A man named Sanford Wallace gave himself the cutest nicknames: The Spam King and Spamford. Since the Internet’s infancy in 1995, he made millions bombarding people with useless websites. It’s not so cute now. This spammer goes to prison.
In August 2015, Sanford ‘Spam King’ or ‘Spamford’ ?Wallace plead guilty to ?e-mail fraud and contempt of court. This week, Wallace was sentenced to 30 months in prison. What was the comtempt of court charge about? In a previous court case, Wallace was legally forbidden to access Facebook. Wallace broke that ruling. Wallace is ordered to pay well over $100,000 to the Facebook users he bombarded and potentially ripped off. After his prison sentence, King will be on probation for five years. He’ll be banned from all computer activity, except for activity supervised by a probation officer. Wallace will be ordered to undergo mental health treatment. In 1995, Wallace launched Cyber Promotions. He flooded emails and faxes with junk. Tech corporations from America Online to Facebook filed civil lawsuits against him, and won. ?According to court documents, Wallace bombarded 550,000 Facebook users with over 27 million pieces of spam in the late 2000s. In 2009, he was told to not log on Facebook…ever. After this, according to court documents, he created aliases and fake domain names. He’d get Facebook accounts, then lure people to click a link. That link would download their friends name and send them to other websites.
This is a warning to anyone in the spam business. Don’t do it! And if you’re in the spam business, get out! Obviously, there’s cracking down harder than ever. I have a concern about Sanford Wallace. The man has spammed for over 20 years, and didn’t stop. Not even when threatened with lawsuits and prison did he stop. So I wonder, can he stop spamming? Is this an addiction that’s beyond his control? If so, then shouldn’t he be evaluated in prison? Why wait until he gets out? Was 30 months too harsh of a sentence for the crime? Furthermore, how will the Spam King do in prison?
What were you doing at age 16? At that age, most were getting their drivers licence, getting their first job, going to dances and house parties, dreaming of and preparing for their future. For one Fayetteville, NC teenager, the future might be a very bleak one.
Sixteen-year-old William Buie is facing 45 charges of sextortion, including 13 counts of first-degree sexual exploitation. The investigation took months. The Fayetteville/Cumberland County Sheriff’s office got an anonymous tip in February 2016. The tip claimed someone was coaxing juveniles into sexual acts through Instagram. According to local authorities and prosecutors, Buie had an Instagram account pretending to be a teenage female. They say he used that account to trick male students, mostly from his school. They say he would ask males for pictures. The teen males, thinking they were conversing with a female, would send such pictures. Allegedly, Buie got the pictures and demanded passwords. If he didn’t get them, he’d threaten to release the pictures to the community. According to WRAL news, a Raleigh/Durham/Fayetteville area NBC affiliate, Buie would exchange the photos on gay websites. He was arrested Wed., June 1, after the police found overwhelming evidence on his computer and smart device. Buie is expected to be tried as an adult. If convicted, Buie could face a maximum of 20 years in prison. The victims will not be charged. This won’t go on their record as long as they stay out of legal trouble.
Let this be a cautionary tale, for potential victims and especially for plotting perpetrators. Don’t send nude or nearly nude photos online for any reason! I don’t care who is telling you to do it! How do you really know that person is who he/she says he is? Authorities say sextortion crimes are happening too often. That means they’re going to look harder for perpetrators. And ?when you’re caught, it won’t be a speeding ticket. You will be looking at many years in prison. I don’t know if William Buie is guilty or not. The courts will have to decide that. But look at the court of public opinion. Is this the kind of guy you’d want for an employee? Is this the kind of guy you’d want for a tenant? Is this the kind of guy you’d want in your social organization or at your church? Is this the kind of guy you want to patron your restaurant? Is this the kind of guy you’d want for a boyfriend or future husband? So is it worth it?
Quite some time ago, I wrote a story of a predator who manipulated hundreds of underage girls to take inappropriate photos of themselves. He threatened to blast the photos online to the world if they didn’t send him more inappropriate photos. I wish I could tell you this was an isolated incident.
But I can’t. According to the Justice Department, sextortion is the biggest growing threat to children and underage teens today. Sextortion is enticing someone to commit inappropriate sexual acts online, then threatening to expose the act if the victim doesn’t give in to the culprit’s financial or perverted demands. But victims can be of any age. At George Mason University, two college students are lured into trusting people online. They got the students to broadcast sexual acts on a webcam. The suspects threatened to put the videos on the Internet if the victims didn’t pay $5,000. As early as 2010, a 13-year-old named Amanda Todd was talked into exposing herself, and the online predators demanded more. When she didn’t cooperate, they posted the girl’s pictures to social media. She made a powerful You Tube video addressing her ordeal two years later. Then, she committed suicide. Sadly it’s gotten worse. Between 2010-2013, sextortion complaints have increased 32%. Even President Obama addressed this epidemic in April 2015, calling April to be “National Child Abuse Prevention Month”.
Think about what victims are driven to. Often, victims feel shame, guilt, and isolation. In 2015 alone, two sextortion victims committed suicide and 12 attempted suicide. The victims are often bullied, can’t get friends, a job, housing, hindered from obtaining meaningful relationships. If you’re a perpetrator of such crimes, do you want that on your conscious for the rest of your life? And if you’re a perpetrator of these crimes, you will eventually be found out. Law enforcement on every level is cracking down on this atrocity. Communities are coming together to combat this epidemic. And when you do get caught, it won’t be a speeding ticket. You’ll probably be in prison for decades, if not life. Just ask Lucus Michael Chansler. Is it worth it? I’m sure Chansler doesn’t think so. Everyone failed 13-year-old Amanda Todd: her perpetrators, her peers, her school, her teachers, her parents, the justice system, her community, her town, county, state and nation. Todd ought to be alive and thriving right now. Will we let this precious child’s death be in vain?
