Scam Alert II: Domain Hijacking (Page 1 of 5 )
There's a frightening new batch of scams going around now that can damage your reputation as domain "squatters" steal your domain name.
There are a number of ways the "game" is played. The first is entirely legal, if more than a little questionable. In this version, the name of a city or geographic area is grabbed by a domain squatter and pointed to... "sites that you wouldn't want your children visiting."
(We chose that term to avoid getting caught in a lot of spam filters for the use of the word "p-o-rn.")
A prominent notice is placed on the sites, offering them for sale at prices that range from $2500 to as much as $500,000!
The idea here is that city officials will feel that enough damage is being done to the reputations of their towns that they'll pay to keep them from being associated with that type of material.
It's obviously safe to say that it's not appropriate to pop those kinds of images into people's faces while they're looking for info on a completely different topic.
That's where the pressure on the cities comes from, and why this is such a disgusting scheme.
In essence, the domain squatter says: "Pay us, or continue to watch as your city's reputation suffers."
Many would call this blackmail...
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Next: The second variation... >>
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