Fake Tribune website attempts to scam pet owners

POWELL (WNE) — Following reports from readers Friday morning, the Tribune discovered that a website imitating the newspaper was naming winners for the annual pet contest and requesting credit card information.

The site is a sub-domain of myfreesites. net, its registrar was first created in 2015. The domain does not currently have a website according to whois.domaintools.com. WHOIS is used to search for information including domain names and information regarding to whom the domain may belong.

The fact that the phony site is a subdomain does not mean that myfreesites.net has been involved in any wrongdoing and a report has been filed with its registrar notifying them of the misuse.

Those who may have interacted with the site have been advised to contact their credit card companies.

The winners of the pet contest will not be announced until June in the Powell Tribune’s Tribune Tails special section. No billing information is needed to participate in the contest, and the Tribune will never contact people for billing information via social media.

The Tribune’s website is powelltribune.com.

This story was published on May 21, 2024.