From the Publisher – Scam Alert!
Readers, it has come to our attention that a recent series of ads we have been running may be fraudulent in nature. We’ve suspended the ads and removed them from our website. The Gazette regrets any confusion this may have caused our community.
Several weeks ago, we were contacted by a person claiming to represent Trilliant Health, a large (and very real) healthcare company based in Brentwood, Tennessee. This person said they were interested in running a series of employment ads in our newspaper and on our website. Our staff here at the paper did some basic investigation into the company and, after careful consideration and multiple discussions, I decided to take Trilliant Health on as a paid advertiser.
After receiving multiple warnings and negative feedback from our readers questioning the validity of the ads, the Gazette initiated an investigation that confirmed the ad’s deceptive nature. Our staff reached out to Trilliant Health directly and were informed that they are not currently running any employment advertisements such as the one we were running.
After hearing this, we immediately took our information to the Tipp City Police Department and were advised to stop all communications with the unidentified parties who initiated the ads. The TCPD also recommended we remove the ad from our website, which we have done. We are printing this retraction and will be distributing it via Facebook.
Our staff encourages anyone who responded to these ads to immediately end any contact. If you have had any impact from this incident, we encourage you to reach out to your local law enforcement. If you are located in Tipp City, please reach out to Mike Morgan at mmorgan@tippcity.net. The open case number for this investigation in Tipp City is #24TC06395.
As part of our commitment to accountability, we are enhancing our advertising review processes to ensure that all future ads meet rigorous standards for accuracy and honesty. We encourage our readers to remain vigilant and report any suspicious advertisements they may encounter. And Gazette staff are working on a follow-up story on this incident.
