Great Irish Times account of a Gmail scam

Its defintely the robots reading your e-mails.

I remember sending an e-mail to a friend saying something along the lines of 'I feel like I am being used as a guinea pig for this medication etc etc'. Lo and behold, next time I opened my gmail, lots of ads for guinea pigs and their associated feed/cages/toys appeared!
 
I am very very surprised that he is still using GMAIL and does not once say he is going to quit it forever!!

He does not mention the make of the camera, he does not name the actual website, he is still putting emails with mention of camera why? A camera for 5000 reduced to 2500 please tell us make of camera.

Its a nice story. ???

noah
 
I've a lot more sympathy for the author than I would have had just a couple of years ago.

Google feels more and more like a malware company.
 
I was stunned that an investigative journalist handed over €2500 to a stranger with a website with no due diligence on two grounds

1) If the ad was on google, then the company must be legitimite
2) When they asked me to transfer the money directly, it was to a reputable high-street bank. Surely that must mean that they are honest.

But, fair dues to him for going public, at the risk of his reputation to help others.
There are still a lot of people who think that the internet is somehow authoritative.
 
Just goes to show how well the scams work if you want the product badly enough
 
I know three people directly who have been caught by scams. Each one of them is highly intelligent and, I would have thought, alert.

One bought some land in a land banking scheme.
One bought shares having been cold called by a boiler house company.
One responded to an email for a cheap holiday in the States. At least he paid by credit card and the credit card refunded him in full.

I think that the problem is that people seem to not like being rude and hanging up the phone.
 
I have heard it argued that the highly intelligent professional type are easier to scam because they are less likely to question themselves and tend to trust their own judgement.
 
Brendan Burgess said:
I think that the problem is that people seem to not like being rude and hanging up the phone.
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Or they're just a little bit greedy? I read a lot about cons and scams and most have naiveté or greed as the source issue, or more often a mixture of both.
 
I have to say, I think the general tone of that article is one of extreme naivety (as are a few attitudes displayed in this thread).

Google has to monetise in some way and its primary resource is information.

The web has grown in such a way that sites and services are (on the whole) unable to charge the user and therefore need to generate revenue from elsewhere. If you want to avoid this type of advertising being presented to you there are plenty of websites offering services and content at a price or via subscription.

I think it may be a sociological phenomenon based on the speed the internet has developed and the inability of society to keep pace, but I am consistently amazed at how un-savvy some web users can be (and conversely, how fearful and paranoid others are).
 
I read the article and some red flags jumped out to me.

I would be unlikely to follow an internet advertisement at all - especially one that popped up and was a match with something Id just talked about on email.

The price was too good to be true - and guess what - if its too good to be true it usually isnt true.

I would have done a whois and google search on the website/company name if it wasnt a site Im familiar with using.

I would have been immediately suspicious of being told there was a 17.5% surcharge for using my credit card.

For a high value item Id prefer to spend the few bob on a flight to the UK to inspect the item in person before buying it.

Also for a high value item Id prefer to deal in person for the transaction so that I could go back to the person if there were any problems.

Id be suspicious of any internet stranger telling me to do a direct bank transfer of funds.
 
truthseeker said:
I read the article and some red flags jumped out to me.

I would be unlikely to follow an internet advertisement at all - especially one that popped up and was a match with something Id just talked about on email.

The price was too good to be true - and guess what - if its too good to be true it usually isnt true.

I would have done a whois and google search on the website/company name if it wasnt a site Im familiar with using.

I would have been immediately suspicious of being told there was a 17.5% surcharge for using my credit card.

For a high value item Id prefer to spend the few bob on a flight to the UK to inspect the item in person before buying it.

Also for a high value item Id prefer to deal in person for the transaction so that I could go back to the person if there were any problems.

Id be suspicious of any internet stranger telling me to do a direct bank transfer of funds.
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i.e. - You'd employ a certain amount of everyday common sense...!!!
 
Absolutely. With occasional exceptions. But a little research sorts the wheat from the chaff; even posting somewhere like here and asking other people's opinions.
 
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