Archive for the 'Tangled Webs' category
Dear Hagopian Hotels: You’re Morons
Lincoln Adams | February 8, 2010 @ 12:05 amYou know, it’s one thing to have a website crucial to your business hacked into, but it’s quite another to let it stay hacked ALL FLIPPING DAY LONG without apparently any of you noticing. Good job! I really feel comfortable now submitting sensitive information to your site when I want to make a reservation. Oh wait… no I don’t.
This is the second time this has happened to me too. I settle on a hotel to stay at, I go to their site to make a reservation, only to find what looks like a parked domain page, except that it isn’t. Instead, some depraved disease spreading spankypants (from Romania I suspect) figures out a way to hack into the site and places code that redirects visitors to a completely unrelated site with a stonking mad truckload of affiliate based links, or worse yet, malicious code that attempts to install a trojan on your computer.
What are these affiliate links you ask? Well it’s simple, every time you click on a link on one of these hacked pages, a cookie gets saved in your browser. The cookie contains certain information that will credit the hacker with a commission if you buy the right product or service, even if it’s months down the road. That’s how they make their money, and the reason why affiliate marketing needs to either be reigned in or die some kind of violent, radioactive death.
I can’t even bring up a cached version of the hotel’s site to compare the difference to the hacked version, but suffice it to say, it was a nice and simple site that had information about the hotel, its history, contact info, parking garage info, and a link to make a reservation. That has now all been replaced, with this:
I checked the McAfee site rating for the link in that address (don’t go there by the way!) and sure enough, it’s one of the malicious domain names being used to propagate spam and malware.
I sent an email to the real hotel people about this with no response. Beautiful. Fire everyone in your IT department now, because they must be weapons grade numbnuts not to have noticed that the WEBSITE IS GONE. As long as it stays up more visitors will be hoodwinked and might get infected with malware. That’s what cheeses me off too.
Ok, I’m done ranting now. On the upside, the trouble here eventually led me to start an account with Hotels.com instead and use their WelcomeRewards program. I saved $12 in doing so, and now I only need seven more nights to get the next one free. Who’s awesome, baby. 
Tags: affiliate links, affiliate marketing, domain, domain names, hacked, hacker, hotel, hotels, malicious code, trojan, website
Categories: Tangled Webs
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Express Scripts + Identity Theft = EPIC FAIL
Lincoln Adams | September 23, 2009 @ 9:21 pmSo I get a letter in the mail last Monday, real bland looking envelope, looks like it might have come from my credit card company.
I open it up and it reads:
As we publicly reported last fall, Express Scripts, the company that administers (or previously administered) your prescription-drug benefit, received a letter in October 2008 from an unknown person or persons trying to extort money by threatening to expose millions of our member records. We immediately notified the FBI, and an investigation is ongoing.
I am contacting you because the FBI recently received additional information and as a result we learned that the unauthorized access to information included your name, social security number and date of birth and may also include prescription information. Although details regarding the situation are limited and we are unaware at this time of any actual misuse of your information, we believe it is important to notify you. We continue to investigate this matter and will further advise you if we become aware that your information has been misused.

My first thought was, “What in the flipping flip is Express Scripts???”, because prior to today, I had never heard of them. I did some googling and only found barebones info that indicated they were the third largest prescription benefit manager (PBM) in the US. Apparently my health insurance uses them (or used to at least), which would explain why I had gotten such a letter.
So I’m only now being told that crucially personal information about me had been STOLEN, 11 months later after the fact? Seriously?
I thought it had to be a scam, yet it turns out such a thing did apparently happen, since it had been reported by the NY Times (which explains why no one seems to know about it.) The letter also indicated that they set up a support site with more info and what I could do if I became a victim of identity theft, and that through them I would be able to use the services of a fraud prevention company called Knoll should I end up becoming a victim of identity fraud.
So basically I have to twiddle my thumbs and wait around to see if I eventually get butt boinked by the perpetrators who stole my ID. Great plan guys! First you scare me to death with this letter, and then tell me to adopt the wait and see approach, meanwhile somewhere out there some dude named Ivan Uvgunstoffgard is at this very moment placing a $50,000 order for a Mercedes using a newly minted gold card with my name on it. That’s just great.
Oh but wait, it gets better.
