I received the following from J T Richards, Managing Director of Who’s Who Among Executives and Professionals

Hello,

As you are more then likely aware, you were recently selected for inclusion in the 2013 edition of the Who’s Who Among Executives and Professionals.

Despite our efforts, we have not yet received confirmation of your biographical profile, and are reaching out to you again in an effort to do so.

Click here to verify and confirm your profile

The tradition of the Who’s Who reaches back more than 100 years to a time when the prestigious and accomplished were featured in a yearly publication that defined high society.

Today, the Who’s Who provides a useful resource where business professionals, academics, and Executives are both recognized for their achievements and provided with an unparalleled networking resource. Using our database, you can make global contacts, discuss current events and happenings with your peers, and establish yourself as either a mentor to aspiring professionals or further your business network.

Our goal is to seek out the premier executives and professionals throughout the world. There is absolutely no cost or obligation for your biographical profile. Simply click this link to fill out the appropriate biographical fields.

To change your communication options please click this link

or write to:

3635 S. Fort Apache Rd, Suite 200 – 637

Las Vegas, NV 89147

END

Isn’t that nice? I have been at long last been recognised as someone of importance.

But stop! The email just says “Hello”. It doesn’t give my title. If I have been selected why has it been addressed to “Hello”?

Then I remembered I had received a similar email from a Chris Jesperson, Nominating Committee Secretary, of “Who’s Who Among Executives and Professionals” back in 2010. That time, though they had addressed me as Colin and said “You were recently chosen as a potential candidate to represent your professional community in the 2010 edition of Who’s Who among Executives and Professionals.”

So then I was a “potential candidate”. Again I had to verify and confirm my profile by “clicking here”.

Who is to “verify” my standing as a pillar of the professional community, an iconic giant here in the Cayman Islands?

It is of course almost scam. Other names used are Chris Jespersen, Anthony Miller, Harmony, Felipe Ferreira & Gustavo Ferreira.

As I am not going to answer it I expect I will get this missive as others have:

This is the final notice regarding your inclusion within the 2012 Edition of Who’s Who Among Executives and Professionals. We have sent you several emails requesting your inclusion, and so far we have not received any confirmation on your biographical proof.

Most individuals look at the Who’s Who as the world’s premier source for networking. Our professional network of trusted contacts gives you an advantage in your career, and is one of your most valuable assets. The Who’s Who exists to help you make better use of your professional network and help the people you trust in return. Our mission is to connect the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful.. We believe that in a globally connected economy, your success as a professional and your competitiveness as a company depends upon faster access to insights and resources that you can trust.

We urge you to click HERE and fill out the appropriate information in order to get the biographical process started. There is no cost or obligation to be listed.

Best of luck in all of your future endeavors,

Get Noticed Today

JT Richards

Managing Director

Who’s Who Among Executives and Professionals

I say “almost” because from an article published on the Fraud Prevention Unit.org website they investigated the company and had this to say:

It’s a real company and you will get the items they promise.

For starters, you can pay to have your name listed in a book. They’ll actually publish the book, and your name will appear in it, and you’ll get your copy. It’s called vanity publishing—you’ll get in the directory, all right. As long as you pay.

After that, you can order a plaque for around $200, a plaque and some other junk for around $500, and a couple plaques, a leather-bound edition and some prewritten press releases for $700. As long as you pay, you will receive these items as promised.

The catch?

Those plaques are meaningless in the real world, those press releases are guaranteed to never make it into a publication, and the only people who read the directory are other people who paid to have their names listed.

Nobody has ever obtained a high-paying job because of this directory. In fact, if you actually pay this company for their product, it could work against you.

Let’s say you’re looking for a change of career, and you pay to appear in the Heritage Who’s Who directory. During an interview, you mention that you’re in the Who’s Who. Suddenly, the interviewer’s attitude changes. The questions become shallower, and you find yourself shunted out the door much sooner than you had hoped. The phone call for a second interview never comes.

This happens a few more times, so you decide to put the “award” on your resume. Now nobody seems to be calling you for an interview anymore. What happened?

Let me make something clear before I continue: you’ll notice I never use the words “stupid” or “idiot” when referring to victims of scams, fraud and rip-offs (which is what I consider this particular deal). Victims of these crimes come from every socio-economic background, and from all levels of intelligence. Nobody is invulnerable. How many intelligent people were taken for a ride on Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi Express? How many organizations (not just individuals) of smart, savvy people fall for Nigerian 419 scams? It has nothing to do with how smart you are.

However, a lot people aren’t as forgiving as I am; they don’t understand that the world does not consist of “billions of stupid people, and me.”

When they hear you paid to have your name listed in the Heritage Who’s Who, they’re just assuming you’re an idiot. Halfway through that job interview, the interviewer decided you weren’t worth his or her time. If you, through some unlucky chance, actually get that press release published, you’ve just announced it to the entire city.

What if you’re already a high-level executive, and have that plaque hanging on your wall? Why does it seem like the level of respect you usually get has suddenly plummeted? Why do potential clients’ eyes travel to your plaque, then back to you, and three minutes later they’ve changed their minds? They’re assuming you’re a dummy.

That’s the problem. You’re probably not stupid, and you don’t deserve to be treated as such. These offers can seem very legitimate, and as I said, they do deliver the physical items they promise. The shady part is the prestige they claim these items carry.

The lesson here: avoid any publication with the words “Who’s Who” in the title—executives, professionals high school students, whatever. If you have to pay to be listed, it’s not real. These are vanity publications, and the only person they’re going to impress is your grandmother.

Unless she’s hip to the vanity press scheme, and is one of those unforgiving people I was talking about. Then she might just call you an idiot.

So you have been warned.

Even so, it’s nice to have been, even though it was only for a few seconds in my life, been recognised as someone “of importance”.