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The
Netizen
http://www.midcoast.com.au/~adnet/netizen/
This tidy little set of text-based links from a Coffs Harbour ISP provide
some great basic information about how to use the Internet for fun, profit,
and safety. It's basically an archive of Marilyn Williams' local newspaper
articles, but put together and accessed from one page on-line, it's a
formidable foray into the ins and outs of Internet life. Everything form
scams, viruses, junk mail, e-commerce and how the Internet can make you
an instant criminal, through to choosing a computer - it's all here for
the newbie - and you may find even the seasoned surfer could benefit from
a quick read as well.
Verdict: Harbouring information - nothing to sCoff at. (ouch) - SS
NetWorth: ****
Cyberspace Law Lessons
http://www.ssrn.com/update/lsn/cyberspace/csl_lessons.html
It's a very fluid thing at the moment, cyber law - as politicians and
lawyers come to grips with the relatively quiet revolution that is taking
place on this planet right now. Stealing jewellery is obviously theft,
but how do you handle right-clicking on a JPEG that someone spent days
creating? The Cyberspace Law Institute offers 80 lessons covering copyright
to privacy, free speech, trademark law, contract law, dispute resolution
and content regulation. The facts are changing even as we speak, but it's
advisable to be well informed and armed with as many facts as possible
as you head of into the surf and confront the myriad of sharks, stonefish,
electronic eels and Portugese men o' war out there.
Verdict: Know your rights. Then find a loophole! - SS
Net Worth: ****
Women Halting Online Abuse
http://whoa.femail.com/
For half the world's population, getting on line means potentially being
confronted with the same kinds of disrespectful treatment as in the real
world. Yes just being a woman, even if you are just a feminine gendered
nick-name, can cause men's testosterone-driven physiologies to inspire
them to all the typical behaviours seen throughout the natural world.
Competing for a mate, posturing for attention, bragging, and ultimately
some attempt to breed. Unfortunately, most women just want to surf the
net, and every time they reveal their gender, they risk becoming victim
to some uncontrollable stranger's libido. This is called harassment, (newsflash
dudes) and women don't like it. WHOA are getting the message out, and
supporting sites that adopt anti-harassment policies. If only the men
realised how ineffective their attempts were, they might just learn to
be nice guys and actually "get laid" once in a while - if that's their
natural objective.
Verdict: Get your knuckles off the ground, guys. - SS
NetWorth: ***
Scams On The Net
http://advocacy-net.com/scammks.htm
This page is just a mammoth set of links that cover every imaginable scam
out there. The Nigerian 419 scam (a potential killer), phone scams, newsgroup
scams - in fact anywhere there is a dollar to be made, lawfully or not,
there is an opportunist working his genius to get some action. The Internet
is an absolute goldmine of scamming opportunities, as newcomers, signing
on in droves, not understanding the medium, leave themselves wide open
to deception. Some of these links are dead, as it is a massive list, but
following just a few of them will give you an alarming insight into the
human condition - which lies somewhere between a vulture and a shark.
Verdict: The predators are stalking you. - SS
NetWorth: ****
Australian Securities and Investments Commission
http://www.asc.gov.au/
The cute cartoon doggie wagging its tail and digging for bones around
this site contrast with the serious and profound content of this formidable
site. This is where the legalese meets road. Anything at all to do with
investing or operating a company, scrupulous or otherwise, is covered.
The Gull Awards, are quite a read, where the scammers and the scammed
are laughed at, with an underlying air of caution for future fools.
Verdict: If life was a monopoly board, this is the "Go" square. - SS
NetWorth: ****
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission
http://www.accc.gov.au/
Formed from a merger of the Trade Practices Commission and the Prices
Surveillance Authority, the ACCC is working to make the world of buying
and selling a safer place to live. Being well versed in the kinds of dodgy
activities that are practiced, their approach to the Internet is informed
and effective when it comes to pinpointing potential scams and schemes
that you'd best stay away from. They conduct an annual "sweep" of the
net finding the worst pyramid schemes, miracle cures and other get-rich-quick
scams, and offer a set of 6 fact sheets to fill you in on the current
state of play.