Because apparently, when the initial breach first occurred, only 75 names had been confirmed stolen, but recently it seems the number was much, much larger than that. A letter was also sent to New Hampshire AG indicating that almost 2000 people in that state alone have had their info stolen as well. I seriously doubt “millions” of records had been stolen, but this data breach was definitely bigger than earlier reported. They must have had some idea of the scope and who was at risk, so it would have been nice to have been apprised of this LAST YEAR when it happened, instead of waiting until it was actually confirmed that my info was included in the theft before notifying me.
Even though they did publicly report it, it seems they’re still trying to be low key about it all, so please allow me to help them out on this by SCREAMING AT THE TOP OF MY LUNGS TO ALL WHO CAN HEAR:
WARNING, WARNING, IF YOUR HEALTH INSURANCE/EMPLOYER USES EXPRESS SCRIPTS, YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION MAY HAVE BEEN STOLEN
Sigh. On the upside, I had gotten my credit reports and scores from the three major credit agencies last July, months after the data breach, so if my info bad been misused during that time it would have showed up then. Still, I signed up for LifeLock as a precuationary measure (maybe I’ll send the bill Express Scripts too). After taking a harder look at what LifeLock had to offer, I’m surprised I didn’t sign up for it sooner, especially since I got a 20% discount and will only pay $8 a month for the year. 8 bucks a month for some peace of mind is a no-brainer, especially after getting a letter like this.
But just in case, I’m working on establishing a new alternative identity under the name Vincent Spankypants, a venture capitalist who owns various multi-million dollar properties around the US, including a favorite in Aspen, Colorado, where he can sometimes be found snuggling with a Ukranian blonde and roasting marshmellows by the fireplace. Totally believable identity if you ask me. 
Tags: express scripts, extortion, fraud, health insurance, identity theft, letter, lifelock, prescription drug benefit, social security number, stolen
Categories: Tangled Webs
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Apologies again about the light blogging. It might have something to do with the fact that my computer got infected by a nasty evil demon virus from HELL yesterday, which took me over 6 hours to get rid of completely. This evil monster blocked me from accessing antivirus related sites, hijacked my Google searches, crippled my AV software so I couldn’t download updates, blocked my attempts to use Regedit (so I could go into the registry), and constantly crashed Firefox. It also corrupted any antivirus software I tried to download too. Only by renaming Regedit and figuring out where the virus was getting its cues from in the registry was I finally able to disable it and download the needed software to remove it from the system altogether. Gads.
And that might have been the end of it, except that I’m minding my own business watching a Netflix movie and trying to unwind from all the stress before, when I get an IM from a friend letting me know my blog was down.
Uhhhhhh?
So I surf in and sure enough the only thing left of my blog was a weird PHP error. After doing some quick googling, the error usually occurs when the site has been hacked.
Oh no, oh no no no no no….
I logged in, checked some of my files and noticed right away many of them had been changed only minutes before. Upon opening the PHP files I saw malicious javascript code had been injected at the top, explaining why my blog was no longer functioning. Left to itself, once the code was operational it would have spread and potentially infected any subsequent visitor to the site who didn’t have their browsers appropriately shielded (you know, like dumbass me.) The irony of it is that the unique setup of my blog prevented the code from working properly, the one saving grace from having so much junk on my blog to begin with.
I contacted support in a panic, and they responded almost immediately, and restored my entire site within a few short minutes. I asked them to investigate and they found FTP logins that were out of the ordinary and didn’t match the IP addresses I normally used. After some investigating of my own, I confirmed it was the same group that infected my PC with a virus before. Evidently the trojan I was infected with had sent them my FTP passwords, and the hackers’ server later used that info to log in and inject my blog with all kinds of malicious crap. Fun times.
My host sent me the FTP logs and from there I was able to determine exactly who the culprit was, a server in Norway that appears to be a clearinghouse for Russian criminal activity. I’m pretty sure what happened to me was all automated, and that I was just one of many victims of what’s become a well organized setup designed to do what else, make money. The Google searches I tried when I was infected hijacked my searches and redirected me to spam sites instead. I also discovered 419 type scams as well coming from the same server (including my personal favorite, one from a Russian “single mother” pleading for money so she could feed her starving family, and oh by the way, she’s 30 and a hottie too.)
