City Media.vi - Had To Think Twice About This One

The other day, I got this...

(starts)
Hi,

I found your blog If I Thought You Were Listening, I'd Never Say A Word on Blogger and I may have an interesting proposal for you.
I work for the CityMedia foundation (citymediafoundation.org) and we are currently offering relevant bloggers from all over the world a chance to become the administrator of their city’s video site; this is why I’m contacting you.

We created the [City].vi network, making videos of world cities instinctively accessible with this address model: “city name” followed by “.vi”
For example: paris.vi, madrid.vi, chicago.vi, losangeles.vi, etc.
The address model works for 68,000 of the world’s most important cities. Think about a city and try...

The objective of the [City].vi network is to become the leading resource for local video content. Our strategy: working with relevant local bloggers.

We would be pleased you become the administrator of london.vi and offer internet surfers a comprehensive video selection about London.
By managing your city’s video site you earn all of the revenues made from the site: ads, professionals registrations, links...
Basically, running london.vi consists of making the site known by locals, for they post and watch videos.

Come on the site, you will find the proposal in detail and the advantages to work with us and take control of your city's video site.
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kl500NppDCY
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/city.vi
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/city_vi

Thank you for your attention.

Vicki Karlin
City.vi Manager
City.vi, a tool by CityMedia Fdt
citymediafoundation.org
(ends)

Go to their website and they have a nice line about how they were founded, how important this is, and how they think the Mayor's office of the cities should really run their sites, but if the Mayor won't, a local blogger (like me) will do. It's at this point my alarm bells go off. From the Mayor of London - one of the, what? top 100 political jobs on the planet? - to a blogger whose blog is intended not to be read is just a little bit of a come down. Anyway, bodies set up as a result of serious-sounding international conferences already have contacts into all the bureaucracies they need.

So let's look at that "Become this site's administrator". How do you do that? Why, by bidding for the position. In return you get all the ad revenue...

Whoop! Whoop! Whoop! Scam alert!

It's a good one. Someone spent a while putting together those sites - they are generic, but the sourcing the video content must have been some work. Some of it comes from You Tube, the London stuff from a site called www.monumentaladventure.com. Even if it's an automated search, it must be a fairly nifty algorithm. You'd think they must have better ways of making a living. In the end, the sites have an early-oughties feel to the design and that's a clue on it's own. So is the fact that Gmail's spam filter thought it was spam.