Alexis C. Madrigal first showed up on our radar 5+ years ago, and is best known for his work at the Atlantic. We recently caught up on his history here, which is worth an hour if you like to geek out on any/all things longform (as we do, numerous posts will attest). He has fresh material that is worth a read, birds of a feather with reporting from a dozen years earlier on then-pernicious scams:
The Strange Brands in Your Instagram Feed
A new breed of online retailer doesn’t make or even touch products, but they’ve got a few other tricks for turning nothing into money.
It all started with an Instagram ad for a coat, the West Louis (TM) Business-Man Windproof Long Coat to be specific. It looked like a decent camel coat, not fancy but fine. And I’d been looking for one just that color, so when the ad touting the coat popped up and the price was in the double-digits, I figured: hey, a deal! Continue reading
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