Glad the nightmare’s finally over though (I think). Can I go back to watching my movie now? 
Tags: antivirus, blog, code, computer, criminal, firefox, googling, hackers, javascript, nightmare, norway, pc, registry, scams, script, server, software, spam, support, trojan, virus
Categories: Tangled Webs
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Why Affiliate Marketers are Scum of the Earth and Should Rot in Hell
Lincoln Adams | February 26, 2009 @ 1:57 pmThere were several advertising networks I used to deliver ads to my blog here, and for a while I had a pretty good setup going, to the point that with a little more traffic I could actually earn a decent secondary income, and maybe some day live off my blog altogether. A few of them though didn’t have the option of letting me preview ads before they went live, but they did have some rudimentary filtering features (such as blocking advertisers by domain), and I figured that would be enough for me.
Until the acai berry ads started showing up.
You’ve probably seen them already, as they have infested the Internet like some sort of cyber mutated bubonic plague. Really, Moses himself couldn’t call down a worse plague than this. The ads lead to landing pages (vanilla websites) that contain completely fake testimonials with before and after photos that were photoshopped and/or taken from stock photo sites. The links to the products are actually hidden affiliate links on which the affiliate marketer (or as I like to call him, the Greedy Scum Whoring Bitch Boy of Satan) receives a commission every time a visitor clicks on one of his links and subsequently makes a purchase. What many of them don’t realize though is that the “free” acai berry offers being promoted are really a gimmick to get your credit/debit card info, at which point they charge you about $100 after two weeks without your knowledge. By the time people figure out what’s what, the scam has already been perpetrated, and it will take much hair tearing and gnashing of teeth to get your money back again, if you can at all. As time goes on, these landing pages are getting more and more sophisticated and will no doubt fool even more people as a result.
As if that weren’t bad enough, these are the kind of ads Greedy Scum Whoring Bitch Boy of Satan might show:


Naturally, I didn’t want these ads showing up on my blog. I wanted only quality ads that lead to genuine products, and since these ads were nothing more than overfunded (not to mention overEXPOSED) snake oil scams, I moved to block them on the ad networks they were circulating on.
Or I should say, I TRIED to block them. That’s when I realized just how bad this epidemic of vomit inducing flabby skin really was. On the ValueClick network, Greedy Scum Whoring Bitch Boy of Satan constantly changed the name of his ad campaigns so even when I blocked one campaign, another one would pop up under an entirely different name. I emailed Valueclick and complained several times about this, giving them the names of the campaigns, but of course they ignored me. After all, I’m not the guy who’s showing them the money. And it’s all about the money, right Valueclick? How’s your stock doing by the way? Jerkweeds.
Then I noticed they were also showing up on what was by far my most lucrative network: ADSDAQ (owned by ContextWeb). Not to worry though, ADSDAQ had the option of blocking ads by domain name, so I figured no biggie, I’ll just block the domains these ads lead to, and that will be the end of it.
But then another domain popped up, and then another one, and then ANOTHER one. And then suddenly there were ads for government grant scams, and teeth whitening scams, and ads to fake eBooks promising natural cures for various ailments, and ads for wrinkle cream scams, and on and on and on. I literally started spending hours a day hunting down these rogue ads and adding more domains to the blacklist, and STILL they were getting through. Just how bad was it? Well lookie here at my latest blacklist:
acaiberryboom.com
