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  Greg Collier 9:01 am on May 22, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: data breach ( 33 ), Facebook ( 182 ), Freedom From Facebook, privacy ( 46 )   

  Advocacy group wants Facebook broken up 

  

  In today’s heated political climate, there are very few things that both conservatives and progressives can agree upon. One of those things that both sides believe is that Facebook wields more power than the social platform knows what to do with. For the right, it was the alleged election interference that made Facebook the enemy. For the left, it’s been the multiple data breaches and Facebook’s alleged disregard for user privacy that’s put them in their crosshairs. Now, a progressive-led coalition sees Facebook as a monopoly and is petitioning the Federal Trade Commission to break it up.

  According to Quartz, a coalition of progressive groups has banded together to form ‘Freedom From Facebook’. Their main goal is to have the FTC take four Facebook properties, Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp, and break them into separate companies. While Facebook has shown that it wields such an ungodly amount of power that Facebook can’t control it all, does it really constitute a monopoly?

  The most infamous monopoly break-up was that of AT&T being broken up into the Baby Bells in the early 1980s. The main difference between the two companies is while Facebook appears to have a monopoly on social media and messaging, there are actual competitors to its ubiquitous platform. Prior to AT&T’s dissolution, you could not purchase a phone or phone service from any other company in the country. While they may not be as successful as Facebook, there are still successful competitors to each of the parts of Facebook. For social media, there is Twitter and Google Plus. For messaging there’s Kik and Wickr. Lastly, for photo sharing there is Snapchat. While none of these platforms come close to having the user numbers that Facebook does, they still do business and are somewhat successful at it.

  The problem with Facebook is that the public has willingly entered into a virtual monopoly as many continue to use Facebook exclusively, even in the face of all of Facebook’s scandals. To many, Facebook is today as the TV was to previous generations. It’s the platform most of us sit around in order to see what’s going on in the outside world and with such a wide adoption, it’s unlikely Facebook users will ‘tune out’ without more effective education about its drawbacks.

  NYT: Facebook sinks to new lows in trying to protect its rep | Greg's Corner is discussing. Toggle Comments

   

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  Greg Collier 9:01 am on May 21, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: apps ( 15 ), homeless ( 5 ), Samaritan, Seattle ( 8 ), startup ( 4 )   

  Startup app hopes to better connect homeless to the public 

  

  Most startup apps hope to accomplish one of two things. The first is to try to innovate some new social trend that existing social platforms haven’t thought of yet. In the crowded social space, those innovative ideas are few and far between. The other things most startup apps try to do to is to be bought out by a larger company like Facebook, Google, or Twitter in hopes of making a quick fortune. Rarely do we hear about a startup app that’s trying to help those less fortunate in society, but now a startup app out of Seattle is trying to help one of society’s most marginalized people.

  The way the Samaritan app works is that someone who is homeless can get a Bluetooth beacon from any one of Samaritan’s outreach partners. This beacon allows its holder to share their story through their app so they’re not just a faceless person holding a cardboard sign. Many of us have reasons why we don’t give money to homeless people. Some of us don’t carry cash while others have social anxieties that prevent them from talking to people they don’t know, and of course, there are some of us that don’t believe some of those needing help are truly homeless. The Samaritan app helps with a lot of those problems as money can be donated directly to a homeless person in your area who the app notifies you about. Once you receive a notification on the app, you can donate money to that person directly electronically. Users of the beacon can then use the money to get foods and services at many partnered locations, however, alcohol cannot be bought using the Samaritan service.

  So far, the app is available for both iOS and Android devices, but currently, the program is only running in Seattle. They hope to expand into 100 cities within the year. So far, the results in Seattle have been nothing short of amazing, helping people not only to get money to find food but others have been able to find housing and employment through the program. Startup culture and angel investors need to start cultivating more apps like Samaritan and fewer apps that are highlighted by some form of Kardashian.

   
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  Greg Collier 9:04 am on May 18, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: extortion ( 18 ), money laundering ( 13 ), mugshots.com   

  Owners of exploitative website arrested 

  

  If you’ve ever had the unfortunate experience of being arrested, you know how much of a harrowing experience it can be. Between prohibitive bail costs and court fees, worrying about your family, and how the arrest might affect the rest of your life, an arrest can be very devastating. Now imagine you’ve been arrested, but the charges are later dropped. The problem with that is your mugshot is still out there and a matter of public record. Sadly, there are websites out there looking to take advantage of that whether or not you’re innocent or not.

  One of those websites is Mugshots.com. The website would scour public databases looking for mugshots then would post them on their site. If you wanted to have the mugshot removed Mugshots.com would ask you for a nominal fee to have the mugshot remove, allegedly exploiting an already financially charged situation. If this sounds a lot like extortion to you the California Attorney General agrees, as the alleged owners of the site have been arrested and charged with various crimes from extortion to money laundering.

  Not everyone who’s been arrested deserves our scorn. More people are probably arrested for minor incidents such as minor traffic offenses and the like than major crimes. A lot of these people are just trying to get through their lives to put food on their family’s table and having their mugshot online like that could prevent them from doing so. So it’s only fitting that these profiteers of misfortune are about to have their mugshots plastered across the internet.

