I just got a call at my place of work from a Michael Ford with Princeton Global. He said the Board was reviewing my application and they had some additional questions for me before my membership would be offerred/denied. I spent 10 minutes answering phony questions about my career accomplishments, aspirations and goals meanwhile googling these people at the same time. Thank goodness I found this information and was able to cut it off before any discussion of payment or disclosure of additional personal info. SLEEZY! I kind of feel like I need a cold shower now....

You mean to tell me that I am not one of the very few prestigious people that deserve to be recognized after paying a fee??? Darn it! I thought I was going to be one of the lucky few that were honored this way. Of course I am kidding.

When I saw that email, I immediately forwarded it to the SCAM email for the US Government. I really hope that they can do something about stuff like this. It’s a shame that so many people are going to fall victim to this type of scam before they are shut down. These scams really chap my hide.

Naw, you all are looking at it all wrong. Everybody fill out the app and have them call you. We can eat into their profits even if the phone company is the only one who really wins. We set up a point system where points are scored based on the length of time that we can keep them on the phone with extra points being scored for those people who require them to make overly expensive long distance phone calls.
Scameaters Unite!
Ward Tipton

New domain name is princetonmembers.com but similar email. Jay Harris out of NY is registrant as of Dec 12, 2008. Online form leads to a formdesk.com page and the link that takes you there is http://princetonmembers.com/c/c/2/34/32315

First the link lead to a form here http://fd8.formdesk.com/pgn/form2
It now leads to a new and improved form at http://fd8.formdesk.com/pgn/New

Buyer beware. At it again....

Forward Spam to the FTC - If you would like to forward unsolicited commercial e-mail (spam) to the Commission, please send it directly to spam@uce.gov (don't worry, they really want it). The FTC maintains a database of unsolicited commercial e-mail (UCE).The FTC says it lacks the resources to resolve individual complaints; it instead uses the complaints it gets to spot new spam trends and tricks. Messages about illegal spam are forwarded to law enforcement officials, who will pursue the worst offenders.

More from the FTC:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/online/inbox.htm

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/spam/ - This website has information about the Federal Trade Commission’s recent law enforcement actions against deceptive commercial email and spammers who don’t honor their "remove me" claims. In the "Consumer Info" section (and below), you’ll find tips on how to reduce the amount of spam email in your in-box.

And the University of Oregom maintains a list:
http://cc.uoregon.edu/cnews/fall2002/spamreport.html - Spam Remedies: Some Special Federal Government Addresses for Reporting Spam You can report certain kinds of spam directly to the appropriate government agency.

SpamAbuse.org helps you report and punish spammers for sending you their junk e-mail. This is a completely free service.-
http://www.spamabuse.org/ - Highly recommended by Spam.org - easy to use
http://www.spamcop.net/

http://spam.abuse.net/spam/ - "You have probably seen an increase in the amount of "junk mail" which shows up in your email box, or on your favorite newsgroup. The activities of a small number of people are becoming a bigger problem for the Internet. We have been actively engaged in fighting spam for years. Since we presented this site to the public in 1996, we have been pleased to be referenced as one of the best anti-spam sites on the net. Help fight spam to keep the Internet useful for everyone. Take advantage of the information we've gathered to make your own experience on the Internet better."

http://spam.abuse.net/userhelp/howtocomplain.shtml - How To Complain To The Spammer's Provider

http://mail-abuse.org/rbl/notifyfaq.html - What to Report, how to report, where to report, etc. MAPS SERVICES

Elsop.com maintains a fairly comprehensive listing of anti-spam related resouces here:
http://www.elsop.com/wrc/nospam.htm - Spam: How to Fight it - Elsop's Anti-Spam Page

http://www.elsop.com/wrc/complain.htm - Spam: Where to Complain About Frauds & Scams on the Internet

Research - How do I get my email program to reveal the full, unmodified email? It depends on your email software. Here are instructions for some of the more popular programs

More Research - Spam Combat page with multiple lookup forms and here for tracing where it came from

Click here to learn about what not to do.

net-abuse@nocs.insp.irs.gov - Use this address to report make money fast (MMF) schemes. Mail sent to this address will be forwarded to the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) for appropriate action.

Don't use this service!
You will regret it the rest of your life.
If you are luck you get a 60% or 80% refund.

I think most of you are missing the point. If a 1 year membership is only a couple of hundred dollars and it gives you access to networking forums with all their members than it seems like a great deal for only like $15 a month. Stop believing everything you read and start using your own minds. I comb the net looking for networking opportunites like this.

Below is a copy of a contribution I post, and regularly have to repost as the PP employees erase it and replace it with one of their ads. It seems they do so other places too.

It should be noted that if anyone has a biased opinion here, it is the last several posters, who apprently are with the company, and have only contributed to this site for this one purpose...ignoring many of th posting guidelines while doing so.

