| Industry | Who's Who scam |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1967 |
| Defunct | 2012 |
| Fate | Bankrupt in 2012 |
| Headquarters | , |
| Products | Sale of, awards and biographical reference directories |
| Owner | Arlene Calhoun |
Number of employees | 1 (2012) |
The American Biographical Institute (ABI) was a paid-inclusion vanity award publisher based in Raleigh, North Carolina which had been publishing biographical reference directories since 1967. It generated revenue from sales of valueless certificates and books to those listed. Each year the company awarded hundreds of "Man of the Year" or "Woman of the Year" awards at between $195 and $295 each.
Its awards were frequently denounced as scams by politicians,[1] journalists,[2][3] and others.[4][5][6] The Government of Western Australia's ScamNet service considers the American Biographical Institute to be a scam vanity publisher "who appeals to people who want a plaque on their wall or see their name in a book, even if the honour has no real credibility—in effect, they have purchased the honour."[7]
The company went bankrupt in 2012.[8]
Consumer Affairs Minister John Lenders has been asked to investigate a scam being run by a group called the American Biographical Institute after it told a Labor MP he would get a decree confirming his nomination as 2004 "man of the year" if he paid $ US 195 ($ A 276) … [Member for Mitcham] Mr Robinson said it was important the people behind the scam be stopped from requesting Australians to send money for a meaningless award… "It is very difficult to retrieve money from scams like this that are run overseas," [Mr. Lenders] said. "This is a scam that is well known to Consumer Affairs Victoria.