December 25th, 2012

Scam iOS Maker Of The Day: Installous

Screen Shot 2012-12-25 at 3.14.03 PM

A kind reader woke us up this morning with a missive that made my blood boil: another scam iOS maker was, in an insult to the great Mojang itself, selling a scam version of Minecraft. The company, Installous is selling something called Minecraft Mobile, a $2.99 app that actually produces a bunch of lines on the screen that flock around finger taps. → Read More

December 21st, 2012

Halo 4 iOS Scam Apps Look To Lure Unsuspecting iPhone And iPad Owners Over Holiday Freeze [Update: The Apps Have Been Removed]

app store halo

Update: Apple has removed the offending apps, the company told me via email. Holiday downloaders are now safe from this attempted scam.

A couple of new apps that just hit the iOS App Store ahead of the annual App Store holiday freeze are not what they appear to be. Masquerading as official Halo 4 ports for Apple’s mobile devices, these are actually a pretty lame racing game and an adequate… → Read More

September 8th, 2012

Sock Puppet Spectacular: Are Online Reviews Completely Worthless, Or Only Mostly Worthless?

sock-puppet

“Nicodemus Jones” was a big fan of bestselling crime author RJ Ellory. His five-star Amazon reviews of Ellory’s books were littered with phrases like “modern masterpiece”, “will touch your soul”, “a magnificent book.” He was less kind to Mark Billingham and Stuart MacBride, both of whom were victims of one-star reviews by “Jones.” Last week, author Jeremy Duns found out why: “Jones” was actually→ Read More

September 19th, 2011

To Catch A Scammer: One Man’s Mission To Shut Down An Invoice Scam

UST-Scam-Invoice

It’s rare to see a scam play out in real time and to watch a potential victim turn the tables on the offender. After receiving an invoice from an unknown company for services he did not pay for, Ken from group blog Popehat (who prefers to remain anonymous) did a little digging. He found that the scammers were repeat offenders and that their paper trail, when properly researched, was a mile… → Read More

May 11th, 2011

Seriously? This Scam Is Still Happening On Ebay?

I’ve always considered eBay a haven for flim-flam artists, con-men, and fools but this takes the cake. The old scam – basically a fine-print ruse where you’re actually selling a link or a box or something while making it look like you’re selling the real thing – is still alive and well on eBay but now it’s taken a decidedly more commercial turn. These new… → Read More

June 3rd, 2010

That's what you get when you click random links: Facebook scam promises nude photos of Paramore's Hayley Williams

Matt invited us to a Facebook party last week, something along the lines of “CLICK HERE FOR A FREE IPAD~!” Now, I knew this was malware-related because I know Matt knows I wouldn’t want an iPad—free or otherwise. Clearly something smelled fishy here. The point is, even so-called techies can be the victim of malware. There’s a new scam going around Facebook right now that, while not malicious… → Read More

March 9th, 2010

Hackers cost U.S. businesses $25 million in phishing-related scams in 2009

From now on, any story about “hackers” or “hacking” will be accompanied by a link to the song “Halcyon And On And On,” as made famous by the movie Hackers. With that in mind: who made more money last year, Wall Street fat-cats or hackers? The U.S. FDIC says that online scams cost businesses $25 million last year. These scams include phishing and other associated nonsense, which you really ought to… → Read More

March 3rd, 2010

You don't fall for the wallet inspector gimmick, so why fall for its online equivalent?

I think I’m getting to the point that, instead of feeling bad for people who fall victim to phishing scheme, or any other online nonsense, I’m actually like, “You know what? Serves you right.” There’s a new scam going around that exploits Internet Explorer (in Windows XP, mostly), and it works by tricking users into pressing the F1 key at a certain time. Once the key is pressed, any ol’ code a… → Read More

November 28th, 2009

Video Professor Tries To Bully Washington Post, Fails

Video Professor continues to be angry that I called them a scam in my original Scamville post. They’ve gotten nowhere reaching out to me directly (more on that below), so now they’ve tried complaining to the Washington Post, which has syndicated our content since 2008. The Washington Post stood firm beside us today and kept our original post as written. Good for them.

