[WeX]

Why is SF allowing these scam adverts to appear on the forum?

The adverts claiming to give the secrets of losing weight or earning thousands of pounds a week are well know scams. SF should keep an eye on what they advertise on this site. Not only can they be held liable. It also doesnt take much effort to work out how to block adverts on sites like this, losing SF its much needed revenue.

[Cyclone]

The advertising space is probably bought by a 3rd party who then stream ads (based on google analytics probably). SF can't be help responsible for a 3rd party advert, but I agree that they should try to filter out this type of spam.

[JPMiddleton]

As Cyclone said, they can't held responsible for third party ads. Are we talking about the Google adsense ads?

[TheFirefly]

Originally Posted by DiscoPaul

As Cyclone said, they can't held responsible for third party ads. Are we talking about the Google adsense ads?

Specific adverisers can be blocked aslong as the Name / URL is known.

[leelister6]

Any idiot that clicks on these ads gets what they deserve

[pattricia]

Originally Posted by leelister6

Any idiot that clicks on these ads gets what they deserve

But why are they there in the first place ? Im surprised at SF allowing them.

[Cyclone]

As I said, the advertising space is sold to a 3rd party who then stream ads, SF doesn't have a veto or approval on specific adverts.

[HeadingNorth]

Originally Posted by Cyclone

As I said, the advertising space is sold to a 3rd party who then stream ads, SF doesn't have a veto or approval on specific adverts.

They can, and do, request that certain adverts be removed from the stream - but not until after someone lets the admin team know they exist.

[Cyclone]

Indeed, but if they haven't been made aware of them then they aren't "allowing" them as that suggests active approval.

[HeadingNorth]

Originally Posted by Cyclone

Indeed, but if they haven't been made aware of them then they aren't "allowing" them as that suggests active approval.

A colleague of mine was prosecuted for "allowing" an person under 18 into his betting shop, back in the late sixties; the case was thrown out because he did now know the person was in his shop, and therefore couldn't be held to have allowed it. (It was a test case on precisely that point.)

As you rightly say, the same applies here. If you're annoyed by scam adverts appearing on the forum - go tell the admin team so that they can do something about it!

[Geoff]

I've taken steps to block the weight loss and health supplement adverts. If you ever have a concern about an advert on the forum, please let us know via this special form.

[Bruno]

Like a fool, I fell victim to one of the links advertised on here thinking it would be trusted, a sample cream from a company called Purasilk the cream was advertised working with another sample cream company called Argan, this has not been delivered as yet.

The Purasilk arrived this morning, with it a letter that says "your 14 day introductory offers ends 14 days from your order date, if you are enjoying the product then do nothing, Only then will your card be charged 1 easy payment for the trial jar at just £74.95

Then every 30 days they will take £64.95 plus a small handling fee of £4.95

If your not satisfied call 00 800 9005 0010 to request a RMA number as you need this to return the jar?

Reading about the number it says it's a international free phone number but only via landline, obviously they are never gonna answer the phone.

I suspect like me there will be quite a few forumers that may have paid the initial 2 small transactions one being £2.49 and other £3.99 there was nothing on the site about entering into any form of membership or about returns etc again the fact it was advertised on SF will have made people think its genuine advert.

What you need to do

As I said they obviously won't answer the phone, so go to your bank or phone them and stop your card with immediate effect your bank will re-issue you a new one, just tell them that a company has your details and they will do it, this will stop any future transactions as the details they have are only relevant to the particular card you used.

My bank has assured me that no payments will be made to the company, and if they do manage to draw from my account it would be sorted.

[Dude111]

Originally Posted by leelister6

Any idiot that clicks on these ads gets what they deserve

Ah man!!

[Skirmisher]

How can anyone say that SF are not responsible for adverts on their own site?

SF sell the advertising rights, they are ultimately responsible for anything on their site.

Maybe they should be more careful about who they sell the rights to.

[HeadingNorth]

Originally Posted by Skirmisher

How can anyone say that SF are not responsible for adverts on their own site?

Because the law says the same thing. It operates on a "notice and take down" policy; SF is not responsible for what appears on its website, only responsible for removing it once it's brought to their attention.

[Skirmisher]

Originally Posted by HeadingNorth

Because the law says the same thing. It operates on a "notice and take down" policy; SF is not responsible for what appears on its website, only responsible for removing it once it's brought to their attention.

The law is one thing and responsibility is another.

If the ad company was constantly putting inappropriate ad's on in accordance with the law, would SF be acting responsibly if they did not decide to change the ad company?

[Cyclone]

If it were constantly doing it then SF would probably no longer sell to that company.

[Geoff]

Just to confirm what others have said - SF works with a number of national advertising networks. We don't directly select which companies appear on the site. However, most networks do offer the ability to block a specific campaign if necessary. If you spot a bad campaign or have any other concerns regarding the adverts, please submit this form.

I'm going to close this topic (as it has been answered by us now) with this as the last reply so the link to the form doesn't get missed