acaiberrydetox.com
acaiberryscam.org
acaiberrytruth.org
acaicomparison.com
acaifacts.org
acaihealthreport.com
acaihealthtest.com
acaionoprah.com
adamsmoney.com
adamsmoneyblog.com
adrianasweightloss.com
adriennesweightloss.com
akabeezy.com
alanasweightloss.com
alliesdiet.com
amandasteeth.com
ameliasweightloss.com
amydiet.com
amysbrightsmile.com
amysdietcombo.com
amysincome.com
amysteeth.com
amysweightlossdiary.com
andrewsblog.grantmoneyforyou.com
annasdiet.com
annasdietingblog.com
annasdietstory.com
anndropslbs.com
annsdietsecret.com
annsweightloss.com
anthonyisgreen.com
ashleysweightloss.com
asthmadefeated.com
aubreysdietblog.com
beckylostweight.com
beckysmoneyblog.com
beckyswhiteteeth.com
becomeskinnyfast.com
benbanksit.com
bestcelebdiet.com
bestwhiteners.com
bethsmoney.com
bethsmoney.net
bethsmoney.org
billgetsmoney.com
blog.jennyswhiteteeth.com
blogfordiets.com
bradmakesitrain.com
bradsbailout.com
bradsmoney.com
bradsmoneyblog.com
briangetsmoney.com
brians-money-blog.com
briansmoneyblog.com
britneylostweight.com
buy-it-now-online.net
carlasmoney.com
cashfromgrants.info
catchhimandkeephim.com
cathysteeth.com
cellulitedefeated.com
chadgetsgreen.com
cheddahustleblog.com
cheddasblingblog.com
christiesdietsuccess.com
cindiesweightloss.com
clarasweightloss.com
colitis-cme.com
colitiscured.com
coloncleansefacts.org
conniesgrantstory.com
coreycash.com
coreyhasmoney.com
craiggetscash.com
craigsblogsite.org
dangetsgreen.com
danielgetsgreen.com
daniellasweightloss.com
danielsmoneyblog.com
darrylgotpaid.com
datingadvicesitesreviewed.info
davegetsmoney.com
davidscreditstory.com
davidsmoneyblog.com
debt-free-dave.com
debt-free-debbie.com
debtdownthedrain.com
destinysweightloss.com
dietproductsguide.com
diverticulitiscure.com
diverticulitisinstitute.com
donnasdietingblog.com
double-diet.net
downbutneverout.com
earncashfromgrants.com
elliesteeth.com
elliesweightloss.com
emergevictoriousoverfat.com
emmasdietblog.com
emmasweightlosssuccess.com
ericmakesmoney.com
erinsweightloss.com
fastgooglecash.info
fibromyalgiacured.com
flatstomachdiets.com
flatstomachrule.com
freddysblog.com
free-dieting.org
gay.com
get-money-online.com
getvitalacai.com
googlekits.com
governments-grants-2009.com
govgrantcash.com
govgrantscenter.com
grantmecash.com
grantreviewsonline.com
grantsforyounow.com
grantsreviews.org
greggetsgrants.com
healgenitalwarts.com
healthproductsanalysis.com
healthy-diet-program.com
heatherswhiteteeth.com
helensdiet.com
hemochromatosiscure.com
how-to-whiten-teeth.com
howigotwhiteteeth.com
howtolosefatfast.net
imwrinklefree.com
jackmakescash.com
3.jackmakescash.com
jackysdietblog.com
jadesteeth.com
janetsdebtblog.com
jasongetsgrants.com
jasongetspaid.com
jasongrants.com
jaygotmoney.com
jeaniesdietblog.com
jeffgetsgrants.com
jeffgetsgreen.com
jeffreysgrantblog.com
jeffsgrant.net
jeffsgrantmoney.com
jennasweightloss.com
jennasweightloss.net
jennylostweight.com
jennysathomejob.com
jennysdietblog.com
jennysdietsuccessstory.com
jensdietsecret.com
jensweightblog.com
jensweightjournal.com
jensweightlossjournal.com
jenydiet.com
jeremymadecash.com
jessicasmoney.com
jessicasmoneyblog.domlander.com
jillsbusinessblog.com
jimgetspaid.com
jimgotmoney.com
jimmygetscash.com
johngotrich.com
johnsgrantsuccess.com
johnsmoneyblog.com
jonsunemployment.com
judysweightloss.com
juliesdietblog.com
justingetsgreen.com
justinsmoneystory.com
karens-weightloss.com
karenswhiteteeth.com
karlasweightloss.com
kathylostweight.com
kaylaswhiteteeth.com
kaysdiet.com
kellygetsgreen.com
kellysdiet.com
kellysdietblog.com
kellysdietsecret.com
kellyswhiteteeth.com
kellyweightlossblog.com
kelseysweightloss.com
kevinblogsite.org
kevingetsgrants.com
kevingetsgreen.com
kevingoesgreen.com
kevingonegreen.com
kevingotcash.com
kevingotgreen.com
kevingothisgreen.com
kevinhoeffer.com
kevinsacidrefluxcure.com
kevinsbigmoneysecret.com
kevinsgotgreen.com
kevinsgrantstory.com
kevinsgreen.com
kevinsnewlife.com
kevinsrich.com
kimsdietplan.com
laurasteeth.com
lisashomebiz.com
lisaswhitesmile.com
lorigetspaid.com
lorriesweightloss.com
