PatrickPretty.com

Tag: NCMEC

  • Narc That Car Removes Reference To AMBER Alert In Sales Video After Justice Department Denies Link To MLM Program

    The Narc That Car multilevel-marketing (MLM) program has removed the name of AMBER Alert from a promotional video.

    Narc That Car’s removal followed on the heels of denials by the Justice Department and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) that the Dallas-based firm was affiliated with the AMBER Alert system.

    On Feb. 3, NCMEC, which manages the secondary AMBER Alert program for the Justice Department, expressed concern about the program’s famous name being commercialized. It was not immediately clear if either the Justice Department or NCMEC asked Narc That Car to remove the reference.

    Also unclear is whether Narc That Car advised its members about the removal and whether members have been instructed to cease using AMBER Alert’s name in promotions.

    Narc That Car promoters repeatedly have referenced AMBER Alert in sales pitches. The program is named after Amber Hagerman, 9, who was brutally murdered in Texas in 1996. Some Narc That Car promoters have created .org domains that traded off AMBER Alert’s name to drive business to the company.

    A domain titled AmberAlertHelp.org now appears to resolve to a blank page. Meanwhile, other Narc That Car promoters’ references to AMBER Alert continue to appear online.

    After
    Before

  • STOP THE MADNESS: Now, AmberAlertHelp.org; Narc That Car Promoters Continue To Link Company To Legacy Of Amber Hagerman

    Two days ago, we wrote about FindThatCar.org, a website with a red banner at the top that appeals to visitors to “Help us,” as though it were promoting a charity such as the Red Cross.

    FindThatCar.org actually is promoting Narc That Car, a Dallas-based multilevel-marketing  (MLM) company that is building a database to sell information to companies in the business of repossessing automobiles. Both Narc That Car and its promoters reference the AMBER Alert program in their sales pitches.

    Today we turn your attention to AmberAlertHelp.org. It, too, is selling Narc That Car. Here’s the AmberAlertHelp.org pitch on the site’s main page (italics added):

    Welcome to Amber Alert Help

    Our goal is to build awareness about an opportunity for you, your friends, and your family to get paid for helping build the Amber Alert system database simply by submitting 6 random license plate numbers per month online. It is so easy, and you can get started now.

    Here is the pitch on a secondary AmberAlertHelp.org page (italics added):

    We Joined Narc That Car and feel wonderful about having the ability to:

    • Help find and save missing children
    • Help build the very valuable Amber Alert system database
    • Make extra money easily

    AmberAlertHelp.org also has an AmberAlertHelp.com version of the domain. Both sites were registered Jan. 20, two days after the BBB in Dallas asked Narc That Car to explain its business practices. The inquiry is still open, according to the BBB website.

    The U.S. Department of Justice, which coordinates the AMBER Alert program, said Wednesday that Narc That Car is in “no way affiliated” with the program. On Thursday, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), which manages the Amber Alert Secondary Distribution Program for the Justice Department and 120 Amber Alert coordinators throughout the United States, said Narc That Car “is not a part” of the secondary program.

    Nine-year old Amber Hagerman was abducted 14 years ago while riding her bicycle in Arlington, Texas. She was brutally murdered. The AMBER Alert program — America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response — is her legacy.

    AMBER Alert is about keeping children safe. It is not about keeping the world safe for multilevel-marketing profits. AMBER Alert’s name should be accorded the same dignity accorded Amber Hagerman’s name, which is to say neither name ever should be made part of a pitch fest.

    That AMBER Alert’s name is being mentioned in sales pitches for Narc That Car is beyond the pale. AMBER Alert is about life-altering emergencies. It is not about MLM recruiting and pocketing commissions up to five levels deep.

    Good grief. Narc That Car promoters are using .org extensions — the same extensions used by the Red Cross, the Salvation Army and NCMEC for their noble purposes — to promote a business that is building a database for the repo man — and they are implying it is a public service.

    Today we call on Narc That Car to remove references to AMBER Alert from its marketing materials, including videos. We further call on Narc That Car promoters to do the same.

    Not only are some Narc That Car promoters repeatedly referencing AMBER Alert, they also are referencing government agencies such as the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security as though the agencies have endorsed the Narc That Car program.

