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Agencies scout out fraud on Internet The Associated Press WASHINGTON -- Federal government officials said Thursday they had joined with international forces to crack down on Internet fraud -- and used the World Wide Web to do it. About 2,000 law enforcement agencies, including 34 state attorneys general, seven federal agencies and 49 state consumer protection agencies were involved in the weeklong "GetRichQuick.con" project sponsored by the Federal Trade Commission. More than 150 organizations from 28 countries also participated in the effort in the past month. "Fraud fighters from the U.K. (United Kingdom) to Uruguay, from Korea to Kansas, have collected and forwarded info to the FTC on more than 1,600 suspect sites," said Jodie Bernstein, director of the commission's bureau of consumer protection. "Together with our partners, we are putting get-rich-quick schemes on notice," Berstein said. "Though we speak different languages, on the subject of Internet fraud, it's with one voice: Con artists will not threaten the safety of the Net on our watch." Although the FTC has several brochures on Internet get-rich-scams, the commission decided it needed a more direct approach to combat fraud. From Feb. 28 to March 10, staffers in federal agencies and foreign organizations surfed the Internet looking for sites promoting what appeared to be get-rich-quick schemes, focusing on those that made specific earnings claims. A vending machine business in Arkansas promised people could "make $20,000 a month," while a pyramid-type business advertised from Louisiana said participants could make "$1 million working from home," said Drew Edmondson, Oklahoma's attorney general. A Virginia outfit even offered $1,000 an hour to surf the Net, Evans added. "If they sound too good to be true, they are too good to be true," Evans said. The people running the Web sites were contacted by e-mail and any suspicious promotions found were added to a database administered by the FTC. No one was arrested during the project. But law enforcers continue to monitor the sites to see if they've changed their claims in response to the e-mail messages, officials said. Agencies also will undertake a coordinated law enforcement effort to shut down sites that demonstrated they won't comply with state and federal law. (On the Net: FTC: www.ftc.gov . International Surf Project: www.consumer.gov/bizonline . Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development: www.oecd.org ) Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA