Is a website owner allowed to target vulnerable members (legally or otherwise).

[englandsrose2]

Hi all. My name is christine. I have an issue I am trying to resolve. I found this forum today and I think someone may be able to help me.

I will keep it brief. Can a uk website owner advertise and offer a service for a business he owns that targets vulnerable members where the website owner financially gains and the vulnerable members are left out of pocket.
Is the website owner bound by any rules and regulations or can he legally do what he wants.
Any help/advice appreciated.

christine

[Guest]

Re: Is a website owner allowed to target vulnerable members (legally or otherwise).

I would imagine the the issue would depend on the kind of service being offered, most services which involve vulnerable people have some kind of legal protection or authority which they must adhere to.

I would imagine the how they got there leads would be more of a secondary issue.

[Amethyst]

Re: Is a website owner allowed to target vulnerable members (legally or otherwise).

Hi Christine, Any one targeting vulnerable people for their own financial gain without any benefit to the consumer could be acting unlawfully. I do think to know how serious it is we would need to know a bit more detail. What kind of financial gains, are they 'encouraging' people to make purchases when they are in a position of vulnerability, what kind of services, how is the website owner targeting vulnerable people ? There are lots of different regulations for distance selling, provision of health services, financial services etc , as well as advertising rules they must follow, so knowing the area we are in would be a start.

(sorry Andy58 crossed posts and you say it so much more eloquantly )

[Amethyst]

Re: Is a website owner allowed to target vulnerable members (legally or otherwise).

Also you state 'members' is this a membership / subscription type service (eg. dating website / online forum etc) or a more like the loan broker memberships where you pay £67 for them to help find you a loan ?

[englandsrose2]

Re: Is a website owner allowed to target vulnerable members (legally or otherwise).

Thanks Amethyst. The website is just an online forum where people can register. No subscriptions. The website owner was 'encouraging/persuading' people (who had already been conned/scammed in turkey) that his business could help them. He was advertising on his uk based website an investigation service. This investigation service had no literature provided about this service. He encouraged people to purchase/pay for this service which conned/scammed them out of more money, (a double whammy) He has removed the advert now because it got bad publicity and got nasty. My objective is: I need to know if he has committed any legal wrongdoing in connection with his website and the investigation service that his uk based business offered. His business was an estate agency with an office in both the UK and turkey.

manythanks
christine

[Amethyst]

Re: Is a website owner allowed to target vulnerable members (legally or otherwise).

Ouch. I've just breifly mentioned it to Trading Standards

COuld you give me the name of the forum please, by pm is fine - also the name of the business and owner - just quickly as am on phone now to TS ecrime

[Amethyst]

Re: Is a website owner allowed to target vulnerable members (legally or otherwise).

Then could you tell us a bit more about the original scam.

[englandsrose2]

Re: Is a website owner allowed to target vulnerable members (legally or otherwise).

Ouch. I've just breifly mentioned it to Trading Standards

COuld you give me the name of the forum please, by pm is fine - also the name of the business and owner - just quickly as am on phone now to TS ecrime

where is the pm button please

[Amethyst]

Re: Is a website owner allowed to target vulnerable members (legally or otherwise).

ah sorry, if you click on my name in this post ^^^^^ you should see a link saying 'private message' , click that and you're away

[englandsrose2]

Re: Is a website owner allowed to target vulnerable members (legally or otherwise).

Then could you tell us a bit more about the original scam.

The original scam was a couple who paid about £60k for a property in turkey and never received the title deeds.
These victims who were members on www.turkishliving.com were encouraged by this website owner to use his investigation service which he advertised on his website forum along with his business www.crescenthomes.co.uk . The couple did this as they were promised in 2010 that his business would secure the property deeds. This went on for about 2 years and the outcome was the couple lost the property and the £60k they paid for it. After paying for the investigation service £250 (which provided no literature about what the service entailed) they were then asked to hand over a few thousand pounds (which they did) in advance of his business promising to secure the property deeds. The investigation service did not deliver what it promised. Any help from trading standards in connection with the website owners behaviour would be much appreciated.


christine

[Amethyst]

Re: Is a website owner allowed to target vulnerable members (legally or otherwise).

Thank you, and thank you for the PM. Any chance you could send me screen shots of the ads you can see on wayback archive - I have looked but not sure what I'm looking for, and it would assist greatly. Ah - email is admin@legalbeagles.info

[englandsrose2]

Re: Is a website owner allowed to target vulnerable members (legally or otherwise).

Amethyst, I cannot send shots my skills are zero.
If you google web.archive.org it should bring up the internet archive waybackmachine. When you find it put www.turkishliving.com in the browse history section. It throws up a calendar with years and dates from 2006. If you look at 2009,2010 or 2011 it shows the adverts. Crescent homes advert is top right hand corner (blue with red letters). The advert showing the investigation service is down the left hand side, its orange and yellow. good luck.


christine

[englandsrose2]

Re: Is a website owner allowed to target vulnerable members (legally or otherwise).

Amethyst. How will I know whether this website owner has done anything unlawful or not.? Will TS ecrime let you know soon.


manythanks

christine