sanjin suljic » Internet

Archer Dodge fails at emails

sanjin — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 02:02:42 +0000

I recently emailed a bunch of Dodge dealers in the area for quotes on a 2009 Charger R/T. I did so with a “throwaway” email address so that I don’t get spammed. This address is now receiving tons of canned responses about how interested all these car dealers are in my business…

The only thing I’ve found out from these emails is that Archer Dodge’s General Manager apparently fails at filling out forms. Thanks, General Manager Name!

TERRORIST ALERT

sanjin — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 08:09:12 +0000

I handle a vast majority of the spam complaints that we receive at work. Occasionally, the person submitting the complaint will add a note to let us know how they feel about the spam message. This is usually something to the effect of “STOP SPAMMING” and “EAT SHIT”. I’ve been processing spam complaints for a few years now, so I though that I’d seen it all … until today:

Special Emergency Message – Please read carefully
This spam is classified as one of used by terrorists to gain funds for operations in
international terrorist organizations. The Department of Homeland Security, US
Secret Service and FBI have been provided copies of this spam. You are advised
to divest yourself of this spammer as quickly as possible in order to avoid being
included in this international investigation.

This unique note was attached to a complaint about a Nigerian scam email, which was being sent out via a customer’s hacked webmail account. I looked through the headers and found that the message was sent from an IP address located somewhere in Ghana or Nigeria.

Who knew that Nigerian and Ghanaian scammers were contributing to Al Qaeda’s coffers?

April 2008 NameCheap Coupon

sanjin — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 23:55:58 +0000

Took me a while to find the latest NameCheap coupon, so hopefully reposting it here will help.

April 2008 – APRILSHOWERS – works for transfers and new registrations.

9 things I hate about the Internet

sanjin — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 11:17:19 +0000

A brief list in no particular order:

1. Nigerian scam victims.
I’ve been involved with scamfighting groups for a number of years now, often assisting victims who were taken for a ride by online scam artists. Lately, it seems like I’m running low on compassion. Major news outlets have been warning people about this scam for years now. Even Western Union, the money wiring service preferred by Nigerian scammers, has signs and warnings prominently displayed about this kind of scam. But people still fall for this crap … I don’t understand it anymore.
2. Digg and other Digg-like sites.
Digg is an interesting concept: users vote for the most relevant news tidbits, the most popular of which make the front page. Unfortunately, the only lesson this has taught us is that people are morons. At the time I wrote this, the front page of Digg was full of exciting stories about Wikipedia censorship, Ron Paul, global warming, and other nonsense. It’s almost as if Digg users deliberately vote for the most mindless submissions on the site.
3. Serious bloggers.
I was watching CNN a few nights ago and they were interviewing some ugly woman about the current presidential candidates. The producers prominently displayed her name and the address of her blog throughout the interview. How the hell does writing about politics on the Internet make you qualified enough to be interviwed on CNN?
4. RapidShare warez downloaders.
RapidShare really is the bottom of the barrel as far as finding warez goes. Searching dozens of forum posts to find your favorite movie is bad enough, but manually downloading 16 different files, and piecing them together is just plain retarded. It amazes me that there are huge communities full of morons who chase down RapidShare links for their favorite movie or program.
5. Web 2.0
I have no idea what this means, but I hate it. I read the Wikipedia entry on Web 2.0 but doing so only made me hate it even more.
6. Fan Fiction sites.
Fan Fiction stuff really creeps me out. Fantasizing about running away into the sunset with your favorite celebrity is OK, but forming huge communities where thousands of users discuss their odd fantasies about B-list celebrities? Writing 5 page short stories about having sex with some baseball player? That’s just sad.
7. AdSense.
I really, really hate the belief some people have about Google AdSense being some magic moneymaking machine. At my previous job, we hosted hundreds of sites that promised visitors that they can easily make $2000 per week just by hosting some sites that had little on them other than some prewritten articles, and some AdSense code. Believe it or not, the only people making $2000 per week off this nonsense were the ones selling these moneymaking packages to suckers who were willing to buy them.
8. “Rating” Sites
FaceTheJury and similar sites are really strange. Do people really need to be reassured by 1000 viewers that they have a symmetrical face, nice lips, or a cute ass? FTJ has been online for years now, and hundreds of similar sites are up as well, so I guess that answers my question…
9. Craigslist
I’ve probably sold over $5,000 worth of stuff on Craigslist over the last few years, but I still hate it. Selling a car for $2500? You’ll get at least half a dozen offers for $1000. Selling a phone for $200? You’ll get at least half a dozen offers for $90-105. Do some of these people really think that someone is going to accept half the asking price for an item!?

