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 Neatorama → Read More
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 and then offering a crazy fake spyware-checking page that ultimately encourages you to pay $16 to buy a full version of some software that is probably free. Very classy! Interestingly, this just started happening at the end of December. I did a quick whois on the domain and found that it’s protected by WhoIsProof, a masking service. This kind of stuff really burns my beans, to coin a phrase. → Read More
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, it could put a damper on OLPC’s plans in Nigeria. It seems LANCOR has a “registered design” and not a patent for a similar keyboard and is requesting $20 million in damages from the OLPC project in order to recoup the “damage” caused by their infringement. There is some talk that this is backed by Intel, makers of the OLPC-alike Classmate. I just think it’s junk litigation. News about LANCOR v. OLPC [Groklaw] → Read More
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, have a small white disk inside the headphone jack that, when in contact with water, turns color. Many high-end phones have this as well, usually under the battery or battery cover. Apple has its clearly visible on the outside, so your local genius bar rep can tell right away what happened. Good for Apple, bad for you. Sorry, scamboys. iPhone water-damage sensor [Apple Insider] → Read More
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 — there’s so little legitimate media anymore! — they may have found a receptive and gullible audience, us bloggers. Searching for Betavoltaic, I found lots of companies in the space that are trading in the pennies. This means it’s in someone’s best interest to raise that price by a few cents, dump, and watch as it settles into oblivion. I want to believe this is possible as well, but I there is little corroborating evidence. → Read More
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 family’s life savings — which eventually led him to contemplate suicide. → Read More
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 — and AT&T DSL — because of their stance on net neutrality, illegal wiretapping, and draconian copyright policing. He says: Seriously: the only day I wouldn’t piss on AT&T is if they were on fire. Fancy. AT&T’s Secret $10 DSL [Consumerist via BoingBoing] → Read More
Not sure why this bothers me so much, but it does. Above you see an website I found clicking through on another page and I felt I had to check it out. It’s some sort of horoscope service so I rolled through all the questions — age, sign, etc. Then, suddenly, it asks for my phone number and PIN. I then read the fine print: → Read More
As part of Operation Bot Roast (good god, guys, really?), the FBI has contacted more than one million people, telling them their PCs have been zombified. Someone at the Bureau is wise to the intricate networks of botnets that routinely send massive numbers of spam e-mails and has now invoked the “national security” clause to help stop them. Our tips e-mail account regularly gets investment offers from Nigeria and offers for Brazilian mulherzinhas, so anything the Feds can do to stop it is fine by us. FBI tries to fight zombie hordes [BBC News] → Read More
It’s not every day that we get scams wrapped in press releases. Scammers usually try to use more obtuse methods of spreading the good news like flyers posted to lampposts and stickers on cars that say “Sell Herbalife and Make $5 billion! I did!” However, this RamJet crap is quite an old scam and even includes a helpful book on how to “How To Develop Fuel For As Low As $0.59 – US$0.50 Per Gallon after sell off of bi-products.” I can make a fuel for $0.59, actually, as long as I have a bucket and a big balloon. I’m not going to link directly to this joker so he doesn’t get the Google love, but you can check out the fun at www.stop buyi ng gasa line.com, provided you spell gasoline correctly. What was that about suckers and every minute? → Read More
San Francisco, CA
