On my ride home a few months ago, I saw many of the yellow, printed "Granite Counter tops for $29 sqft" along my route. About half of them had SCAM hastily hand-written across the sign. Clearly someone was pissed at them.

That go me thinking... every one of those signs that were attracting people to his business, suddenly became a liability - costing him customers. Who in their right mind would want to go to a business that has been labeled a scam?

I did some looking, but, surprisingly, could not find any standard "SCAM" or "SCAMMER" labels. Having them made up is pricey, but I figured if the idea catches on, maybe a group buy would lower the cost?

I imagine that if street spammers started seeing their signs HURT their businesses, they would move to areas where their signs won't get tagged.

Removed signs is ultimately the best from a visual standpoint - but it costs the spammer nothing (no disposal costs, no citiations or fines, no incentive to clean up after themselves). So when you take down a sign, it has little impact - unless you do it within minutes of it going up.

On the other hand, if the spammer has to keep coming back to make sure his signs haven't been defaced in a fashion that gives him bad press, he'll stress. He'll start hitting areas where the 'defacing' does't happen.

This is my first post here, and I wasn't able to find any other references to SCAM stickers.

I ride my Trek 5200 road bike 20 miles round-trip to/from work every day (weather permitting). Pulling signs with clipped shoes and no trunk is very difficult. Having a roll of SCAM stickers on my handle bars, on the other hand, is quite simple.


What's everyone else's take? Assuming the signs are abandoned property, the sign owner couldn't claim vandalism... I'm merely redecorating road-side trash. No different than if I spray painted the empty McDonald's fry box that's lying in the right of way... no?

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There's been a lot of discussion here as to whether or not stickering bandit signs is the right way to go, so I won't go into that (especially since I don't have an opion on it .

However, I would suggest that you use the word "ILLEGAL" instead of "SCAM" since then you wouldn't be able to be accused of libeling the business. The signs themselves *are* illegal, after all.

SCAM is definitely eye-catching but I agree ILLEGAL is probably better. For one thing, some bandit signs are for legal businesses, e.g., windshield replacement or tree removal. They're using questionable advertising tactics but they are not scams.

Unless you wanted to make 2 ... one for obvious scams and one for the rest.

Hi:

There has been a lot of discussion on various forum threads about CAUSS stickers. For example:

HELP REMOVE
ILLEGAL SIGNS
www.CAUSS.org

You can print one up in large font on your computer. Then copy it onto colored paper at your local copy center. Then get some Scotch 77 spray adhesive at the hardware store. Enjoy!

Some people love them; some people hate them.

I have seen them used in Denver, especially about 6 years ago. They worked wonders. They got the attention of:

- the public. Lots of new sharks started cleaning their neighborhoods.
- Code Enforcement,
- the spammers,
- the media. We got several good TV and newspaper stories as a result of the interest.

Recently, I saw a repeat offender's sign stickered. The sign was for some kind of auto detailing. The sticker said "ruined my leather". So I know some concerned citizens, at least, are resorting to guerrilla tactics. Or maybe it was someone who actually had their interior messed up.

DenverShark

I think that stickers are just another eyesore and is not good for our environment as they do not break down.

When you sticker, you are just adding to the garbage that is out there.

Easiest thing and best for the environment is to just grab the signs.

I imagine that stickers would be as illegal as the signs too.

You could use a stencil and a can of spray paint instead of a sticker.
I keep a can of gray spray paint in my car to cover stickers that I find on aluminum tel. poles and utility boxes.

Be sure to cover part of the contact info with your paint, that makes the sign useless.

Be careful, many police departments would view this as graffiti.

If I were to keep a can of spray paint in my car, it would explode within 15 minutes of parking in any open parking lot, 115 degrees outside equals 160 degrees inside the car.

Making a difference and keeping it clean

I prefer duct tape over paint for this application. It's not as permanent but I've rarely seen anyone attempt to remove it. When they do the silk-screened paint on the sign sometimes comes off too.

Also, it's easier to use duct tape for signs that are too high (or fastened too securely) to remove. Home improvement stores are now carrying double-sided duct tape. It has a peelable liner on one side. Just and stick it on a painting pad attached to an extendable painter's pole, peel off the liner, press it against the phone number (or web address) on the sign, the tape comes off the pad and the sign is useless.

Spray paint has a vandalism vibe to it, but everyone loves duct tape.

I prefer to just pick up litter. I don't wish to convert it to my use. Signs are litter.

I had an idea a long time ago but never followed through on it. I was going to have a bunch of stickers with 'SEX' or 'FOR SEX' printed on them. I figured it would be a good laugh to have signs all around saying things like 'CASH PAID FOR SEX', 'WE BUY SEX FOR $$$' and so on.

Heh!

Just more litter, IMO. We have enough already. Remove and dispose of responsibly.

Illegal Signs in Austin

So I know this post is several years old but it brings up a good question -- what can someone on a bicycle do to make some sort of difference who has no storage/removal capability?

My suggestion would be to carry a handy dandy box cutter on your ride to and from work. I would cut the sign in half lengthwise (against the grain of the corrugation) and fold the sign over on itself so the entire sign isn't visible and or legible. That way the sign pieces don't blow away, they can't be reused (without a lot of hassle anyway), they don't generate any business for the spammer, and can be collected from the same spot later on.

Anyone else have further ideas? I didn't read every post on this thread, so my apologies if it's already been hashed over.

>So I know this post is several years old but it brings up a
>good question -- what can someone on a bicycle do to make some
>sort of difference who has no storage/removal capability?

I just lay the sign downn on the ground, face down. Cutting it would be good, but I don't carry a box cutter with me on the bike.

I got a small pocket knife for my bike. It weighs only a few ounces.

When I'm on my bike, I can usually find a garbage can within the block. But if I can't, I just leave them there. I figure someone will toss them into the trash at some point, hopefully sooner than later.