As a reader of 3GenFamily Blog, you never see those. I use a WordPress spam editor to catch them automatically. But, there is another kind of spam that you need to know about.

The comments look sort of legit but out of context. They don’t relate to the post. The following comment was posted on When Adult Siblings Fight: 6 Steps to Heal the Hurt  just the other day:

“Its really great, this blog has got really very great stuff which helps us to know what is actually going on. This is really a very great it has very good postings too. Keep it up the good going.”

Well, certainly it is flattering—maybe a bit too flattering. So I looked up where the comment came from. The WordPress comment area gives me a way to find out. No, it won’t say a person’s name or street address. But, it will tell me if it originated from the US or a major Internet Service Provider overseas.

The comment above came from New Delhi, India.

Are they reading my blog in New Dehli?

Only because they’re being paid.

Indian workers are being hired to place links to certain websites in the comments. They are called back links. It gives that website an advantage with Google’s search engine ranking system.

The website that the Indian workers were posting was about assisted living. I won’t give them more help by telling you the exact name. They claim to help you find the right assisted living.

You won’t see these bogus comments posted on my website. I delete them because they just aren’t real.

It is important to recognize that a few businesses targeting seniors are scamming the search engines. So, the first or second place search engine results don’t always go to the most reputable website. It may be the one that did the best job gaming the system.

Before you give your name and email to any website, here are things to look for:

1. The Contact Us page has a real company name with a real address that you can see in Google maps.
2. The About Us page gives the name of the owner or operator of the website.
3. Look for trust marks like BBBOnline, Truste, or Verisign.

Other ways to research a website:

1. Do a search in groups.Google.com to see if anyone is talking about this website.
2. Do a search for reviews on Yelp.com if this is a local business.
3. Look in the Better Business Bureau listings.

Back in 2005 when I became my father’s caregiver, there were very few websites targeting seniors and their caregivers. Now that has changed.

There are hundreds of websites. And along with the dedicated professionals and legitimate business owners, a few criminals are looking to take their share of your money.

It has never been more true . . . Let the buyer beware!

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© 2010 CK Wilde. All Rights Reserved. I did not receive any compensation from the websites mentioned in this article. Some of the links on this website connect to affiliate programs that provide a small commission (books from Amazon.) Please feel free to link to this post but you must have prior written permission (please use the comments) to reproduce this post either whole or in part.