Too Good to be True?

Interesting:

Monroe was the victim of a "money mule" scam, in which criminals make use of third parties (often unsuspecting victims like Monroe) to launder stolen funds. Mule recruitment is an integral part of many cyber crime operations because money transferred directly from a victim to an account controlled by criminals is easily traced by banks and law enforcement. The mules, therefore, serve as a vital buffer, making it easier for criminals to hide their tracks.

The bottom line:

The old adage, "If an offer or deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is," is just as appropriate in the online world than it is in the physical world, said eBay's Pires.

- Unless, of course, it's free software.... (Via Slashdot.)

Google: Don't Be Evil - Unless It's Profitable

I knew that GoDaddy was evil, but this tie-up between the company and Google suggests that the latter is moving deep into the darkness too.

The scheme goes by the inglorious name of "CashParking": basically, it encourages scammers to register every possible domain name, and then load the home pages up with Google AdSense to generate some money from the poor individuals who wander there by mistake. As a result, it will reduce the overall attractiveness and value of the Web, and encourage even more of this behaviour. Typical parasitism, in other words.

Shame on you, Google: aren't your soaraway profits enough? (Via Searchblog.)

Something's Rotten in the Domain Name System

Although I can't quite claim to go back to the very first commercial domain, I do remember the Wired story about how many major US corporations had neglected to register relevant domains. And I also remember how around $7.5 million was paid for the utterly generic and pointless business.com domain.

So I've seen a thing or two. And yet I can still be disgusted by the depths to which the scammers can sink when it comes to domain names. Try this, for example: a company that seems to be magically reserving domain names shortly after people have entered them as a Whois search - only to dump it if it doesn't pull in any traffic.

It's this kind of parasitical business model that is pushing the domain name system close to breakdown, and making the Internet far less efficient than it could be.