Who’s Who Scams
I’ve mentioned various who’s who publications in this space fairly recently, so I feel like I should share this tale of caution from a blog reader.
She was recently involved in a situation similar to the one linked above and another one where Manchester’s Who’s Who contacted her about including her in their directory, then demanded that she pay a nice sum of money for the honor. Marquis Who’s Who doesn’t charge for inclusion. It’s not a vanity publication like some of the other directories that charge money. If you get notified that you’re being considered for a who’s who publication, be sure to check out the publisher and do some research to verify that they’re legit. Generally, it’s not a good idea to send money to one of these publications just for the honor of being published—that includes buying a copy of the publication as a condition of being listed. Luckily, our friend is smart enough not to have fallen for the scam.
I don’t think I ever heard back from the International Who’s Who Historical Society after they interviewed me about a year ago. Money didn’t come up during the interview as far as I remember. I wouldn’t pay for my bio to be included in a directory.
How does people paying or not paying for inclusion in a directory affect its value as a reference source?
I wonder: Wikiwho’s who …
(She sent me the links, by the way. Thanks!)
July 6th, 2007 at 11:58 am
I am a registered nurse in Dallas, TX. The Cambridge Who’s Who just contacted me today. The letter that I received from them previously never mentioned money, however, the lady who conducted my “interview” over the phone sure enough did. It would only cost me $799.00 to be a “plantinum” member. I am still unclear as to the services which they claim to provide, aside from posting my bio on their website. The gift of networking I suppose? Anyway, the professional interviewer promptly hung up on me when she discovered that she wasn’t going to get a plug nickle from me today; this, despite the fact that I was polite to her during the whole conversation. Before this, she tried to get $598.00 for the (just as prestigious)”Gold” membership, and then finally, $398.00 for the “trial” membership. No pressure here, huh?
I smell a SCAM !