Verdict: Seeking out the snake oil salesmen. - SS
NetWorth: ****
Consumer Fraud Consumer Alert
http://detlefmp.com/vicesquad.htm
A well meaning web page who's power is diminished by its own design. Intended
as an alert for unsuspecting cyber-travellers, this mass of message postings
leaves you slightly pre-warned, and slightly dishevelled. Everyone is
logging on a complaining about being ripped off by someone, from perfume
salesmen to network marketers, but then others log on to defend them,
and the sales people log on to do more selling. It's messy, and unorganised,
but it does give you a good cross section of actual personal encounters
with unscrupulousness. Follow the link to Vice Squad home and find similar
pages on other topics.
Verdict: Its as messy as the subject it deals with.- SS
NetWorth: **
Web Psychos, Stalkers and Pranksters.
http://w3.one.net/~banks/psycho.htm
This is the site of the book about Internet crooks and con-men. Besides
promoting the book itself with reviews and excerpts, there are many avenues
provided to take the information further. Links galore (some dead) and
articles on related topics are presented. Since the creator actually had
the research skills to write a book, you can be sure the quality of material
here is relatively high. Learn more about how your computer can be used
by hackers and crims, and how, if you're not careful, the Internet can
become as scary as a dark inner city alley way. Be warned.
Verdict: Marketing our fear of the new medium. - SS
NetWorth: ****
Con Games.com by Con Game Authority Travis Dacolias
http://www.congames.com/
This man knows all the tricks of the scheisters and charlatans of the
world. He loves to study the ingenious plans that people cook up, and
loves to see them busted. He has been caught out himself a couple of times.
Once he was consulted by a magazine about con artists who pick up women,
and they published all the tricks he told them, as advice to their readers!
There are some good book recommendations and some great links. This is
the psychology of tricking people, and really something we should have
all learned about in school. Humans really are extremely gullible creatures.
Verdict: Exposing the mind games that we can all fall prey to. - SS
NetWorth: *****
The MMF Hall of Humiliation
http://ga.to/mmf/
MMF stands for "make money fast" and here they poke fun at the whole idea.
Some people do make money fast, and quite often they are the exact same
people who are promising that you will. The site here is a little in need
of more content, but what it has is good quality scam-busting, and they
like to have a bit of fun along the way. If you have something of interest,
let them know, it surely can't hurt the anti-scam cause. Their humorous
dissection of junk mail in the MMF of the week archive is a good laugh.
Might give you some ideas of how to reply to some of the ones you've been
getting lately.
Verdict: Putting the scammers in the cyber stocks and throwing the virtual
tomatoes. - SS
NetWorth: *****
Junkbusters Home Page
http://www.junkbusters.com/
Junk e-mail is a worldwide phenomenon, so Junkbusters comes in 15 different
languages to help us all come to terms with the burgeoning instances of
this desperate attempt by losers to become winners. Self defence techniques,
how to avoid your personal information being spread around, banishing
banner ads and cookies, and regular news of the political lobbying these
guys undertake, against the corporate and legal minefield that is consumers
rights in cyberspace. At least someone is in their batting for us, while
the mega marketing corporations plan their digital enslavement of the
masses.
Verdict: It's a conspiracy I tells ya! - SS
NetWorth: ****
Big Brother Inside
http://www.bigbrotherinside.com/
It seems Intel have arranged for a unique PSN, or processor serial number,
to be allotted to every new PIII chip. If you believe what is documented
here, it is designed to allow marketing companies to track your web activity
completely, and provide a means of identifying you when you try to access
certain things on the net. This is seen as a gross intrusion of privacy,
and puts a great deal of power into the hands of a few big companies.
Power to know who you are and what you do, and where you go, and who you
talk to. It would be alright if we all had that information, then we could
make collective decisions about humanity, but in the hands of profiteers,
it is merely another way to distance consumers from producers, and put
us all at their capitalistic mercy.
