I'm certain you all have been inundated with classical Nigerian email scams, and I hope you are all staying alert with respect to new and ingenious variations on a variety of scams. These scams can impact your online reputation so please consider this free information about protecting your online reputation with simple reputation management solutions.
As I have two college-age kids, I am trying to teach them how to protect themselves from online predators. Not just sexual predators, but financial predators who will stop at nothing to extract both dollars and information in any way possible.
I was asked recently what advice I would give to friends and family about protecting reputations online, so here's what I recommended. The SocialSphere is a whole new world with all kinds of opportunities and benefits, as well as some serious challenges. There are really three major pieces of advice I'd give:
1. Don't ever put ANYTHING on the Internet that you're not absolutely sure you're willing to have the entire world see. Words or pictures. Once it's on the net it is NEVER coming off. Assume that everything you post is eventually going to be read in front of a judge and a jury, that should keep you out of trouble.
2. Don't trust ANYONE on the Internet. It sounds cynical, but you have to start from a baseline that NO ONE is telling the truth and that everything should be suspect. There are so many crooks and fraudsters who are very bright and they are constantly coming up with ways to trick, cheat and steal.
3. Monitor your Name: setup a Google alert with every variation of your name you can think of, "firstname middlename lastname", "firstname lastname", "firstname", "lastname", "marriedname", "maidenname", "nickname." Make sure to look at all the alerts and link through to each one, it could save your reputation.
I monitor my kids names, and recently got an alert saying that their name had been found in a U.S. Court system. As I researched it, it was a Hungarian marketing company acting as a reseller for an Oregon based data company who basically uses this strategy to get you to sign up for their service so you can supposedly see what the U.S. Court has on you. This is a serious offense which I'm pursuing with my attorney...akin to the newest version of cyber-identity theft...but worse, reputation theft and character assassination by implication. They are using psychological intimidation and veiled threats of the U.S. Court system to try and induce unsuspecting or naive individuals (in this case, my kids...who don't know any better) to sign up for their so-called "service" for a fee. They are hoping that the kids will be so scared and worried about what might be on the court records (whether or not there's anything there) that they'll sign up and pay the fee just to answer a question that in the case of my kids doesn't need an answer.
I am dead serious on this issue and am now an unbelievably ticked off dad who is going to take these guys to the mat. They now know that I'm a dog and they are the bone. Stay tuned and I'll keep you posted about how this turns out.
Another recent example is an email I got as follows:
r u doing okay ? Kendell
From: Mariam Gabriel (hello_strawberry@hotmail.com)
Sent: Thu 1/28/10 5:00 AM
To: virtualcio@hotmail.com
where have you been Kendell
thought about you the other day, i thought that i saw you over by taco bell.
can u please give me your opinion on this it's set up over here, http://www.theknifecardpro2.com/8564447/Kendell
u know who
===============
Even though this was in my spam folder and even though I know it's a scam, I decided to explore what they were promoting so I could share with you what's going on. Now, when you click through to www.theknifecardpro2.com it appears to be a legitimate ecard site, interestingly titled "Crush Greetings." If you click on the "Contact Us" or any other link on the site, the URL auto-rotates to www.adorecards.com.
Here is the registration information for the Netherlands-based company behind the URL of www.theknifecardpro2.com:
Owner Contact:
Emile Aarts emile.aarst@yahoo.com
Keislagen 76
Breda, 4823 KM, NL
Punycode Name: theknifecardpro2.com
Unicode Name: theknifecardpro2.com
Admin Contact
Emile Aarts
Keislagen 76
Breda, 4823 KM, NL
phone: +31 768884191
Technical Contact
Hostmaster Strato Rechenzentrum hostmaster@cronon-isp.net
Cronon AG Professional IT-Services
Emmy-Noether-Str. 10
Karlsruhe, D-76131, DE
phone: +49 72166320305
Zone Contact
Hostmaster Strato Rechenzentrum
Cronon AG Professional IT-Services
Emmy-Noether-Str. 10
Karlsruhe, D-76131, DE
phone: +49 72166320305
Record expires on: 2011-01-19 22:30:20
Domain servers in listed order:
shades10.rzone.de
docks16.rzone.de
Registrant Search:"Emile Aarts" owns about 295 other domains and his Email is associated with about 291 domains.
Here is the registration information for the URL of www.adorecards.com:
Registration Service Provided By: APM
Contact: +305.3205512
Domain Name: ADORECARDS.COM
Registrant:
Brandon Debois
Brandon Debois (skrilled@gmail.com)
437 P Dotnis Rd
Orlando
Florida,32835
US
Tel. +407.5551782
Creation Date: 04-Mar-2009
Expiration Date: 04-Mar-2010
Domain servers in listed order:
ns2.adorecards.com
ns1.adorecards.com
Administrative Contact:
Brandon Debois
Brandon Debois ()
437 P Dotnis Rd
Orlando
Florida,32835
US
Tel. +407.5551782
Technical Contact:
Brandon Debois
Brandon Debois ()
437 P Dotnis Rd
Orlando
Florida,32835
US
Tel. +407.5551782
Billing Contact:
Brandon Debois
Brandon Debois ()
437 P Dotnis Rd
Orlando
Florida,32835
US
Tel. +407.5551782
Status:ACTIVE
========================================
When I input the Pickup Code included in the email, here's what I find:
E-Card
Message:
Kendell,
This is difficult for me to do because I'm shy.. but I have a crush on you. I've
never been able to tell you for reasons which you would quickly identify as
obvious if you knew who this was. With that said, I want you to guess who I am,
and approach me yourself.
