Tag Archive: scams

BLOGGERS BEWARE: Lovefreund, Benjamin Jorgensen, and the photo credit scam

Back in late 2020, I came across a scam whereby a scammer trying to generate links to their site falsely claimed credit for a photo I used, and asked for the photo credit to be switched to one that pointed to their site. Turns out it was a scam that ran pretty deep on Wikimedia Commons. The story ended up getting picked up by a bunch of tech blogs. Well, it’s happened again. This time the scam originates from a sex toy affiliate site in Germany. I will name them, but won’t link them directly. After all, that’s what they want! It began when I received the below email. I’m posting it in full in case others try to Google the text of emails they’ve…
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BLOGGERS BEWARE: Green Cap Marketing, Aldwin Sturdivant, and the photo credit scam

Oh, the lengths scammers will go to. I received an email recently about a photo used on my site. Specifically, it was about a photo used in this article. The photo in question is this one, a photo from Wikimedia Commons which can freely be used, with proper attribution. The email came from the photographer, asking for a link back to his site. Here is the email, in full: Hi I hope you are the right person on this., I hope you’re doing well. I am very pleased to see that my creative work in https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Running_Man_Kyle_Cassidy.jpg is being used on this article found on your site: .http://ericsanjuan.com/get-more-exercise-day-to-day-with-these-stunning-hacks/. It means a lot to me that you selected my work. I prefer that you keep the image on as…
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Things That Seem Like Scams (But Actually Aren’t)

Flickr There are a surprising amount of products out there that ma seem like a scam at first, but are actually incredibly useful or even essential things that are totally worth your money. Here are just a few! Free credit reports As soon as the word “free” pops up, alarm bells start ringing in the heads of most people. Or, at least, they should do. To be honest, there are an awful lot of people who see the word “free” and fall for whatever the scheme is hook, line, and sinker. But, in general, it’s safe to say that most people assume that something strange is afoot. There’s no such thing as a free lunch, right? So how the heck could “free” ever apply to…
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Beware the “Myster Shopper” email scam

My email filters are usually pretty good at catching nonsense like this. Yours probably are, too. This one got through, however, so I thought I’d toss it out there, even if only so that other people Googling to see if it’s legit will have more information to go on. The scam starts with an email, such as this one I just got titled “Welcome to Mystery Shoppers” From info_tech01@email.utah.edu JOB DESCRIPTION: 1. You will receive funds for the task. 2. You will receive instructions for the task you via email in the location and details of the task. 3. You must complete the task as quickly as possible and quietly. 4. You will be asked to visit the business location for doing good business restaurants, shopping…
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Interactive Content Services, a jackass company for jackasses staffed by jackasses

Recently saw a help wanted ad seeking an online reporter, a part-time telecommute position involving doing stuff I’ve done for, oh, the last 15 years or so. Perfect. More work is always (okay, usually) good. I could slot that work into my freelance schedule, add a little income, and stay sane in the process. I applied, providing many writing samples when I did, as requested. This is the response I got, in full, from jobs@contentservices.co: Dear Eric, Thank you for your interest in the company and for sending me your samples. You have been identified as a possible reporter candidate for our group of legal journalism websites and newspapers. As stated in the job posting, the average pay for these types of stories is $24 each. However,…
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