Verdict: Scary stuff indeed, unless of course you like the idea of having
a big brother. - SS
NetWorth: ***
Welcome to Web Police
http://www.web-police.org/
Springing out of the very early incarnations of the Internet, Web Police
organisers quickly saw the revolution that was about to take place and
decided to take it upon themselves to become the guardians of goodness
in Cyberspace. An awesome network has been established through InterGov,
the "United Nations of the Internet" to provide essential links to crime
fighters and victims of crime everywhere on this little globe we call
home. This is more than just a bunch of anti spammers - this is a world
community of high ideals and no boundaries. The police bit is just trying
to mop up our messy pre-web past.
Verdict: The real New World Order - minus graphics - SS
NetWorth: *****
Welcome to ScamWatch
http://www.scamwatch.com/
As part of the InterGov network, Scamwatch is a testament to the length
and breadth of their coverage. This organisation is serious and determined
to influence the net community to do the right thing at all times. What
you'll find here is every imaginable fraud and scam documented and detailed
with advice on how to avoid them, what to look for in a seemingly bona
fide e-mail, and the opportunity to report anything that might have happened
to you, so it can be investigated, reported and stopped. Thank you Scam
Watch!
Verdict: Modern day crime fighting superheroes - SS
NetWorth: *****
The National Fraud Information Centre
http://216.147.26.114/welcome.htm
Another resource for fraud alert, warning, tips and safeguards and security.
There is a statistical run down of rip-offs and how the increase of net
users is creating a proportionate increase in scammers and con artists.
This subject matter is very dry, it would be nice to see a bit more colour
in the web sites. This one is yet another plain text, info-based site
that besides getting a glimpse into Internet crime for a few minutes,
you wouldn't really think of book marking it in a gigayear.
Verdict: Dry as a bone, helpful as your average boy scout. - SS
NetWorth: ***
Computer Virus Myths Home Page
http://kumite.com/myths/
It's bad enough all the trouble a computer virus can cause, but it's almost
as bad all the scare mongering and fear elevation being done by virus
hoaxers - geeks who cry "wolf". Sadly, our fear of getting our hard drives
wiped is easy prey for those that know a little more about computers than
we do. They like to watch us shake in our boots, madly telling all our
friends about the impending disaster, while they sit back in their ergonomic
chairs and laugh at our ignorance and fear. Sometimes they capitalise
on it by selling solutions to these non-existent bugs. The "help a poor
dog to win a holiday" and the "it takes guts to say Jesus" viruses for
example. Read all about them in this expertly informed and balanced look
at the reality of viruses and their mythical cousins.
Verdict: Beat the hysteria and chuckle with your new-found confidence.
- SS
NetWorth ****
#1 Value Fax
http://www.future.it/dinn/
Here is a scheme that a few of the sites are warning people about. Italian-based
Future Strategies is running a couple of classic pyramid schemes with
all the trademarks of a scam, disguised under Italian law as a legitimate
"wealth redistribution" system. There are sites that will tell you the
accurate maths of this system make a consistent 96-odd percent of participants
losers - so I guess the wealth is being redistributed, alright. FS make
$80.00 every time someone hops on board this exciting new journey into
suckerdom.
Verdict: Who knows, maybe it really does work...... - SS
NetWorth: *
MLM Truth Coalition
http://www.mlmcentral.com/mlmtruth/
Multi-Level Marketing has its own acronym now, it is such a popular pursuit.
Trouble is there is such a fine line between MLM and pyramid selling in
most peoples' perception, and even standard commercial enterprise (in
my eyes). After all isn't our whole world basically one giant pyramid
scheme, with a huge bunch of poor losers, a select tiny group of extremely
rich people at the top, and a multitude of in-betweeners hustling and
bustling for the commissions of those above and below them on the scale?
MLM Truth believes that MLM is a highly credible system, and wants to
distance itself as far as possible from the product-less pyramid chain-letter-style
scams. The other desired goal is to encourage those involved in network
marketing to see more positive aspects and realise their wealth potential
through persistence and self-belief.
Verdict: The alternative way to the 'spam' way.- SS
NetWorth: ***
E-Commerce and the Internet
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/menu-internet.htm
The American Government's Federal Trade Commission provides a selection
of documents covering issues of Internet law, consumer safety and fraud
survival. There are plenty of good tips on how to spot a rip-off, bulk
e-mail scams, business "flop-portunities" and Y2K alerts and updates.
The information is set out in a basic format, with links to each piece.