This was originally going to be a list of 11 things I hate about the Internet, but I got bored and stopped writing, so it looks like 9 points will do for now. I certainly don’t want to become a “Number 3″.

Broadband in Houston sucks.

sanjin — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 08:34:57 +0000

My broadband situation sucks at the moment. I’m currently subscribed to AT&T’s U-Verse VDSL service, which has been great up until the last week or so, when they’ve started making a lot of changes to the service. I’ve spent a few hours tonight researching alternate providers for broadband here in Houston. There are three choices from two different companies here in my part of town, and all of them seem to suck one way or another. Let’s look into this a bit more:

AT&T DSL

Price: $34.99/month plus $14/month for phone line (required)
Speed: 6016/768

Pros:

No limitations whatsoever on bandwidth usage. I’ve pissed away 1TB/month before — no issues.

Consistent broadband speeds. Service does not slow down at all during peak hours.

Good official support on DSLR.

Cons:

Slow speeds. I was able to order 6mbps service back in 2003, and they still can’t do any better than this!?

Phone line required. This adds $15/month to an already bloated bill.

No IPTV service available, have to get satellite TV, which is a bit of a pain in the ass.

Overall:
Great service, but it feels “so 2003″. The packages haven’t changed at all, the speed is crappy at best, and the service itself just seems like it’s stuck in the bowels of time!

AT&T U-Verse (VDSL)

Price: $ I have no idea, because at the time of writing I can’t even log in to my account to check the bill — all because the site is “down for maintenance”!
Speed: 6144/1024

Pros:

Static IP address

Consistent Internet speeds, just like DSL.

No bandwidth limits, just like AT&T’s DSL service.

Fastest upload speed in town. That’s nothing to brag about though, since 1024kbps isn’t all that fast. This should probably be a con.

“High tech” — well, at least higher tech than the DSL service. AT&T’s new U-Verse service at least has more room to grow than antiquated ADSL, which has a protocol limit of 8192/1024…

No POTS phone line required!

Cons:

Awful TV service. They took away all the west coast feeds, the DVR is choppy, the interface (while better than Comcast’s) still needs a lot of help.

Weekly outages for “maintenance”.

Disorganized call center staff — you’re better off just going to bed and hoping that the service will fix itself by morning.

Overall:
U-Verse used to be great, but now it feels like it’s starting to go to hell. The Internet speeds were never that great to begin with, but the TV service (I really loved having west coast feeds!) really made up for it. Now that those are gone, I’m having a really tough time finding something I like about this service.

Comcast Cable

Price: $54.99 without TV, slightly less with cable TV bundles.
Speed: 8192/768

Pros:

Fastest downstream in town. 8mbps with temporary 16mbps boosts.

DHCP IP address, which won’t change unless you swap the modem.

No POTS phone line required!

Cons:

Dealing with Comcast. Imagine getting kicked in the testicles by one of those football players who does the kick-off or whatever it’s called. That’s how bad talking to Comcast is.

The downstream means nothing. Comcast will shut you off if you’re one of the top users in the area — heavy NNTP, P2P users beware!

Crappy upload speed.

Much more expensive than the other options, even though you get only slightly ‘better’ service.

Cable TV service is expensive, interface is crappy, outages are frequent in my area.