loseweightjen.com
makecashmonies.com
mandysdietingblog.com
mariasdietblog.com
marksgotcash.com
maryweightlossblog.com
mate1.com
mattsgrants.com
megansdietingblog.com
melissasdiet.com
melsdietblog.com
michellesweightloss.com
mikegetsmoney.com
mikemakesmoney.com
mikesgmoney.com
mikesmoneymatters.com
mollysrecipes.com
mollysweightlost.com
monasweightloss.com
monicasdietblog.com
my-money-journey.com
my-white-teeth.com
my-whitening-story.com
myacaisuccess.com
mydailyrecipes.com
mydietblogjourney.com
mygovtbailout.com
mygrantdollars.com
mygrantstory.com
mygrantstory.net
mylife.kevingoesgreen.com
myonlinedietblog.com
myowndiet.com
mysixpacks.com
myteeth.org
myweightlostdiary.info
nadiasweightloss.com
nichollesweightloss.com
nickgetspaid.com
nicksbusiness.com
nicksgreen.com
nicksmoneyblog.com
nirvanadance.com
one-flat-stomach-rule.com
onegirlsweightloss.com
onlinecashkit.com
onlinegoldfinder.com
pams-diet-blog.com
partnerwithpaul.com
patdietblog.com
paulgetspaid.com
photoshop.es0ftware.com
provedweightloss.com
rachaelraygoodies.com
rachaelsweightloss.com
rachelrayblog.com
rachelrayblogs.com
rachelraydiet.com
rachelraygoodies.com
rachelsberrydiet.com
rachelsdietadvice.com
rachelsdietguide.com
rachelsweightloss.com
rachelteethwhitening.com
rachelweightloss.com
reannesweightloss.com
refluxremedy.com
removemystretchmarks.com
reneesweightloss.com
restoremyyouth.com
richgetsrich.com
richstudent.net
rickiesweightloss.com
rickysfastcash.com
robertscashblog.com
robsgrants.com
ryan-craig.com
ryansincomestory.com
ryansmoney.com
sarahs-weightloss.com
sarahscleanteeth.com
sarahsdebtblog.com
sarahsweightloss.com
sarahswhiteteeth.com
sarasweightloss.com
sarcoidosiscure.com
sashasdietblog.com
scottsjobhunt.com
scottsmoney.com
secretofdiets.com
shingles-cure.com
singlesnet.com
sitereviewauthorities.org
sophiasweightloss.com
sophiesweightloss.com
stevesmoneyblog.com
stimulus-grants.org
tanyasdietblog.com
tanyasweightlossblog.com
teethwhiteningreviewed.com
theacaiberryresearch.net
theacaiberryresearch.org
thisdietsavedme.com
tinasdietblog.com
tomscash.com
tomsjournal.com
tomsmoney.com
tonyasdietdiary.com
top-teeth-whitening-reviews.com
top3acai.com
tourettes-disorder.com
tracysweightloss.com
true.com
trynaturesacaiberry.com
trynaturesbestacai.com
tuberculosiscured.com
tylersmoney.com
usgrantguide.org
wealthresource.org
weightlossduo.com
whitener-reviews.com
whiteningreview.com
whitenteethathome.com
winfreysweightlossblog.com
www-grants.org
jennasweightloss.net
JensWeightBlog.com
emmaweightlosssuccess.com
Realplasticsurgery.com
Cleanserate.com
secretofdiets.com
emilysdietsecrets.com
HaileysWeightLoss.com
alisasweightloss.com
8weekslose30lbs.com
rateweightlossproducts.com
tracysweightloss.com
nadiasweightloss.com
nichollesweightloss.com
melorasweightloss.com
melissasdiet.com
reneesweightloss.com
tryskinny.comericasweightloss.com
monicasdiet.com
urlsplit.com
ColonReview.com
m231g.mikegeary1.hop.clickbank.net
FatLossJournal.com
judyslbs.com
judysweightlossjourney.com
wuyiweightlosstea.org
BridgetsWeightLoss.com
myalli.com
holistichealthstudio.com
aliciasweightloss.com
2cpa.com
samarasweightloss.com
jillsnewbody.com
rachaelraygoodies.com
buy-it-now-online.net
jillsdietstory.com
aleshasdietblog.com
miraclenoodle.com
jennysdietsuccessstory.com
laurasnewbody.com
y.celebsecretdiet.com
rachaelraydiet.com
emilysweightlossblog.com
my-weight-loss-review.net
maryweightlossblog.com
sarasnewbody.com
sophiasweightloss.com
hopesdiet.come
lisasweightlossblog.com
reneesweightloss.com
And dudes, that’s only a FRACTION of all the domain names that Greedy Scum Whoring Bitch Boy of Satan had been registering, and I’m sure he adds several hundred more domains a day just to ensure his ads can never be blocked by domain filtering alone. As if that weren’t enough, I noticed on ADSDAQ that some of the domains on the blacklist were STILL getting through. Somehow Greedy Scum Whoring Bitch Boy of Satan had found a way to bypass the filtering system altogether by using a redirect to hide his actual domains.
