How to avoid a spam scam on your blog: red flags show you the false flag
First a word of thanks to wordpress and akismet for doing such an excellent job blocking spam from hitting our blogs. Very nice work all! That said, the spammers are using all manner of sneaky tricks to sucker bloggers into accepting spam on our blogs. I have been receiving a number of these scam offers and have avoided getting scammed. I’m posting this in the hope that someone else who gets one of these scam offers will find the following info useful.
THE BAIT:
The latest scam offer I received started with the following email:
Pseudo Advertising on “A View From the Bridge at ClapSotronics”
How are you doing?
Why do i have a feeling this proposal will not go over well? Would you be interested in hosting a text link for a client of mine in one of your older blogposts on “A View From the Bridge at ClapSotronics”? It will simply be a word that is linked, not the company name. It doesn’t need to be an endorsement, and I’d be glad to compensate you for your time and effort.
Whew… now that that is over, thank you for making me laugh- and think. No thanks for the thinking… My head aches enough this morning.
Best
Jesa
EMAIL RED FLAGS:
Really, the whole damn email is one big red flag, but the following are the most telling parts. I highlighted them in red above and below:
- “pseudo advertising:” This is a clear violation of the wordpress.com TOS. I for one would not do such a thing, period.
- “Why do i have a feeling this proposal will not go over very well?” ROFL, the scammer is outright telling ME that this is a bad deal for ME!
- “hosting a text link:” This is what the spam scammer is really after. If you fall for this you will be helping the spammer the scammer works for, her “client.” I for one would not do such a thing, period.
- “I’d be glad to compensate you for your time and effort.” This is how they suck most people in. It sounds like a chance to make a little moolah huh? If you’re stupid and greedy they got ya. I’m just not stupid or greedy!
Being the calm new millennium kinda guy I am. My usual email response to the above would simply be something gentle and professional such as:
FUCK OFF YOU SCUMBAG SPAMMER!
THE FALSE FLAG
But wait, there is much more evidence that you can get by digging a bit deeper. The email address included this URL: patternspace.net
Don’t bother to go to that URL. I already did. It is a badly written script baby instasite meant to fool the unwary into believing this is a legitimate business offer.
IT ISN’T! DON’T FALL FOR BULLSHIT LIKE THIS!
The easiest way to check the site is to run a WHOIS. To do that I use:
http://www.networksolutions.com/whois/index.jsp
You simply type the domain name or IP address into the little search box and you find out a whole bunch of stuff about that site. I did that for the patternspace URL and that’s when I found one of the big false flag mother ships involved with this scam!
FALSE FLAG MOTHER SHIP:
One of the many false flag mother ships on the net is domains by proxy, inc. The patternspace.net scam site is registered under the domainsbyproxy.com false flag. You can’t find out who is personally responsible for shit sites such as patternspace without court action. This is how dirty scumbag spammers hide from the law!
How do you know domains by proxy is up to no good? If you go to their homepage at the bottom in red you will see two links:
If you are in law enforcement, click here
and
For our subpoena policies, click here
Really, any site that has such links on their homepage is indicating they get quite a few law enforcement inquires and subpoenas! I for one would not have anything to do with anyone in any way linked to such a site or company. No good could ever come of it! I hope YOU are smart enough to avoid such too!
The Telepathic Crickets™ on the ClapSotronics editorial board and I would like to give a warm FUCK YOU TO ALL THE SCUMBAG SPAMMERS!
The scientifically impossible I do right away
The spiritually miraculous takes a bit longer
A View From the Bridge at ClapSotronics 
Heheheheh I would like to welcome all the spammers and scammers who are visiting my blog today. Go ahead and try to leave spam comments, any that the spam blockers don’t catch, I will delete…
The scientifically impossible I do right away
The spiritually miraculous takes a bit longer
[…] the only option available. Like I’m cabbage looking or something. Anyway, these people have form, it […]
Longrider » Spam My Own Site, Why Not? said this on August 8, 2009 at 9:57 am |
Actually, DomainsByProxy is a legitimate service run by GoDaddy, a big domain registrar.
While it certainly can be used for nefarious purposes, it seems to be most commonly used by individuals seeking to preserve the privacy of their personal information (name, address, phone number, etc.). Hardly a bad thing.
I use a similar service run by my non-GoDaddy registrar to conceal my real-world identity on a blog I maintain under a pseudonym.
That said, I just got a spam from PatternSpace today — I was searching for their name and came across your post. Obviously, they’re spammers/scammers, and your site helped confirm that. Thanks.
I got one of these this morning from patternspace. Thanks for the post on this. My blog doesn’t get a ton of visits. So, someone wanting to advertise on it was my main red flag.
Thanks again for the help.
Thanks for this too! I also got one of these for one of my older blogs and this post helped to clarify what in the world these people were trying to do.
Thanks for this post.
I got a mail from them 2 days ago, saying that there are interested in placing text links and that they will pay money upfront.
Searched the website but didnt get any info. Thanks again. The offer sure sure was luring.
Dude, thanks a million for the great info. I got a fishy email from, you guessed it…patternspace. When I Googled it, I skipped their website and your post here was the first legit-looking link, and lo & behold, great info that proved my hunch that it was bogus.
Have a great weekend…
Hi I recived just yesterday a mail from patternspace.net, asking for a textlink.
If wasn’t for you I probably would have being scammed.
Thanks for this share.
Bye 🙂
I also just got a request for a text link from patternspace.net and thanks to Google, found you. My email said “You’re probably suspicious getting this out of the blue.” You’re right, they gave themselves away and if it weren’t for you, I’d have fallen for the lousy $150.00 a YEAR.
Thanks for the heads-up on this — got an e-mail from them and I have to say, as far as spam goes, they personalized it pretty well. I suspected scam, however, and appreciate you confirming that.