[Michlib-l] General Warning: Scam Sites

[Christian Dunham]

Greetings All,

 

Yet again I have received another email from a person who wants me to review
their company's website and add it to our library's website. I get these
frequently enough that it concerns me they are targeting all of you as
well-they are link-baits, a scam. 

 

Their website they want you to post onto yours are usually review sites for
some service. The latest request was for a site that reviewed online tax
services, while other ones usually deal with college preparation or finances
in some manner or form. I have received dozens in the last few years. All of
them come from a real person (not a bot) who usually has no business or
contact information attached to their signature, and they almost always are
using a personal email address like Gmail or Yahoo. The person contacting
you will often tell you the other places that have used their website, and
often word their emails congenially like a used car salesman. They are
persistent too: they will message you repeatedly until they receive a reply
back. 

 

Their sites look legitimate enough, but their real goal is to have people
click to external sites so their own website generates revenue. Basically,
you are giving them an opportunity to make money everytime a patron clicks
on one of their site's links. I suggest you shamelessly steal the links
their sites link to and host them on your own site, if you are inclined to
do so. 

 

Example:

I was asked to link to a Tax Review Site:
http://www.reviews.com/online-tax-software/ -- If you click on the first
option, TurboTax, it will take you to a page of paltry reviews. If you hover
your mouse over the orange button: "Get Started" you'll notice the site it
adhoc's to for revenue: LinkTrackR, known software site for advertising
companies: http://ww3.linktrackr.com/ -- While it will take your patrons to
Turbotax.com it does so after it generates a little bit of revenue for the
original host site. 

 

Personally, I don't like to see my organization's website play fiddle so
deceitful parties can make easy money. This particular example was easy to
spot, but other ones aren't. If it seems too friendly and helpful, and it's
free, hang on..

 

 

Cheerio,

 

Christian Dunham

christian at carolibrary.org

989-673-4329 ext. 106

 

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