Honestly, there’s no pit in hell deep enough for this affiliate marketing terrorist. Imagine the most heinous form of perpetual torture that could ever be inflicted on the minds and bodies of men, and multiply that by infinity times infinity, and still it’d be too good for whoever this crap sucking affiliate whoring schmuck monkey is.
I emailed ADSDAQ several times to let them know that this guy was defeating their filtering system, and they responded by simply giving me another list of domains to block, but will not do anything about the ads themselves. Brilliant. These networks will take money from Hitler so long as it helps them stay in business. Nice to know you care so much about quality, eh ContextWeb?
And don’t even get me started on contextual link ads from networks like Infolinks and Kontera. I’ve had ads for gambling, cigarette smoking, scams, ponzi schemes, (and my personal favorite: dating sites for married people) all show up after the fact on my blog, and these particular in-text networks provide NO means whatsoever for me to preview these ads and effectively block them. Just lame and utterly absurd keyword filtering that I have to request by EMAIL, all of which can be easily defeated by a savvy spammer such as Greedy Scum Whoring Bitch Boy of Satan.
In the end, the only option I had to keep those ugly ass flabby skin ads (and all the other crap ads) off my site permanently was to drop the networks that didn’t give me full editorial control over the ads that might show up. I had to drop three networks to accomplish this (including Chitika, which also only allows filtering by domain names), and my earning power as a result was cut by more than half. Under these new conditions, there’s no way I can earn a decent income through my blog now.
Such a nice world we live in, where scammers can run rampant and free across so many major advertising networks, crowding out quality advertisers who actually care about their branding reputation and crippling the earning potential of publishers everywhere who likewise care about their own credibility and integrity.
So here’s to your success, Mr. Affiliate Marketing Greedy Scum Whoring Bitch Boy of Satan. May you and all those like you someday be hit by a speeding Japanese bullet train twice over, and may all the remains of your carcasses be food for disease riddled condors.
Tags: adsdaq, advertiser, advertisers, advertising, advertising network, advertising networks, affiliate links, affiliate marketer, affiliate marketing, affiliate spammer, campaigns, chitika, domain names, domains, fake, Infolinks, internet, kontera, landing pages, plague, rant, scammer, scammers, scamming, scams, snake oil, spam, valueclick
Categories: Tangled Webs
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Update on Natural Cures Scam (Traced to Singapore?)
Lincoln Adams | October 6, 2008 @ 10:37 pmA while back I dissected a series of scam sites that were touting natural cures for a variety of illnesses that involved using nothing more than grocery items. The scammer was using quite a few different aliases (male and female) and even now his real identity remains a mystery.
I received an email though that might shed some new light here. Apparently the scammer is operating not out of the United States but in Singapore (the IP address resolved to a server in a town called Clementi.)
This new intelligence might bring us closer in finally getting this guy shut down for good, but it remains to be seen if the authorities in Singapore will care enough to look into it and run down this scumbag for causing so much misery. We’ll see!
In the meantime, if you have any more information that might help, let me know. 
