Greg's Corner

Updates from June, 2018 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

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  Geebo 9:01 am on June 22, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: craigslist ( 53 ), pet adoption ( 5 ), pet sales ( 3 ), pets ( 4 ), Puppy Mills ( 6 ), puppy scam ( 3 )   

  Sick dogs continue to be sold on craigslist 

  

  When someone is in the market for a new puppy, they often look for one with their heart and not necessarily their heads. Scammers of all shapes and sizes love to take advantage of the emotional response people tend to have after seeing a puppy for the first time. Not surprisingly, craigslist is often the venue scammers use to pass off as many puppies as they can.

  A couple in Rancho San Diego, California, found this out recently when they adopted a miniature dachshund off of craigslist. The couple even admits they ignored some red flags once they saw the puppy. Those red flags were that the puppy was being sold at a too good to be true price and that the seller wanted to meet at a parking lot and not where the dogs were allegedly being bred. Days after adopting the puppy the dachshund became sick and a vet diagnosed the puppy with distemper. Sadly, this is an all too common occurrence on the unmoderated craigslist.

  While purchasing a dog off of craigslist may give you that instant satisfaction of getting a puppy that day, in the long run, it’s worth taking your time to research the seller. You could be buying a dog from either a puppy mill or backyard breeder who is more intent on just making money than ethically breeding these dogs. Often these dogs have parvovirus which is contagious and can affect other pets in your household. For these reasons, Geebo does not accept ads for pets as we do not want to contribute to what is essentially animal cruelty. As always, we recommend only adopting pets from shelters or licensed breeders.

   

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  Geebo 9:30 am on June 21, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Global Emancipation Network, hacking ( 20 ), Human trafficking ( 62 )   

  Are online vigilantes needed to fight human trafficking? 

  

  In fiction, vigilantes are a very entertaining subject. From movies like Boondock Saints to characters like Batman, fictional vigilantes bring justice to those who think they’re above the law. However, historically vigilantes in the real world have been nothing more than lynch mobs looking to further their own agenda. Much like their historical counterparts, online vigilantes tend to be virtual lynch mobs who more often than not target the wrong person as the victim of their ire and end up hurting innocent people in the process. One of the more infamous examples of that was when a Reddit group identified the wrong man as the Boston Marathon bomber. However, one group of white hat hackers are using their technical expertise to fight against human trafficking.

  The Global Emancipation Network is far from a group of ragtag hackers united by a common goal. It was founded by a computer scientist whose resume includes stints with the US Department of Defense, Microsoft, and NASA. The GEN collects information from all over the internet and the dark web in order to share this data with law enforcement agencies all over the world.

  As GEN points out, many law enforcement agencies from around the world either can not or will not devote the necessary resources needed to effectively fight human trafficking. GEN hopes to fill that gap with the information they collect. While it’s a harsh reality, it’s a shame that their services are needed in the first place. However, it’s refreshing to see such a well-organized volunteer community doing the dirty work that needs to be done to help rescue the millions of victims of human trafficking in all of its forms.

   
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  Geebo 9:13 am on June 20, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Human trafficking ( 62 ), Washington ( 4 )   

  WA offers resources to trafficking victims 

  

  One of the problems with human trafficking is that often the victims don’t know where to turn to get help. Too often they’re treated like criminals along with the pimps and traffickers who sell them. So even when they find themselves at police stations, victims don’t know where to turn to get help. Now, the state of Washington is hoping to correct that problem in their state.

  Washington has always been at the forefront of trying to prevent human trafficking and to help its victims. Unfortunately, the Seattle-Tacoma area has long been a hotbed of human trafficking activity. Recently, the Washington State Government has unveiled a new website that looks to assist victims of human trafficking with getting out from under their traffickers. At WATraffickingHelp.Org trafficking victims can find a list of resources ranging from shelter to legal services to healthcare services and more.

  Just because Backpage is gone, doesn’t mean that trafficking magically disappears even though that was a major step in fighting it. Sadly, not as many states are as proactive in helping victims like Washington is. Hopefully, Washington’s initiative to help victims get their life back will spark other states to do the same.

   
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  Geebo 9:27 am on June 19, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: craigslist ( 53 ), employment ( 11 ), geebo ( 18 )   

  Geebo is better for job hunting than craigslist 

  

  When it comes to looking for a new job, a lot of job seekers will turn to craigslist ads for new opportunities. The problem with that is that anybody can pay for a craigslist ad and claim to be an employer. This often results in deceptive ads that either misrepresent what the job really is, or they’re outright scams. Here are some tips on how to tell if a job is not legitimate.

  News station WKBW out of Buffalo, New York, recently did an expose on craigslist job ads. In one instance they found a meal delivery service that promised $19/hr. but after they clicked on the ad they noticed that the pay started lowering as the ad progressed. The reporter reached out to craigslist to see how they verify their job ads but craigslist, not surprisingly, did not respond.