The response below, posted again here, includes the information of contributors along with me, as best I can remember (because the company erased those), as well as my own. And much of mine comes from various blogs and other research resources that, as noted, are available to all on most search engines. And even suggests other ways to independently check for yourself...rather than relying on the self serving statements of company and involved (I am not) contributors. However, at least the contribution above shows, along with it being an online community of - well look at the list - it's one you will pay for!

Its wonderful that Wiki gets high billing on most Google searches...and perhaps thats a problem to some. The apparently commercial supporter trying to make this an advertisement area (the link is to the same information on thier emails/website, nothing independent) is one reason you should consider running other searches, perhaps to contact victims of the scam. Another idea - contact any Human Resources recruiter and ask what they would think of someone including their inclusion in this book as a thing of pride, or expecting benefit from it!

However, be aware, those same posters have erased all the prior discussions here...rudely (more than once - I now return the favor every so often) and may be doing so at other sites.....those discussion were along these lines: This is a rehash of the old scam to get your name in "Who's Who of....". Was done for decades...now it's more electronic.

You've been selected for inclusion in an exclusive registry because of your status/standing (whatever) in a field, business, or whatever. It is an honor...and will get you even more esteem and respect because of its exclusivity and in depth screening process.

After providing the requisite info - and most importantly a payment, (apparently they didn't know much about you to have decided you were just right for this major special honor)....you'll find out that as they insist most people want to have the leather bound (or whatever) collector volume of the registry (book) that has them listed (I guess to show off to friends), along with all the other famous and notable people in it...a small fee of $100 (or name it) is all that is needed.

And yes they claim that even without the payment you will be in the book...but only subscribers actually get to see one......I've been invited...I am certainly a leader in my industry (officer in professional groups, a wall of honors, etc)....only thing they printed I know of with my name on it is their solicitation to get me to pay!

If it actually ever gets printed (and sent to those whose payments have cleared, it takes a while to put it all in order you know) or not....thats another story...sometimes yes, sometimes no. Apparently, the one with my solicitaion is still waiting to be printed, because again, neither I nor anyone I've ever spoken to (or been contacted by) has seen it.

Princeton Premier is not affiliated in any way with Princeton University, although it is clearly trying to imply that it has some academic reputation itself.

Real professional awards and recognition don't charge a fee as a qualification to be bestowed.

Indeed, as with Andrea I too just received the same quotation but I played the 'left my credit card at home' line when payment chat came into the frame.
I agree with the general spirit of this thread; I like to think I'm pretty clever but ultimately I am Joe Average and there are a million other people like me out there. So no, I wouldn't be selcted from "10s of thousand of applicants".
Be warned however that if the rest of them are like Lynda, they are very good at tickling the ego in the right places. And as I'm sure we'd all agree, malfunctioning ego plays a key part in almost every bad decision in life...

I am glad that I checked. Was called a a message was left by a Kevin Turman (sounded like a new yorker)at 910-795-4908. When I returned the call a voice message (sounded like from India) stated to leave a message. Hope this help others also.

I have received a phone call to Dubai from this same person, the price he was suggesting for a biography listing was around 800 USD.. My advice is to end the call immediately, and never give a credit card number. Tell the person that you would call him later.

I've received two phone calls where the individual solicited biographic information for this apparent vanity publisher and plaque provider. I don't recall the membership fee, but it was pricey. The phone conversation starts out by asking questions about one's professional career such as how long have you worked at your institution, what's your greatest achievement, etc. As noted in an earlier post, it only takes 3 or 4 responses and the rep indicates you're eligible for membership in the exclusive biographical publication! Whether this promotion can be labeled a sham could be debated, but the dubious distinction of being listed in the publication and being a member seems obvious.

I just received this spam at my work email, and Googled the name to see what it was. I'm glad I read this over! Granted, I've only been out of college for just over a year and working at my ad agency for only 9 months, so I was highly suspect anyway of something that claimed I was one of the "most accomplished individuals." I'm not trying to be self-condescending, but I am more than aware that I have only recently moved past "entry-level." I must respond to Leroy Jenkins though - that's a pretty insulting comment. At no point in time did I ever sign up to receive such an email, or deal with any other business/company that I think is comparable - so I don't appreciate the claim that by merely receiving an unsolicited email, I am a "loser" who is self-absorbed enough to care about "being important." If I had actually signed up for such a thing, knowing how vastly unqualified I am, then maybe the remarks would be appropriate, but I'm not sure why you feel yourself qualified to be the judge of anyone else? You must think of yourself as pretty important to be so rude...

This scam is for losers from Loserville. No one who is actually important would be receiving such an e-mail. Only those who want to be important are on their list.

I've just had a call back from Princeton Premier and they've accepted me into the Register. They didn't tell me anything much about what they could do for me.

In terms of fees, they wanted 789 dollars for lifetime membership plus 199 dollars for the members listing - I was also offered a 5-year deal that would only cost 589 dollars plus 199 dollars for the members list.

Seems a lot of money for online networking/chat room.

Good Findings. It doesn't surprise me that you did not get a reply.