Scamming | The Habitation of Justice

There 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:

:sick:

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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Scamming People Afflicted With GERD, Ulcers, Shingles And More

Lincoln Adams | September 8, 2007 @ 8:00 am

Update 1/17/09: I’m noticing a new trend that seems to reflect the strategy of black-hat affiliate marketers, where fake blogs are created in order to present their product as legitimate, including fake comments that offers only positive, gushing things to say about the product in question (legitimate and negative comments get deleted). One example is at kevinsacidrefluxcure.com, where the scammer generated a barebones blog in order to draw people to one of his many grocery cure scam sites. There’s simply no way for me to keep track of them all, so the best I can do is provide you some examples so you know what to watch out for.

Update 12/29/08: Here’s a list of some domains being used by the same scammer, touting grocery items as cures for various ailments:

fibromyalgiacured.com
asthmadefeated.com
diverticulitiscure.com
colitiscured.com
sarcoidosiscure.com
healgenitalwarts.com
cellulitedefeated.com
tuberculosiscured.com
hemochromatosiscure.com
diverticulitisinstitute.com
shingles-cure.com
colitis-cme.com
tourettes-disorder.com

It may be a good idea to lodge a complaint with GoDaddy and mention these domains, since they are hosting some of the websites and domains.

Update 10/6/08: I received an email tip that strongly suggests this scammer may be operating out of Singapore. (Since then I’ve received no confirmation of this however, and still suspect he is really operating out of the United States.)

Update 8/30/08: The Washington State Attorney General’s Office recently visited this site, indicating that the complaints about the spammer are at least being read. I don’t know if they’ll take action since the Washington address itself may be fake, but it’s good to see they’re at least looking into the matter.

Updates: I received several helpful email tips about the following sites in question, including:

1. That the “pictures” of Aaron Smith vary with each site.

2. That he is apparently based in the Sydney suburb of Cronulla (Australia).

3. There is a known glitch on his sites where you can download all the eBooks without paying for it. (Simply add “/download.htm” after the root address of any of his sites, and the link to directly download the eBook can be obtained.

4. The scammer also uses “Sharon Kresler/Sharon Cresler” as an alias to sell “natural cures” for diseases that afflict women in particular.

There seems to be an insane number of these types websites, all with the same modus operandi, all touting natural cures for various types of diseases, but what’s truly sad about it all is that this only reflects the work of one possible scammer.

As always, exercise due diligence before spending your precious money online. A simple Google search was enough for me to uncover the suspicious nature of dozens (if not hundreds) of these eBook sites. :wideeyed:

Original Article:

I was googling around for information on acid reflux, and what kind natural remedies there might be to alleviate some of the symptoms, when I stumbled on to this site.

The author promises a natural cure in less than one week using nothing more than common grocery items. Sounds awesome! Here’s a short quote where he introduces himself:

Hello, my name is Aaron Smith and I’ve been exactly where you are now. I’ve experienced GERD and the feelings of extreme pain, burning, nausea, depression and anxiety that often accompany this condition.

But wait a minute, he has another site, this time relaying his problems with ulcers:

My name is Aaron Smith and for about 2 ½ years I suffered from the pain and discomfort of ulcers every single day of my life. At first, I lived with the pain by taking over-the-counter antacids – lots of them! If you saw me during that time of my life, you would have sworn I owned stock in the big antacid companies. I was popping Tums and Rolaids like they were candy and using Maalox and Mylanta to wash them down – that’s how bad it was!

But wait a minute, he has yet another site, this time sharing his story on how he cured his problem with shingles:

You see my name is Aaron Smith, I live at 300 Elliott Ave, Seattle, WA, USA and I have been exactly where you are. I had Shingles for 3 Months – and they were the most painful months of my life… which is why I was so lucky that I stumbled upon a simple, unique home treatment that I used to heal my shingles in 6 days.

But wait a minute, he has yet ANOTHER site, this time touting a natural cure for genitals warts. I won’t even link to this one because of the graphic images contained therein.

Well I smell a rat, how ’bout you?

Either this guy is one of the most unfortunate (and subsequently LUCKIEST bastages ever) to have endured all these major illnesses only to cure them all with simple grocery related remedies, or he is one scumbag of a scammer trying to rip you off.

I vote on the later.

Each site hawks an eBook that you have to pay 25 bucks or more for, even though they probably contain nothing more than the words “SUCKERS!! HAHAHAHAHAH!!” :angry:

If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s these blood sucking pieces of amphibian crapballs who have the gall to try scamming those afflicted with serious physical problems, desperately searching for relief. May the Egyptian plagues of old descend upon them.

After tracing the domains, it appears that all the websites have been registered and hosted via Go Daddy. I’ve sent them an email complaint along with a list of the websites. Hopefully they’ll get back to me and these sites will soon be taken down. If not, then I’m dumping their affiliate program, and they can just find somebody else to pimp their services for them.

Update: I received a response from GoDaddy, but they will not do anything about these websites and indicated the burden of ascertaining whether these sites were scams or not belongs to law enforcement.

I dunno, I guess it’s possible that one guy managed to find a natural cure for ulcers, GERD, shingles, genital warts and more, all in one week’s time and using nothing more than common grocery items. Stranger things have happened, right? :eyeroll:

For now I would strongly suggest you not do business with any of these websites. In the meantime I’ve dropped Go Daddy’s affiliate program, since they seemed to show little concern over the issue. :tongue: