Millions of people have been the victims of Internet scams in recent years. “The Internet Financing Illusion” explores one businessman’s personal journey through the perplexing and often dark world of cyberspace and profiles the faceless financial scam artists who lurk behind keyboards and computer screens. In 1999, Vincent Panettiere started searching for ways to finance his film production company. More than two hundred leads and several months later, he was unwittingly thrust into an Internet adventure that would consume his life. Anamika Biswas of Kolkata, India, said she had $33 billion to invest in several companies located in the United States, Bermuda, Canada, and Australia. For most of 2003, this twenty-four-year-old woman led Panettiere and approximately twenty other individuals and businesses with the precision of a military commander leading the enemy into a blind canyon. In this powerful and cautionary tale, Panettiere includes the actual e-mails he exchanged with Biswas in order to help others recognize the inconsistencies, lies, and manipulative text that Internet scam artists use to lure their victims. “The Internet Financing Illusion” delivers firsthand information and invaluable guidance to keep you scam-proof in cyberspace.