Tags: mystery, natural cure, natural cures, scam, scammer
Categories: Tangled Webs
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Taken in by Craigslist Spam
Lincoln Adams | August 24, 2008 @ 1:08 pmYou know the handwriting’s on the wall when a personal ad I respond to on Craigslist turns out to be spam. Whoops. 
Now before you start ragging on me for surfing Craiglist, I was bored, ok? BORED. I was checking out apartment prices and then out of curiousity (and absolutely nothing else) I checked out the personals for my area. That’s when I came across this one:
Okay so here is the deal: I am an attractive 28 year old woman who tends to attract emotionally unavailable men….of course! So basically I am trying this out too see if this “dream guy” actually exists. I would be interested in a man who is attractive (I am a face person) with a great smile/great teeth. I tend to be attracted to men who are not thin or overly muscular. I like a man to have a little meat on his body. I love to laugh and am looking for someone who can make me laugh. I am a born again Christian and would like him to be the same. I love music and love to sing. I also love animals and could not imagine someone not loving them too! I am fairly low maintainance (who also may not be able to spell the word…HAHA). I am somewhat of a homebody and dont need to go out all the time. I am interested in a man who is caring, thoughtful, a “team player”, handy, outgoing, moderately successful, and “real”. I am a very genuine person who’s biggest weakness is my “big heart”. I am thoughtful, caring, and have been told I can “light up a room”. Being my own worse critic I would like to be a little thinner. However, I do have great curves and the softest skin! I came to this website because I really believe that I am a “great catch”.
PS) hair is red by choice not by nature!
Seems like a nice enough girl right? So I emailed her and asked her how strong she considered her Christian beliefs to be. I got a response shortly afterwards:
Hi, I got your email and wanted to get back with you to see if you might still be interested. I know you don’t know much about me but you can at least go see what I look like at http://www.eimages.info/barbera21. I posted them on this free site to make this whole “getting to know you” thing a little easier. Just tell me what you think & if you want, a little about yourself and we will go from there. Thank you.
When you click on the link however, it actually turns out to be a phony one and is in fact a redirected AFFILIATE link that takes you to the signup page of a dating site.
This whole time I had been communicating with an automated script that had been set up by an affiliate marketer spammer. 
I should have had the foresight to Google some of the phrases in the Craigslist ad to see if it showed up elsewhere, and sure enough the exact same wording shows up on a profile page at PlentyofFish, only this time she hails from Michigan.
Sigh. And people wonder why I’ve become so bitter and cynical in my old age.
I consider myself to be a somewhat intelligent person, and if I got fooled by this, I’m sure many others have as well, especially as these bottom feeding scum of the earth affiliate marketers get more and more sophisticated in using deceptive methods to make money. Just make sure, if you experienced something similar and you were tricked into clicking on an affiliate link that leads to a signup page, flush the cookies in your browser, so even if you happen to sign up for that very site in question a few months or so down the road, the spammer won’t get credit for it (affiliate links typically insert cookies into your browser that can last several months to over a year. Read my article on affiliate spam for more info.)
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be drowning my sorrows in Dairy Queen’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Blizzard. Oh wait, there’s no Dairy Queen around here. Sigh, not even this huh, Lord? 
Tags: affiliate, affiliate links, affiliate marketer, affiliate spammer, christian, craigslist, dating, personal, personals, spam, spammer
Categories: Tangled Webs
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Why is an internet radio station sending me a tax refund?
Lincoln Adams | January 28, 2008 @ 6:17 pmGot this in my inbox from the “IRS”:
After the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity we have determined that you are eligible to receive a tax refund of $93.60. Please submit the tax refund request and allow us 6-9 days in order to process it.
A refund can be delayed for a variety of reasons. For example submitting invalid records or applying after the deadline.
To access your tax refund online, please click here.
Regards,
Internal Revenue Service
Never mind the fact that I didn’t even do my taxes yet, or that my refund is usually 4 digits, but when you click on the link given, it takes you to an online form that’s hosted on an Internet Radio site called 90sAndNow.com. 
What’s this? The Internal Revenue Service’s attempt to make their agency more hip and cool by handing out refunds to the tune of Backstreet Boys?
I need better filters for my email.
Tags: 90sandnow, backstreet boys, email, internal revenue service, internet radio, irs, phishing, scam, tax refund, web forgery
Categories: Tangled Webs
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