    One Narc That Car promoter claims the purpose of the program is “To help The US Dep’t of Homeland Security find terrorists.” Another claims, “We are backed by the better business bureau, the F.B.I., and the Amber Alert system . . . ” Yet another claims, “A company out of Dallas needs to grow a data base of license plates to use for Amber Alerts and other reasons.”

    Elsewhere, a website that uses a name similar to the famous ToysRUs trade name, references AMBER Alert and tells viewers that big money is possible through Narc That Car.

    “I went to Walmart,” a video narrator intones at the PlatesRUs.biz website. “It took me every bit of five minutes to write down 10 tag numbers randomly, go in my back office and log it into the national database through the company, and actually earn a check.”

    This madness must stop.

  • Narc That Car ‘Not A Part’ Of Secondary AMBER Alert System; National Center For Missing & Exploited Children Official Says Integrity Of AMBER Alert Name ‘Needs To Be Protected’

    UPDATED 2:39 P.M. ET (U.S.A.) Narc That Car is not affiliated with the AMBER Alert Secondary Distribution Program, an official said yesterday.

    Robert Hoever’s comments followed on the heels of a denial by the Justice Department that Narc That Car was affiliated with the AMBER Alert program — despite repeated claims by Narc That Car promoters that participation in Narc That Car benefited AMBER Alert.

    Hoever, associate director of special projects in the Missing Children’s Division of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), manages the Amber Alert Secondary Distribution Program for NCMEC and the Justice Department, and 120 Amber Alert coordinators throughout the United States.

    “Narc that Car is not a part of the AMBER Alert Secondary Distribution Program,” Hoever said.

    Given the inarguably high stakes when a child goes missing, Hoever said it was common for people and organizations to try to get involved and help — “[s]ome by pulling AMBER Alerts off the internet and posting them in various places.”

    But he cautioned that brand dilution and public desensitization can occur when AMBER Alert’s famous name is commercialized.

    “As you might imagine there can be accuracy issues as well as timeliness concerns,” Hoever said. “The integrity of the AMBER Alert program needs to be protected so that we do not over saturate the public, but rather send messages to targeted areas defined by the investigating agency. We do not want to desensitize the public by sending alerts that are commercialized, that do not apply to the recipients, are not completely accurate, or are not timely.”

    Promoters routinely reference AMBER Alert in sales pitches for the Narc That Car multilevel-marketing program, which charges participants a $100 fee up front and a website fee of $24.95 a month to become “independent consultants.”

    Narc That Car’s consultants are instructed to write down the license-plate numbers of 10 automobiles and enter the information into a database Narc That Car maintains. Participants get paid for entering information in the database, and are paid additional commissions if they recruit others into the program and minimum thresholds are met.

    Clients such as major automobile manufacturers, banks, automobile-repossession companies and others are interested in purchasing information from the database for $99, according to Narc That Car.

    Promoters routinely drop the names of AMBER Alert and make references to “law enforcement” in ads for the Narc That Car program, but the company does not publish a list of clients.

    Google search results include references such as this: (Italics/bold added.)

    “This program is supported by all the major vehicle manufactures, FBI, law enforcement and financial institutions to help locate and in some cases reclaim vehicles. Just having an address does not work, people ‘hide’ their vehicles and we provide a pattern of these vehicles movements. We recently allowed the Amber Alert program access to help in their cause when there is a need to track down a vehicle quickly that might be in the National data base.”

    (URL for above still current as of Feb. 4, 2010.)

    Here is another claim (italics/bold added):

    “This is an excellent business opportunity, very very simple, and very lucrative. It is a new business that gathers license plate numbers for various companies.

    Such as:
    *Major Auto Manufactures
    *Private Lien Holders
    * Banks
    *In House Auto Dealers
    *Commercial Vehicle Companies
    *Missing Persons
    *Law Enforcement & Government Agencies
    *Amber Alert

    (URL for above still current as of Feb. 4, 2010)

    Meanwhile, a Google search result includes this claim (italics/bold added):

    “I got my first check from Narc That Car. This is fun and easy, and I’m helping Amber Alerts!”

    UPDATE 2:39 P.M. The screen shot below is a miniaturized version of a logo that appeared today on a site called “FindThatCar.org.” The logo included an appeal to “Help us,” as though it were collecting money for a charity.