The renewable energy sector appears to have surfaced on the radar for dodgy characters on the prowl to make a quick, dishonest buck.
As reported on January 11 (As Solar Rises to the Top, So Do Cons), companies are starting to crop up in the RE sector with misleading information and/or offering fraudulent services and products. However, Alternative Energy Africa has just learned that in addition to falsified companies and products, conferences are now in question. An email has been circulating promoting the GWVG Conference and Expo 11, subject title Global Warming Conference Invitation, which is calling for papers for the Global Warming Volunteer Group Conference.
The website is very detailed and organized, using industry terms for further validation. Under the “About Us” tab, you will find:
Global Warming Volunteer Group (GWVG) is a non-profit organization of scientists, policy makers, and scholars committed to driving scientific research and innovative policy development on global warming and climate change science. With members in more than 135 countries, the GWVG sponsors unbiased research supporting the understanding and mitigation of global warming and climate change.
The Global Warming International Center (GWIC), which is a valid organization, began in 1989 and has held 17 annual conferences presenting the same information that GWVG claims in its “4th conference.” On GWIC’s website:
About Global Warming International Center (GWIC):
Global Warming International Center (GWIC) is a non-profit organization of scientists, policy makers, and scholars committed to driving scientific research and innovative policy development on climate change science. With members in more than 145 countries, the GWIC sponsors unbiased research supporting the understanding and mitigation of global warming.
The only difference in text is the number of countries represented.
Valid GWIC:
Founded in 1989 in Chicago, GWIC takes an interdisciplinary approach to evaluating climate impacts across a range of areas:
Mirrored GWVG site:
Founded in 1998 in London, GWVG takes an interdisciplinary approach to evaluating climate impacts across a range of areas:
Moreover, the GWVG scam is offering free airfare after participants submit deposits for hotel and registration via a Western Union money transfer.
While most of these unbelievable offers will be easily identifiable, the complexity in this particular event is a strong indicator of more to come. Some of these scammers have set up websites, so it is important to remember that even if accompanied by a website, further research should be done in order to make sure it is a valid operation.
First, check the listed organizer and see if you are familiar with them. If not, conduct a search on one of the top search engines (ie Google) to see if the organizer’s name returns any results with an established history of past events. The GWVG conference claims to be in its fourth year, however, we checked GWVG Conference and Expo plugging in the last four years with search results turning up empty each time. Also, by doing a Google search for Global Warming Volunteer Conference, the only site to pull up was the mirrored site (and a few other news articles warning of the scam).
If still in doubt, but potentially interested in attending, check out Alternative Energy Africa’s website events section. Alternately, our events staff deals with many organizers, established as well as newcomers, so feel free to drop us a line. There are many other ways to investigate the situation and we will be happy to assist you to the best of our ability.
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