To help you out with your guessing I made a few pictures and videos with ''Kendell''
written on my body. They're kind of risque photos so I had to make a profile at
CAM SPACE ONLINE dot COM and post them there. I made my username on the site
''KendellandME09''. (It's a free website but you might need a CC or Debit to
verify your age because I had to. Sigh.)
But anyway sign up at
CAM SPACE ONLINE dot COM and once you are inside search for ''KendellandME09''. I
want you to guess who I am and then approach me yourself. I'm shy and this is
the bravest thing I've probably ever done, but you need to do the rest.
Kisses,
Secret Admirer?
haha. Bye
Message:
Kendell,
This is difficult for me to do because I'm shy.. but I have a crush on you. I've
never been able to tell you for reasons which you would quickly identify as
obvious if you knew who this was. With that said, I want you to guess who I am,
and approach me yourself.
To help you out with your guessing I made a few pictures and videos with ''Kendell''
written on my body. They're kind of risque photos so I had to make a profile at
CAM SPACE ONLINE dot COM and post them there. I made my username on the site
''KendellandME09''. (It's a free website but you might need a CC or Debit to
verify your age because I had to. Sigh.)
But anyway sign up at
CAM SPACE ONLINE dot COM and once you are inside search for ''KendellandME09''. I
want you to guess who I am and then approach me yourself. I'm shy and this is
the bravest thing I've probably ever done, but you need to do the rest.
Kisses,
Secret Admirer?
haha. Bye
=====================
Here is the registration information for the URL of http://www.cam space online dot com:
Registrant:
None
Long Matt
4200 Castle Cove
Kissimmee, FL 34746
US
+1.4072010555
Administrative Contact:
None
Long Matt
4200 Castle Cove
Kissimmee, FL 34746
US
+1.4072010555
Technical Contact:
None
Long Matt
4200 Castle Cove
Kissimmee, FL 34746
US
+1.4072010555
Billing Contact
None
Long Matt
4200 Castle Cove
Kissimmee, FL 34746
US
+1.4072010555
Registrar..: gkg.net (http://register.gkg.net/)
Domain Name: CAMSPACEONLINE.COM
Created on..............: 06-JAN-2010
Expires on..............: 06-JAN-2011
Record last updated on..: 06-JAN-2010
Status..................: ACTIVE
Domain servers in listed order:
NS1.CAMSPACEONLINE dot COM
NS2.CAMSPACEONLINE dot COM
Of course this leads to pornography website which tries to entice you to sign up for a "FREE" membership which only requires that you give them either a credit card number or a check. Yea RIGHT!
This all may be technically legal...but it's just not right. Although I doubt there's going to be any pursuit of these shady operators, I have filed a complaint with the Florida Attorney General at:
Office of the Attorney General
PL-01 The Capitol
Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1050
Telephone: (850) 414-3990
Toll Free within Florida: 1-866-966-7226
They have an online complaint submission form at http://myfloridalegal.com/Contact.nsf/Contact?OpenForm&Section=Economic_Crimes
I have included below a link to the Florida Attorney General Website at http://myfloridalegal.com/, and it is interesting to note that they highlight the following scams:
Protecting Yourself from Consumer Fraud
This page will guide you to useful tools and tips for protecting yourself from consumer fraud. - Advance Fee Loans
- Art Fraud
- Auto Repair Fraud
- Automobile Repossession
- Business Opportunities
- Buying A New Car
- Buying A Used Car
- Car Ads
- Car Financing
- Car Leasing
- Car Rental
- Carpet Cleaners
- Caskets and Burial Vaults
- Charitable Solicitations
- Checking Account Numbers
- Chronic and Persistent Car Trouble
- Cool-Off Rule
- Cosigning A Loan
- Cosmetic Surgery
- Credit Card Bills
- Credit Card Fraud
- Credit Repair and Debt Relief Services
- Dance Studios
- Debt Collection
- Electronic Equipment and Repair
- Eyeglasses and Contact Lenses
- Fair Credit Reporting
- Food Advertising/Labeling
- Foreign Lottery
- "Gas Saving" Products
- Gemstone Investment Schemes
- Going Out of Business
- "Gold" Credit Cards
- Health Studios
- Health Fraud
- Holiday Buying
- Identity Theft
- Infomercials
- Internet Email
- Internet Shopping
Investing In Precious Metals
Investing in Wireless Cable
Invention Promotion Firms
Job Listing and Job Search Firms
Land Sales Scams
Lawn Service Contracts
Lottery Fraud
Mortgage Foreclosures
Movers
Multilevel Marketing
Negative Option Marketing Plans
Nigerian 419
Odometer Fraud
Overpayment Scams
Overseas Job Firms
Phishing
Price Gouging After A Hurricane
Rain Checks
Rare Coin Investment Schemes
Real Estate Brokers
Recovery Room Scams
Service Contracts
Small Business Scams
Sweepstakes
Shopping By Mail Or Phone
Smoking Cures
SPAM
Tax Evasion Schemes
Telemarketing
Title Loans
Toy Ads On TV
Timeshare Sales and Resales
Unordered Merchandise
Unsolicited Facsimile Transmissions
Vacation Certificates
Varicose Vein Treatments
Water Treatment Devices
Weight Loss Programs
Work-At-Home Schemes
Worthless Bank Checks
Yellow Pages Invoice Scam
"800" Prefix Telephone Services
"900" Prefix Telephone Services
Hopefully you find this information useful and if you are interested in professional reputation protection and online reputation management, please contact me at 760.445.3315.