Do you know what today is? Yes, it’s Fat Tuesday/Mardi Gras. Yes, it’s voting day in New Hampshire. But it’s also Safer Internet Day.
Safer Internet Day began in 2002 and is celebrated every 2nd Tuesday in February. It’s now observed in 120 countries. It was first observed to help keep children and teens safe online. But over the years, issues like hacking and identity theft became so prevalent the day takes on another meaning. That meaning is keeping you safe from hackers, malware, cyber criminals, even national agencies and world governments. Safer Internet Day is observed by giving tips to keep you and your family safe. We at Computer Geeks honor that tradition.
Change your passwords and change them often. Don’t use easy passwords either. Use passwords that you and only you would know like the name of your elementary school, your first car, or first pet, and the year these things happened (it’s always good to mix alphabetical and numerical signs together).
Get and update anti-virus software. With free anti-virus services like Avast, there’s no excuse not to.
If an email or social media post sounds too good to be true, it probably is. If you get one saying something like, “We have money waiting for you. But we need some information…”, don’t give in. Too many people had been had.
If someone calls you and claim they’re from a legit corporation, like Microsoft , and say you need to pay to get a virus removed, or need your credit card information, don’t do it! Some scammers have put up viruses, then call you claiming to be a Microsoft rep and demand money. Microsoft doesn’t operate like that. If a virus is holding your computer hostage, call Computer Geeks.
Parents, monitor your children and teenagers’ computer activities. They’re too many cyberbullies, pedophiles, trolls, con-artists, even terrorists out there to be too relaxed about your kid’s online safety. Talk with your kids and warn them about the dangers out there. Remember, you’re their parent, not their friend. What other tips would you offer to keep innocent people safe online?
Seven of Donald Trump’s hotels are hacked! The billionaire/real estate mogul/presidential candidate’s Trump Hotel Collection confirmed certain hotels were hit by cyber attacks. Now, customers’ information could be at risk.
These hotels include Trump SoHo New York City, Trump International New York, Trump International Chicago, and Trump International Hotel and Tower Las Vegas. Seven of the 14 hotels Trump manages have been hit. Trump Hotel Collection stated unauthorized malware access may be the blame. In layman’s terms, hotel guest’s and customer’s credit card numbers, security codes and expiration dates may have been compromised. The breached has reportedly happened between May 2014 and early June 2015. ?Trump Hotel Collection confirmed no person’s information was taken, to the best of their knowledge. But they’re taking major precautions and urging customers to do what they can to protect themselves. The company said that during these months, hackers attacked hotel check-in desks, hotel restaurants, gift shops, and other hotel points where credit cards are often used. The attacks have been reported to the FBI, and hackers involved can face severe prosecution and prison time. Trump Hotel Collection is offering a year of free fraud protection and restoration to any customers whose information was compromised.
Yes, I’m reporting another hacking. But the timing of this one is eerie to me. Someone chose to hack Donald Trump’s hotel franchise at a time when Trump is still leading in the Republican polls. His lead has decreased over the last couple of weeks, but he’s still a political force to be reckon with. So who hacked it and why? Something tells this is more than a just a typical hacking. Maybe I’m sounding paranoid, and no, I don’t have any proof of it, but I smell a mystery in the making. Trump haters have come out the woodwork, especially since his presidential candidacy. Could somebody could have done this to disrupt Trump’s campaign? Could somebody have done this to make Trump look incompetent, something like, “If Trump can’t even run his hotels, how can he run the country?”? Is that the cyber attackers’ spin on this? ?Was this cyber attack politically motivated? Did an anti-Trump person do this?
Several weeks ago, it was discovered that many profiles on adulterous website Ashley Madison were fake. It was discovered women were hired to create fake accounts to lure men seeking extramarital affairs. Apparently, Ashley Madison isn’t the only ones using fake trafficking.
As it turns out, more and more digital ad viewers are bots. Less and less are human beings. One study done by Association of National Advertisers showed many ads were viewed by software. One Chrysler computer ad that aired on Saveur.tv revealed only two percent of ad views were human. When Chrysler found this out, they stopped buying ad time and space from Saveur. Chrysler isn’t the only ones in this predicament. Researchers say fake ads and fraudulent advertising will cost businesses over $6.3 billion a year. In fact, fake traffic is big business and has been for years. Malware is involved, brokers sell it, and some companies even deliberately pay for it. Others do so accidentally, not knowing or not even caring where the traffic comes from. The traffic market is highly unregulated. As often the case, anything that’s too good to be true probably is.
Beware of offers selling you 1,000 visits for a dollar. Chances are, none of those are human beings. Real human web traffic will likely cost between 20 and 90 cents a visitor. Never settle for paying one or two cents per click. At best, you’ll get pop-up ads. That could lead to sales. Big emphasis on could. You’ll probably get botnet traffic, which isn’t human. Last time I checked, botnet hasn’t bought a good, service, or product online yet.? Ten cents per click, you’ll get traffic from major publishers, but most of it will be to basic sites and blogs, reviews, and listings. But at least the traffic you invest in will be human. For over a dollar a click, you can go Google Adwords and get real humans who specifically want your good or service. But who has the money to pay over a dollar per click? How many small and struggling businesses starting out have that kind of budget? Do you see a cycle here?
