A bit of fraud in the Commonwealth

Were you among the many who signed a petition last fall, thinking you were adding your name to those supporting interstate wine sales, nursing home reform, on increased access to preschools?

Well, guess what? You may have been duped into signing the petition to overturn gay marriage!

This information comes to us from "Know thy Neighbor.org":

Fraud alert!

Thousands may have been frauded by out-of-state, buck-a-signature petition circulators.

What happened?

The following scenarios have been reported:

Scenario 1 - Citizens were told they were signing the wine petition when the anti-gay marriage petition was actually presented.

Scenario 2 - Citizens were first asked to sign the wine petition and then asked to sign again on a second page. The second page was actually the anti-gay marriage petition.

Scenario 3 - Citizens were told they were signing a petition to protect gay marriage when it was actually the anti-gay marriage petition.

Who did it?

Petition sponsors VoteOnMarriage.org hired Arno Political Consultants, a California company that has been questioned on using fraudulent tactics across the nation, to collect signatures for the anti-gay marriage petition. Arno bussed and flew in workers from around the country and paid them $1.50 for each signature they collected.

Workers allegedly made up to $1200 per day and would brag about how they were able to fraud gay people into signing a petition to take their own rights away.

What can I do if I am a fraud victim?

Verify that you are listed as a signer of the anti-gay marriage petition and follow the instructions provided with the list for fraud victims.

Folks, if you have the slightest inkling that you or someone you know may have been duped, you owe it to yourself to check out the website and see if your name is there. I checked all my family and friends, and it is with a great sigh of relief that I can report us all in the clear.