Final Words

As you can see, all three of the major options here in Houston suck badly one way or another. This brings me to the question I’ve had on my mind for a few years now: How hard could it be? I’ve spent a lot of time browsing AT&T’s and Comcast’s sites, only to read things about free virus protection and free access to over 10,000 wireless hotspots. Frankly, I don’t give a damn. I don’t want Comcast’s bloated security software, and I don’t want to sit at McDonald’s like an idiot with my laptop, using my free AT&T Wi-Fi Hotspot service. I have no need for “state of the art anti-spam” or a “best rated Internet user portal”. I want an ISP that gives me a fast Internet package (let’s say 15mbps down, and at least 2mbps up), a static IP address, and maybe (if I should be so lucky) IPTV service that doesn’t suck.

Essentially, I want an ISP that wasn’t designed for absolute idiots. I want common sense from my ISP. I want good, honest, reasonable service. I just want… things to work.

How hard could it be?

A kinder, gentler eBay.

sanjin — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 03:13:05 +0000

How nice! Thank you for wishing me luck, eBay!

Pregnant suicide scam

sanjin — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 07:22:49 +0000

I spotted an interesting email scam format earlier today:

From: TUFAINA JULIE ADAMS [mailto:tufaina2000200@yahoo.com]
Sent: Saturday, September 15, 2007 3:37 PM
Subject: I WILL KILL HANG MYSELF WITH THIS PREGENACY

IM WEAK ,FRAUSTRATED ,TIRED AND SUFFERING.I DONT WANT TO CONTINUE THIS AND ALL THOSE CHRISTIANS ARE NOT PRATISING WHAT THEY PREACH.I WILL KILL MY SELF AND I DONT WANT TO CONTINUE IN THIS WEAKEND WORLD.PRAY FOR MY SOUL. BYE AND SEE YOU IN HEAVEN. TUFAINA

I wonder how many good, honest (and ignorant ) Christians sent money to this person to restore her faith in Christianity and help out her unborn child. I’m afraid I wasn’t quite as compassionate as I’m sure some people were:

Dear Tufaina,

I understand that life and the pressures of pregnancy have forced you to go into a depression. I do not consider myself a Christian, but I’d still like to do my best to help you.

Where can I send the rope? Please let me know as soon as possible and I’ll have it sent to you via overnight delivery. Hope that helps!

Flickr: A new way to send spam

sanjin — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 17:38:45 +0000

This has got to be one of the most bizarre (well, most bizarre spam related) things I’ve seen in months now. I’ve seen my fair share of “e-card” sites being used to send spam, but this is the first time I’ve run into a service like Flickr being abused for this purpose.

Check out what one of my spam traps caught this morning:

—–Original Message—–
From: A CRY FOR HELP (via Flickr) [mailto:evelynsanchez3000@yahoo.com]
Sent: Monday, August 06, 2007 7:24 AM
To: myspamcatcher
Subject: [Flickr] A CRY FOR HELP has invited you to join!

Hi ,

A CRY FOR HELP would like to share some photos with you!

