FTC Consumer Fraud Top 10 ~ 70% of scams are often advertised with escape and paradise images

The Consumerist’s Ben Popken posted the "Top 10 Consumer Frauds" yesterday.  Of the ten listed at their post, seven of the scams frequently use images of escape and paradise to lure customers in.  Going by the FTC figures that The Consumerist lists, up to 16,800,000 people accounted for in the top ten list may have been influenced by the images discussed in the Rapidsea blog.  There is no scientific way of knowing the exact number, but it’s important to point the power of escapism to attract people.

The categories that included in this 70% are: Business Opportunities, Credit Repair Scams, Advance-Fee Loans, Work-at-Home Programs, Prize Promotions, Foreign Lottery Scams, and Fraudulent Weight-Loss Products.  See The Consumerist’s full post for the other three and the associate figures.

Even the ad that the Consumerist chose as a an example of a weight loss product appears to contain a woman on the beach:

20071030WeightLossAd

Are these visualizations the lowest common denominator of place in advertising or are they the single most marketable locale known to man?

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Posted on October 30, 2007
Filed Under Advertising, Business and Commerce, Government | 1 Comment

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One Response to “FTC Consumer Fraud Top 10 ~ 70% of scams are often advertised with escape and paradise images”

  1. Consolidated Credit Counseling Service ~ lifesaver? : Rapidsea ~ Escape from Paradise on October 31st, 2007 1:17 pm

    [...]   My impression of freedom has been expanded just by looking at this picture.  It’s like they grabbed that woman in the lifesaver above and flung her out of the sea and across a field of sunflowers.  She promptly spread her arms so that she could fly, but little does she know she can’t.  Ploooomph.  Hi, ground.  You still have to pay up.  Strange that this image would pop up at the same time as The Consumerist post. [...]

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