  Here at Geebo, not only do we review our ads for legitimacy, but all our employment ads list the name of the company placing the ad. This allows you the opportunity to research the company to see if it’s the right fit for you.

   
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  Geebo 9:24 am on June 18, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Facebook ( 79 ), fake news ( 10 ), satire, The Onion   

  Why The Onion taking on Facebook is real news 

  

  If you’re not familiar with The Onion, it is a satirical news website that has been around since the dawn of the internet. To put it in simple terms, they are the internet version of Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update. While The Onion’s humor can sometimes be crass and off-color, satire is sometimes the purest form of social commentary. So it should come as no surprise that The Onion has turned its satirical barbs at Facebook.

  Recently, The Onion has been lambasting Facebook with such headlines as “Mark Zuckerberg Insists Anyone With Same Skewed Values And Unrelenting Thirst For Power Could Have Made Same Mistakes.” Then there’s “Daddy, I Don’t Want To Live In The World Your Website Has Created,” written from the perspective of Mark Zuckerberg’s 2-year-old daughter. The reason that The Onion has gone on this crusade against Facebook is that The Onion claims Facebook is limiting The Onion’s exposure on Facebook.

  In a statement attributed to Editor-in-Chief Chad Nackers, the publication further skewered the social network, in its signature, humorous style.

  “We are strong proponents of the First Amendment, and the fuel of a functioning democracy is the free flow of information. Facebook, the world’s largest sieve of personal data, has become an unwanted interloper between The Onion, and our audience. We have 6,572,949 followers on Facebook who receive an ever-decreasing amount of the content we publish on the network. Mark Zuckerberg has repeatedly betrayed the trust of billions of people. What you’ve seen over the last 48 hours is only the tip of the iceberg.”

  While it can be argued that Facebook is limiting The Onion’s exposure due to Facebook’s initiative to fight ‘fake news’, this situation does highlight a much larger problem. Because of Facebook’s dominance of the internet, content creators, businesses and news outlets are all at the whim of Facebook, and if we don’t all play by Facebook’s arbitrary rules we could all see our favorite content go up in smoke. Should one solitary company be able to wield that much power? In case you’re wondering, the answer is no, no it shouldn’t.

  Juan Thompson and Peter are discussing. Toggle Comments

   
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    Peter 2:36 pm on June 18, 2018 Permalink

    Spot on!

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    Juan Thompson 1:27 am on June 19, 2018 Permalink

    F*** . He sucks

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  Geebo 9:04 am on June 15, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: net neutrality ( 19 )   

  With net neutrality gone will history repeat itself? 

  

  FCC Chairman Ajit Pai

  This past Monday, the laws that required all internet traffic to be treated equally known as Net Neutrality have been repealed. Believe it or not, there are people who oppose Net Neutrality, not just corporate shills or heavily lobbied politicians either. There are normal consumers out there who believe Net Neutrality is a bad thing. In my opinion, these consumers are blinded by partisan politics. One of their main arguments is that nothing bad happened before the Obama-era laws were put into place, but that’s simply not true.

  Back in 2008, internet service giant Comcast was caught slowing down traffic to users of BitTorrent. While BitTorrent is the favored method in which pirates steal paid content, it is also used by many to share legitimate files. Comcast at the time was admonished by the FCC for throttling this traffic. Comcast also throttled the traffic of what they called heavy internet users although they now claim they no longer do that.

  This is just a glimpse into the future of the internet without Net Neutrality protections. It may not happen overnight, but slowly but surely large internet providers will start rolling out ways to get more money from consumers by installing paid fast lanes that they will probably claim are new ‘features’. Not all hope is lost though although it may take years to have Net Neutrality restored. If you want to fight for the restoration of Net Neutrality, the best thing you can do is to go to the polls and support those candidates who support Net Neutrality.

   
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  Geebo 10:06 am on June 14, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: 419 Scam, Nigerian Scams, Operation Wire Wire, Scams ( 42 )   

  FBI busts major cyber-scam ring 

  

  Most of us are aware of the Nigerian Prince email scams also known as the 419 Scam. It’s been a well-known scam since the dawn of the internet. It usually takes the form of someone claiming in an e-mail that they need your help in getting a large sum of money out of their country promising you a large share of that money. However, they need your help in the form of paying for various hurdles required to get the money released. As you can probably ascertain, no large fortune exists and the victim is out in upwards of thousands of dollars typically. While the 419 scam has become the stuff of comedy these days that doesn’t mean the scammers have gone away. Instead, they have moved on to new scams and new targets.

  Recently, the FBI announced the results of an initiative called Operation Wire Wire where a major organized crime ring that specialized in e-mail scams had been arrested. In total 74 people had been arrested including 42 in the U.S., 29 in Nigeria, and 3 in various other countries. Instead of targeting gullible victims looking for a quick payday this new generation of scammers target businesses and executives by posing as intermediaries in high-dollar business deals. This recent operation by investigators was able to reclaim $14 million in wire transfers, the scammers preferred method of payment.

