Several local people contacted recently by a company making what they suspected were false claims of affiliation with THE EQUITY have brought their concerns over the possible scam to our attention over the past few days.
Each of the incidents involved someone who had been the subject of an article in THE EQUITY being contacted by a company called That’s Great News offering to sell them a copy of the article mounted on a plaque.
Research conducted by The Equity’s Liz Draper reveals that Robert Roscoe, identified on the website of That’s Great News as the company’s founder and CEO, has been a subscriber to THE EQUITY since 2021, presumably for the purpose of identifying sales targets for his company. This subscription has now been terminated.
Prior to these incidents, THE EQUITY had no information linking Roscoe to the company or its solicitation efforts. Neither THE EQUITY nor Pontiac Printshop has any association with the company and, until this was reported us, had no knowledge of its existence.
A call placed to the company, based in Wallingford, Connecticut, confirmed that Kelly Nolan, the person who made the sales contacts with people here, does indeed work for That’s Great News.
Since posting a scam alert on Facebook last week, THE EQUITY has received several more reports of similar occurrences.
These incidents follow a tip from MRC Pontiac staff in December that the same company reached out to them via email proposing to produce a plaque displaying THE EQUITY article about the appointment of the MRC’S new director of economic development. Within the same email, the company claimed it was both affiliated and not affiliated with THE EQUITY.
A google search shows that various community news organizations across the US and Canada have had similar experiences with the company since 2014. These include the Boundary Creek Times in British Columbia, the Missourian, based in Franklin County Missouri, and the Kentucky Press Association. In every instance, these organizations warned their readership of That’s Great News’ suspicious activities and made it clear they had no association with the company. Even the University of Vermont reported similar problems.
There are also several complaints on the company’s Better Business Bureau profile accusing representatives of That’s Great News of spam, falsely presenting themselves as various local newspapers, and copyright violations.
THE EQUITY reached out to That’s Great News for comment but did not receive a response before press time.
If you have any doubt over any phone call or email you receive from someone claiming or implying an affiliation with THE EQUITY or Pontiac Printshop, please contact us immediately at 819-647-2204.
article by Brett Thoms
Pontiac March 27, 2023
