush as the cheaters, but he stated right out that if he wasn’t there himself he would ban his own country from his site.

So please, when you make your profiles, don’t lie about where you reside. When you connect to the internet, never ever connect using a proxy that masks your location. Because in the end you damage all of us,and weaken the entire online marketing industry.

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