Essentially Video Professor… → Read More

November 24th, 2009

Something about Web scams, and the sites that still support them

Truth be told, I have no idea why I’m about to write this post, other than the fact that it’s in my little writing queue. You can’t fight City Hall. Here’s the deal: the Federal Government of the United States spent a bunch of money investigating various online marketing scams. How they work, what makes people fall for them, etc. Consumers lost some $1.4 billion to such scams. → Read More

August 28th, 2009

Yup, there's less phishing e-mails being thrown around these days

Notice less phishing e-mail lately? There’s a reason, hot shot: the volume of phishing e-mail has dropped from 0.79 percent of all e-mail sent to 0.49 percent. If we’re looking at just “bad” e-mail, though, phishing scams still make up the bulk: 86.9 percent of “bad” e-mail was phishing-related this month. That’s down six percent from July. → Read More

August 28th, 2009

Free laptops sent to government offices spurs FBI case

Apparently it’s not okay to send West Virginia’s governor five free laptops. What a world! Governor Joe Manchin’s office got a nice four-pack of Compaq laptops earlier this month, followed a week later by a fifth machine from HP. The only problem was that nobody in his office ordered them or paid for them. → Read More

August 14th, 2009

Psst… Hey, buddy, I've got a 37-inch TV to sell you for $100

Oh, dear. Imagine you’re minding your own business at the local Wal-Mart when a man approaches you. “Hey, buddy, want a brand new TV?” “Sure,” you reply, “why not?” The man pops open his boot, shows off what looks to be a TV… → Read More

May 27th, 2009

CircuitCity.com's very shady return policy

Well, now I’m not shopping at CircuitCity.com or Best Buy. Seriously. The new CircuitCity.com launched under new management last week we found the following statement within the return policy section.
Some manufacturers have implemented returns restrictions that prevent CircuitCity.com from being able to accept returns or offer exchanges, replacements or credits on their products for any reason. → Read More

January 26th, 2009

Sears is full of bull, plasma TVs do not need to be recharged

Buying a plasma TV can be so frustrating. First, you as the informed consumer, know that plamsa TVs generally produce a superior picture verse LCDs but sometimes TV salesmen don’t agree. That being said, this guy managed to buy a plasma from Sears and turned down the $300 three-year service plan only to have the company call him a few days later to pitch the plan again. This time though, the rep… → Read More

December 10th, 2008

Ha! Face! FTC seeks to permanently bar bullshit scareware marketing, freezes offenders’ assets

According to the FTC, over a million – a million! – people have been tricked “into buying computer security products such as WinFixer, WinAntivirus, DriveCleaner, ErrorSafe, and XP Antivirus,” through a tactic commonly known as scareware. Yes, those little boxes that pop up on just about every single non-technical computer user’s computer telling them that their computer might be… → Read More

May 28th, 2008

Dude rips off online brokerages 'Office Space' style

Get this. You know how when you have to confirm your bank account with, say, Paypal or Google Checkout or any number of online services that want to make sure the bank account that they’re going to be depositing money into belongs to you? So you’ll generally receive two small deposits — pennies each — that you’ll have to confirm, right? Well some guy used an automated… → Read More

May 21st, 2008

iTunes is now a phishing target thanks to dumb kids

Careful with that next e-mail you get from the iTunes music store — it might be a ruse. A cunning attempt to trick you, as it were. According to Computerworld, People began receiving spammed messages yesterday telling them that they must correct a problem with their iTunes account, said Andrew Lochart, an executive at e-mail security vendor Proofpoint Inc. A link in the spam leads to a site… → Read More

May 19th, 2008

Xziex: Air into water, olde timee alkemiste style

Xziex is a company that makes water out of air. That’s right: no longer do you need to, ummm… do stuff with water… ummm… like get water from rivers and lakes and… ummm? Like Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen you can build a moisture farm and ummm…. Well, basically this is some sort of fascinating idea that pulls water out of the air. While most of us would call this a… → Read More

April 29th, 2008

Fake GTA IV offers account for 50 percent of today's spam

Disappointed because you didn’t pre-order GTA IV and now can’t play it like everyone else? Even if that’s the case, don’t fall victim to e-mail hoaxes that, according to spam filtering house ClearMyMail, have accounted for more than 50 percent of all spam messages in the past day. Repeated for emphasis, because italics alone do not convey the gravity of the situation: GTA… → Read More

