I won’t abuse it, I promise…. cross my heart… spit into the wind… etc.
Hi folks,
Yesterday, I received this SPIM (Instant message spam) …
usnews3.com sounds kind of official, doesn’t it? and the page looks impressive…
There are lots of links on the page, but unfortunately, a mouse-over of each link reveals that they all go to the same place…
That’s not a good sign for a legitimate webpage. Moreover, a whois shows that it was registered just on 7th December 2009, and that the ownership is hidden behind a privacy protector service.
If you click one of the links, you are actually taken to another website – internetprofitsuccesssystem.com. It was registered on 8th September 2009, and it’s ownership is also hidden behind a privacy protector.
It asks for your name, address, phone number and email, and eventually, for your credit card…
For just $2.99, they’ll send you an amazing manual to show you how to make lots of money on the internet. Whee.
So let’s see… you get a link spimmed to you, the websites involved are recently created, and ownership is hidden, and on one website, all the links point to exactly the same place.
Now, this whole operation might be completely legit, but folks, you should _never_ buy anything advertised by spam or spim. And if website owners aren’t prepared to say who they are, don’t give them your credit card.
It’s a tricky world out there folks, stay safe.