Consumer and business education, media releases, comments, testimonies
and public education workshops. A concise and thorough take on the current
issues that affect all of us, and that we should all be wary of.
Verdict: Thanks .gov! - SS
NetWorth: ****
Canadian Mounties Latest Scams
http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/html/scams.htm
Like most other government agencies charged with fighting crime, the Canadian
Mounted Police offer us their latest discoveries as to who is being ripped
off by whom. Monetary and resource theft, fraud and trickery are exposed.
There are some pretty bold crims out there, but the mounties have a reputation
to uphold, and they're not going to let these slippery suckers get away,
even if they have to chase them through optical fibre on horseback! Check
the bulk e-mail "dirty dozen", and the amazing feats of "Investors International"
- who are now searching for a bit of action down under.
Verdict: They always get their scam. - SS
NetWorth: ****
A Free Award-Winning E-Zine Internet Scambusters.
http://www.scambusters.com/
This e-zine, courtesy of Netrageous claims to be the premier publication
on Internet fraud. There are a few contenders, to be sure, but Scambusters
is well up the list as a cyber-publication. It is laid out well, with
an easy to follow menu of the major fraud risks, followed by a selection
of feature articles providing assistance in learning how to prepare yourself
for the onslaught of attempted trickery. There is a scam check station,
and a free t-shirt given away to the person who finds the worst scam of
the month. Not that there are any shortages of contenders. Also here are
real virus alerts and not so real urban legends.
Verdict: Forewarned is forearmed. Check it out. - SS
NetWorth: *****
Cyberthrill Casino Refuses to Pay Me
http://www.ten-percent.com/cyberscam.html
Here is an Internet business operator of on-line chat rooms, who claims
to have been shafted by one of the advertising click-through programs
he subscribed to, to the tune of $1200. It's a victim's account of how
it all went down, and provides other victims' testimony as well as media
accounts, and a call to try and sue the company, which operates from the
Bahamas. Whoever is in the right or wrong here, it is a warning to be
careful who you are dealing with in the totally impersonal on-line world.
Verdict: Not so thrilling once you get stung a few times. - SS
NetWorth: ***
Better Business Bureau
http://www.bbb.org/
The BBB have a strong reputation for promoting good business practice
and ethical standards in the marketplace. That is why unscrupulous operators
on the net like to copy their seal of approval to add credibility to a
scam. BBB has a network of approved on line merchants, and as such has
to defend its position against swindlers by hunting them down and alerting
the press, the government and consumers. This has turned the BBB into
a high-powered net police, exposing trickery everywhere. From ISP's who
"cram" their bills with extra charges, to shonky polls and dishonest claims,
the scum of cyberspace is slowly being cleaned up.
Verdict: You'd Better Bloody Bookmark it. - SS
NetWorth: ****
Scams Exposed
http://www.scampatrol.com/index.html
This is a harrowing account of one woman's constant battle with dodgy
dealers to get an Internet business going. After being ripped off so many
times, the only way she could purge her shame at feeling such a fool,
was to create this site and try and reverse the horrifying trend. One
website she went to for help actually turned out to be another shonky
dealer pretending to be a scam help site! She had a domain name stolen
and lost thousands, but on the upside, she has learned in her own attempts
to run a successful web business how to do it ethically and fairly by
not doing what was done to her. What a payback! Ah the lessons of business.
She's no fool now.
Verdict: Learn from someone else's mistakes. - SS
NetWorth: *****
Cyberthrill Administration Killer
http://www.hackology.com/public/index.html
I don't know if this actually works. Hacker "Munga Bunga" has created
a Java script that signs on thousands of fake memberships, five at a time
to Cyberthrill, alleged rip-off artists and casino operators. It is his
own personal terrorist attack on the company he perceives to be unscrupulous
and criminal, so he is overloading their server with garbage, in a juvenile
act of revenge. This kinda seems appropriate, considering some companies
seem to be using a "nya nya nya can't catch me I live in the Bahama's"
approach to running their businesses. Whether it actually works or not,
it feels good to be flooding a perceived scammer while you check your
e-mails for more junk.
Verdict: The victims fight back. - SS.
NetWorth: ***
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