April 3rd, 2008

Review: Griffin ClearBoost iPhone Case

I am more than willing to suspend my disbelief in all manner of situations. I, for example, still believe that my family and wife love me and that the world is not colluding to to kill me. I believe that what I am writing now matters, to some degree, and that it will help you in your day-to-day existence. I also believe that I will eventually return to my original college weight of 175 through… → Read More

April 2nd, 2008

Craigslist scam really some kind of crazy cover-up for a minor burglary

Remember the Craigslist scam in Southern Oregon where an unknown person or persons posted asking people to come clear out a house? Well, it was actually supposed to be a way to cover the tracks of two bumbling burglars. Amber and Brandon Herbert originally broke into the property’s garage and as a way to keep from getting caught a post of the Craig’s list ad encouraging folks to come… → Read More

January 22nd, 2008

Vishing AKA voice-phishing: Tell your Mom, tell your Dad

Again with the phishing! The FBI is warning of “new” attacks, called vishing, that are encouraging email recipients to call toll-free numbers which ultimately lead down a VoIP hole to an south Asian sweatshop where a young man will answer and read a real-sounding script asking for PINs, SSNs, and your tumescent girth. Urban legend or no, it’s something to warn your parents about. → Read More

January 16th, 2008

Scambaiting at its finest: Tricking Nigerian scammers into rewriting an entire Harry Potter book by hand

Wow. Nothing better than seeing a scammer get scammed. There have been some pretty ingenious scambaiting techniques throughout the ages, but getting a scammer to rewrite all 293 pages of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by hand has got to be in the top ten of all time. Kudos to the 419 Eater web site for all the great trickery. Harry Potter & The Well of Scammers [419 Eater] via… → Read More

January 14th, 2008

A charming new Skype scam

I hate it when people call or chat with me on Skype randomly. I know some people use this opportunity to share stories of their native lands and to brush up on their English, but I use it as opportunity to share pictures of the Lemon Party (don’t search for it. Trust me.) This, however, is a wonderful new method of getting attention by spamming thousands of accounts with fake spyware links… → Read More

January 2nd, 2008

My Dear One: Many Joys of the Season, YOUR OLPC PROJECT owes us $20 million

Nigerian company LANCOR is suing the OLPC project for infringing on their Nigerian keyboard design, causing us to wonder if some sort of 419 spamming virus hasn’t infiltrated the Nigerian judicial system, rendering completely useless. The suit holds that the OLPC uses extra keys to allow users to type using the Nigerian alphabet. While this is clearly a case of insane people suing a charity… → Read More

October 15th, 2007

Your iPhone doesn't want to get wet

I have lost more than one cellphone to water damage. I once actually sent a phone of mine through the wash on accident. That was embarrassing. Normally, though, one could take the phone into their carrier’s store and feign ignorance. “It just stopped working, I dunno?” and walk out with a replacement. Don’t try this with the iPhone. The iPhone, as well as the iPod touch… → Read More

October 2nd, 2007

Betavoltaic Battery: It's probably a pump and dump scam

I had a moment to mull over this “30-year laptop battery story” and I’m slowly coming to the conclusion that it’s a pump and dump scheme of nefarious proportions. Penny stock companies that promise “unlimited energy” and “cures for cancer” often try to build a case for their stock by getting a piece in the legitimate media. As this is getting harder… → Read More

August 2nd, 2007

Romanian eBay Scammer Exposed, Threatened

There’s a great article over on dslreports.com about the innerworkings of a Romanian eBay scamming operation and how one victim got his revenge. A handful of resourceful eBay users were able to track down the ringleader and warn would-be victims to stay away from the phony auctions. One Russian user wasn’t so lucky, however, and ended up getting bilked out of $2,000 — his… → Read More

June 19th, 2007

$10 DSL from AT&T: It's a Little Bit Country

The Consumerist and Cory Doctorow both wrote a bit on AT&T’s secret $10 DSL (“Downstream speeds up to 768Kbps/Upstream speeds up to 128Kbps”) which offers bare bones access because of an FCC loophole they couldn’t close when the bought BellSouth. You have to sign up for a full year, though. That’s all well and good, but Cory suggests avoiding the service &mdash… → Read More