Dunno about the ALAN scam, but I have seen plenty of scamming in the RE world, and I have only wandered into this domain about a year and a half ago. Taking people's money and giving them crap creates a rough road for the legit RE producer and consumer.
So far I have seen:
Attic vents that do not.
"insulating" paint. (does not)
"payback" claims that will never even occur in the owner's lifetime.
others come to mind, as well.
I am waiting to see the "200 mile per gallon carberator" crap from 1979 get started again.
Actually annoys me enough to do something. And that is something -- I am pretty lazy. I think I might do a BS page, if there is any interest and you all want to post or send me details of any RE scams you have seen. I will do some research on them, and post the details as a public warning page. (on another site so fieldlines does not get sued).
Or on the other hand, has somebody already done such a RE BS site? (see, there is my lazy part, again)