Buffalo Grove Lincolnshire chamber succeeds in shutting down fake website
Buffalo Grove Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce officials have succeeded in shutting down a fake website that caused confusion for the organization.
Although the web address for the bogus site still comes up among the top results in a Google search, visitors who click it now are redirected to a site no longer purporting to be the Buffalo Grove Area Chamber of Commerce, the organization's previous name.
The site had featured an image of President Donald Trump wearing a Make America Great Again hat, accompanied by the logo of the original Buffalo Grove chamber and unrelated crude language. The president's image was next to text stating: "Support Donald Trump #ImmigrantsOUT #AmericaFIRST #BuildThatWall."
Chamber officials were concerned about what the bogus website was damaging the organization's reputation.
Roger Sosa, executive director of what's been the Buffalo Grove Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce for four years, said the site vanished over the weekend. He said he contacted Buffalo Grove police Friday, which led to the chamber receiving assistance from authorities and web hosting company GoDaddy in finding the phony website's host.
"I filed a complaint that this was a phishing website and was using copyrighted materials," Sosa said Monday. "They took the site down within 24 hours of my complaint."
Sosa said the chamber received periodic calls of concern regarding the fake website since July. Buffalo Grove resident Karen Meadows, a former park board member, told the Daily Herald that she wound up on the bogus website after seeking information to share with her new neighbors.
Each founded independently in the early 1970s, the Buffalo Grove and Lincolnshire chambers merged in 2014. The chamber's stated mission is "to serve our community by creating networking, marketing and educational opportunities to build a vibrant and successful business environment."