Cardilly.com is either a scam or has a very unusual social media strategy going, since much of the buzz about Cardilly is very negative right now with many people insisting it’s a scam.   I think it’s probably NOT a scam   [update – I’m leaning to “scam” based on all the unaddressed negative feedback and undelivered cards], but surprised they are not addressing critics, and fast.   Is this all part of a strange  “negative news is still news” strategy?    If so, it’ll be interesting to watch the Cardilly saga play out.

After responding to an online advertisement  from what appeared to be a Google ad at a major site I wound up at the new website “Cardilly.com” that was offering $100.00  Wal Mart Gift Cards for … $50.00  .     Some would say that’s “too good to be true”, but in the online world it seemed to me this might indeed be a legitimate deal, especially in light of Groupon’s spectacular success and company valuation.   Seemed to me that Cardilly might be offering a handful of “loss leader” card deals in an effort to generate buzz and traffic.

Given this and their GeoTrust Certificate  (which I later learned  ONLY guarantees that the transaction is “secure” and not that the company is legitimate) I did make the purchase.     The long wait time is also a bit suspicious, but understandable because extending this time will increase their profits quite a bit on a big operation.

There’s a very active conversation about Cardilly online, with most people citing the red flags and asserting “Cardilly is a scam” without much evidence to support that claim.   [update:  Few (nobody?) has reported getting cards so the red flag is getting bigger each day]

This is an area where Google could do a much better job in my opinion – basically guaranteeing that anybody using them to advertise will have a physical address and complaints person identified online.    I’m always surprised how few people want to demand that kind of accountability from ISPs and other key online players like Google and Microsoft.     The solution to online fraud is fairly simple – you CANNOT sell online unless you provide a verified support contact.