Dear Friend,
I know this letter will definitely come as a surprise to you but I hope as you read on, you will come to understand.
I have decided- after about four and a half month of thinking about the whole issue- to seek your help in carrying out my last wishes. I don?t really know you but I have prayed, thought about it and moreover I have no choice now and for another reason I prefer not to disclose. My names are Mrs. Evelyn Sanchez. I am 67 years old and was born and grew up in Malaga, Spain. I and my late husband had two children but as God would have it.
They died in an auto accident six years ago. Before this happened, my business and concern for making money was all I lived for. I never really cared about other values in life. But since the loss of my family, I have found a new desire to assist helpless families. I have been helping orphans in orphanages/motherless babies? homes, especially in Africa. I have also donated some funds for humanitarian aid and rehabilitation of prostitutes in Rio de janiero, Brazil, when I was healthier.
I know by now you might be wondering why this entire long letter.Presently, I am hospitalized having been diagnosed with terminal cancer of the lungs with but a few months to live. I can no longer talk and I am just able to use the laptop. I am not afraid of death any longer though.
Like I told you earlier, my husbands business and mine really thrived when I was healthy and He alive. We really worked hard for the sake of our children. As my health deterioted, my extended family members swooped down on everything my husband and I worked hard to earn. Seeing that there are no offspring(s) to inherit it coupled with the fact that I am dying. They never really liked me anyway but my husband stood by me all those years.
This is my plea; I made most of my money through exporting vintage wines to African countries like South Africa, Benin Republic and Nigeria. One of the companies that owed me at Cross River State, Nigeria sent me an email 5 months ago. The have paid my fund totaling One Million Three Hundred and Twenty Thousand USA dollars into my account over there.
I don?t have need for this fund anymore. I made money out of Africa and now that I am dying, I want to give back to them. If you agree to help me as I pray you will. I will get you in contact with my Account Manager over there.
(Mr. Maurice Phido).I will also furnish you with all the necessary documents that will help you receive the fund soonest.
All I need from you is to assure me as follows:
1. That you will get in contact with my Account Manager as soon as we agree.
2. That as soon as I am able to furnish you with all necessary details and documents involved, you will do all within your means to get the fund even in the event of my demise.
2. That you will help me to distribute 50% of this fund to Orphanages/motherless babies homes and viable Non-GovernmentalA Organizations engaged in the eradication of poverty among African children and 25% in the same kind of organizations in other parts of the globe.
3. Use 5% of the fund to reimburse yourself of any exigencies you might incur in the process of receiving and distributing the fund.
4. The balance of 20% is for you.
I am really sorry for any in convenience this letter might have caused you.
I pray my terms are okay by you? If so, get back to me so I can direct you to my Account Manager for all further correspondence.
Email Address:evelynsanchez500@yahoo.com
God Bless You,
Evelyn Sanchez.

Signing up for Flickr is free, and takes less than a minute. Just click here:

http://www.flickr.com/welcome/url/to/join/here

See you there!

A CRY FOR HELP

p.s. If you are not interested, just ignore this email.
Flickr won’t bug you again and there’s nothing special you have to do.

Sorry, “A CRY FOR HELP”. I won’t be joining you on Flickr…

Block almost every ad on MySpace!

sanjin — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 03:53:24 +0000

Lately I’ve seen a lot of complaining about advertisements on MySpace. I initially sent this to just a few friends but figured that others might find it useful.

This is how MySpace looks like when you use a crappy browser, and have nothing in place to block ads:

There is a pretty easy way to fix this, and not have to see any of the ads on MySpace. Simply follow these instructions:
1) Download and install Firefox from http://www.mozilla.com. Firefox is an alternative to the Internet Explorer browser and is considered by millions of users to be faster and more secure.
2) Once Firefox is installed, download and install the “Adblock Plus” extension from http://adblockplus.org/en/installation. This plugin will allow you to subscribe to a filter that keeps track of the latest ads.
3) Subscribe to the “EasyList” filter after Adblock Plus is installed. This filter is updated daily with the latest ads.
4) Enjoy MySpace without ads:

This should block out almost every ad on MySpace. It will also block ads on most other sites you visit — very useful!

Song Lile

sanjin — Sun, 27 May 2007 16:03:40 +0000

I get a lot of Nigerian 419 scams in one of my email accounts. I’ve noticed that, over the last few days, “Song Lile” keeps popping up over and over (and over and over and over) again — sometimes as much as 15 times per day. It’s always the same message, with instructions to email the same address for my cool million bucks:

Good Day,

Let me start by introducing myself.I am Mr. SONG LI LE director of operations of the Hang Seng Bank Ltd.I will need you to assist me in executing this Business Project from Hong Kong to your
country.(US$36,300,000.00) only in my branch.Please endeavor to observe utmost discretion in all matters concerning this issue. Once the funds have been transferred to your nominated bank account we shall then share in the ratio

of 70% for me, 30% for you.
Should you be interested please send me your, 1,Full names, 2,private phone number, 3,current residential address, Finally after that I shall provide you with more details of this operation.
And I will prefer you reach me on my private email address below
(songliles@yahoo.com.hk)

Kind Regards,
Mr Song Lile.

A smarter scammer would use different names, but this guy’s strategy isn’t half bad either. Maybe sending people 20 emails per day will make them fall for his scam. Hopefully thie entry will help if some potential victims decide to check Google and other search engines for his name. . .