  However, some of the old scams still proliferate inside our inboxes. These can include romance scams where someone from overseas poses as a romantic interest who needs money to escape a fictitious situation where they need to escape their country. Also, beware of unsolicited lottery scams where someone tells you that you’ve won some lottery or sweepstakes that you weren’t even aware you had entered. While this bust by the FBI may have stopped a major ring there are still many others out there.

   
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  Geebo 9:58 am on June 13, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: craigslist ( 53 ), modeling ( 3 ), Scams ( 42 )   

  Craigslist modeling job turns into blackmail 

  

  We’ve posted about online modeling job scams in the past, specifically those found on craigslist. At the very least these scams could rip you off for thousands of dollars on phony classes or portfolios. For instance, a lot of those radio ads you hear for modeling jobs are actually just sales pitches for these services. In some drastic but not unheard of cases some online modeling ads are actually trying to lure victims into the world of human trafficking.

  One of the other modeling scam outcomes we haven’t discussed yet is blackmail. One woman in Fort Worth, Texas, unfortunately, found this out the hard way. The 22-year-old woman responded to a craigslist ad for a supposed modeling agency. The alleged agency asked her to send some risqué photos including those in various states of undress. However, the agency turned out to not be an agency at all but instead was just one man who threatened to post the photos to social media if the victim didn’t supply more. The victim went to police who are currently investigating the matter.

  Blackmailers typically don’t expect people to go to police out of fear of embarrassment and sadly, this has become an increasingly common occurrence among modeling ads. While there are legitimate modeling opportunities online, they are few and far between compared to all the ads that promise fame and fortune. On the FTC website, there is a page dedicated to how to not only protect yourself from modeling scams like this but also how to tell if a modeling agency is a fake.

   
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  Geebo 9:14 am on June 12, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: craig newmark ( 6 ), craigslist ( 53 ), CUNY, journalism ( 7 )   

  Journalism school to be named after journalism’s arch-nemesis 

  

  It’s not unusual for a university to name one of its major programs or buildings after a generous donor. However, this is not a practice that isn’t without controversy as a name given today can end up being an embarrassment for a university years later. That’s why I was a little bit more than surprised when the City University of New York (CUNY) announced that it would be naming its graduate journalism school after craigslist founder Craig Newmark.

  The university announced the name change after Newmark made a $20 million donation to the school. However. many of CUNY’s journalism school alumnus have a problem with the school being named after Newmark. Many blame Newmark for the decline in print media since craigslist is said to have taken away the majority of classified ad revenue away from the newspapers. While I’m no fan of Mr. Newmark, I would allege that was more of a failure on the part of print media for not adapting to an emerging digital market. However, other detractors of the name change also point out craigslist’s sordid history of once being the leading online marketplace for human trafficking and because of that Newmark’s name should not be associated with the journalism school. In my opinion, this is a more apt argument as Craig Newmark and craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster would avidly avoid the press when they were embroiled in that very controversy. It took the so-called ‘ambushing’ of Craig Newmark by CNN’s Amber Lyon to get a somewhat genuine answer out of Craig Newmark.

  While craigslist may have removed the adult ads section and closed its personals that doesn’t mean that craigslist won’t be involved in some other scandal in the future. As we have pointed out craigslist is still full of scams and hate speech, and they still refuse to moderate any of their ads. Who’s to say this donation made by Mr. Newmark isn’t just a way of him trying to buy his way into the good graces of journalists?

   
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  Geebo 9:11 am on June 11, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: craigslist ( 53 ), harassment ( 5 ), real estate ( 19 ), rental scam ( 11 ), Rentals ( 5 ), threats   

  Craigslist scammer pulls gun on victim 

  

  We’ve written about home rental scams on craigslist many times before. For those of you who may not be familiar with them, a scammer will typically post an ad on craigslist renting a property they don’t actually own. They do this in order to collect fees up front for either rent or some kind of deposit. In the past people have even moved into properties they thought they had rented only to find out they’ve been had. While many of these scammers are located overseas, there are plenty of domestic scammers as well.

  In Pueblo, Colorado, one particular scammer has been arrested after allegedly physically threatening his victims and even brandishing a gun at one point. Police say that this particular con man tried renting the same property to five different families in Pueblo. Some of these families even had some of their possessions moved in only to find themselves locked out of the property and their belongings were gone. When one of the victims confronted the accused scammer, the scammer was said to have pulled a gun on the victim. Another victim claims that the scammer threatened to burn the property down while the victims were trying to live in it. The scammer was able to collect at least $4,000 from his victims.

  While scammers don’t usually tend to be this violent there is always that possibility. Due to the proliferation of these types of scams on craigslist and craigslist’s unwillingness to moderate their ads, almost every rental ad on craigslist should be seen as suspect. The housing crisis in this country is bad enough for many families without having to deal with criminals like this. The best way to avoid scams like this is to check with your county appraiser’s website or office to see if the property is actually available for rent.