 |
 |
 |
 |
Moons Over My Scammy
Are you bored? Lonely? Dissatisfied with life?
Do you sometimes feel like Sudoku is no longer extreme enough for you? That the Spongebob Squarepants Edition of Monopoly just doesn't do it for you like it used to? Or that Michael Haneke's idea of fun and games doesn't sound like very much fun to you at all?
Finally, do you ever find yourself all alone, chain-smoking at Denny's at 4 in the morning, looking for an alternative to your tri-weekly routine of placing EZ Street ads on your stolen laptop while your "Moons Over My Hammy" gets colder than it already was when your purple-drunk server brought it out to you in the first place?
If you answered yes to any or all of these questions, scam baiting could be for you.
continue reading...
Michael Bartnett, Mon Feb 25, 11:48am, 2008
| Comment on this item |
|
"USDA Standard" Cockatoos
If you've got an email address, a MySpace page, or even if you're only vaguely aware that an intricate series of tubes called the Internets exists, you've probably encountered spam from online scammers before. This dastardly practice, known as phishing, is an attempt to trick you into handing over your personal information, which will in turn be used for identity theft. Whether it be faux free giveaways, fraudulent banking statements, or a mysterious letter from the deposed Minister of Agriculture for Nodambizia claiming that he has embezzled a sum of $30 billion and needs your help getting it out of the country - these phonies will go to great lengths to scheme you out of your security.
This is nothing new to us at the Chronicle, and here in the Classifieds, we go to great lengths to keep these guys from making off with your hard-earned dough. For reasons beyond my comprehension, we receive a large number of phishing ads through our online classifieds system, Trade Up, which we meticulously moderate for your protection. Strangely enough, most of these ads pertain to pets for sale, such as the ad below, which was placed by a man by the name of Mr. Emma and was subsequently removed from our website:
"BIRDS - She is well tamed to the USDA standard and can respond to stimulus. you are blind, sick, weak, inactive, or disable e.t.c. and you need a companion that can make you comfortable staying at home, mail me and you will be the proud owner of this wonderful creature that has most facilitating features just like man. I will gladly give her to you at no cost."Even if, for some reason, you happened to be in the market for a USDA-approved cockatoo, I'd steer clear of these birds or burden. No matter how tempting it may be to get your hands on a companion with "most facilitating features of man," stick to shopping local for such well-tamed, wonderful creatures. Don't dare to respond to stimulus like this, that is, unless you want a Nigerian scam artist like Mr. Emma to drain your credit card account and steal your identity - at no cost!
Michael Bartnett, Fri Dec 7, 9:53am, 2007
| Comment on this item |
|