   
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  Greg Collier 9:01 am on May 17, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: craigslist ( 130 ), geebo ( 23 )   

  Geebo is the best craigslist alternative 

  

  We’d like to thank Nate Sterling of Magnum Star News for selecting Geebo as one of the top craigslist alternatives. In his article entitled ‘5 Best Alternative Sites to Craigslist’, Mr. Sterling states that in his opinion Geebo is one of the best classified websites. With all due respect to our esteemed competition mentioned in Mr. Sterling’s list, we like to think that we are the best.

  In the close to two decades that Geebo has been in business, we’ve been an industry pioneer in many aspects. For example, we are very proud of the fact that we manually review our ads in order to greatly lessen the possibility of scams and illegal content. Geebo has always prided itself on not only being the safer community classifieds but also being a family friendly classifieds. While some classifieds sites have made their money through illicit means, Geebo has refused to follow that path.

  And while the other classifieds sites mentioned in Mr. Sterling’s list have their own good qualities, a number of them still have personal ad sections. As craigslist and Backpage have shown, unmoderated personal ads can be abused by online predators and human traffickers. As an industry leader, Geebo removed its personal ads section in order to avoid putting our users in danger years before it became an issue with other websites.

  While some see us as a craigslist alternative, we see ourselves more as the standard bearers for the online classifieds industry.

   
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  Greg Collier 9:22 am on May 16, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: armslist ( 12 ), Chicago ( 5 ), guns ( 14 )   

  Is Armslist fueling Chicago’s gun violence? 

  

  The City of Chicago is one with a rich history steeped in tradition. Unfortunately, a lot of that history is the notorious kind. With names like Al Capone, Richard Speck, John Wayne Gacy, and John Dillinger, the Windy City has been no stranger to violence over its storied past. In more modern times Chicago has gained a reputation for being one of if not the most gun-violent cities in the country, having earned the nickname Chiraq comparing itself to the embattled Middle Eastern country of Iraq. In 2014, Chicago tried to curb the violence by banning all firearm sales within the city limits, but the ban was struck down as unconstitutional. While the city did enact strict new laws to try to prevent further bloodshed, the flow of guns continues into the city.

  One of the ways illegal guns keep making their way into Chicago is through Armslist, the so-called craigslist of guns. Last week, three men were arrested for allegedly trafficking guns into Chicago by buying them in Kentucky off of Armslist before supplying the guns to gangs in Chicago. As we have discussed before, Armslist allows private gun owners to sell and trade guns between themselves. In states like Kentucky, a background check is not required in sales between private owners making Armslist a go-to place for people with a criminal record to try to buy guns. The only thing keeping criminals from buying guns on Armslist is a button they have to click agreeing not to use Armslist for any illegal reason. In honesty that seems more like Armslist trying to protect itself from prosecution and lawsuits rather than protecting the public.

  However, while Armslist cashes checks written in the blood of Chicago’s dead, the city s not without hope. One of its most infamous crimes, the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, was the impetus that launched the National Firearms Act of 1934 which made it illegal for anyone to own a machine gun. Maybe, just maybe, modern lawmakers will finally grow a conscience and enact real legislation to curb the gun violence not only in Chicago but in the rest of the country too, putting a stop to the illegal gun sales like the ones that take place through Armslist.

  Armslist dealer who sold gun used to kill Chicago officer couldn't stop selling guns | Greg's Corner is discussing. Toggle Comments

   
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  Greg Collier 9:00 am on May 15, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Cambridge, data breach ( 33 ), Facebook ( 182 ), mypersonality   

  Facebook exposes millions of users’ data…again 

  

  Stop me if you’ve heard this one. A personality quiz on Facebook compiled data from at least 6 million users and at least half of those users had their personal data exposed. Much like the Cambridge Analytica scandal, this data was freely available for four years before Facebook finally banned the app.

  New Scientist reports that an app called myPersonality was distributed by the University of Cambridge for an academic project. The problem was that the information collected was distributed to researchers on a website that was not very secure. It seems that a username and password for the website was could be found publicly by doing a web search. From there, anyone could steal the information which included the names of the quiz participants.

  Those in tech circles are known for calling on Facebook to tighten its security protocol, however, normal users of the platform really don’t have those concerns. In too many instances Facebook users are willing to sacrifice their own privacy for the sake of convenience, entertainment, or just plain boredom. While no major damage has been done from Facebook’s data breaches, it’s only a matter of time before so much data is lost that it causes the average Facebook user to stand up and take notice. If Facebook is not going to protect our data, maybe it’s time we stopped giving Facebook all of our information.

   
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  Greg Collier 9:01 am on May 14, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: craigslist ( 130 ), Indiana ( 6 ), real estate ( 140 ), rental scam ( 92 ), rently ( 4 )   

  Smart rental service allows scammers to rent houses they don’t own 

  

  We’ve discussed rental service Rently before on this blog. Basically, they are a service that allows rental properties to be seen by prospective renters without anyone having to be there. While it sounds like an idea of great convenience on paper, it’s allowed scammers to take advantage of renters.

  For example, in Indiana, a family found themselves out of $1700 after they thought they had legitimately rented a home that they found on craigslist. That’s not to say there weren’t warning signs. The fake renter claimed he was out-of-town for a wedding but gave the family the access code to the lockbox which contained the keys to the property. Due to the fact that the family had access to the keys, they felt like this transaction was on the level. They then wired the money to the phony seller. As it turns out, it’s not exactly difficult to get the keys from a Rently lockbox. According to a local news report, all you need to do is answer a few questions in order to gain access to the lockbox. What you can do with the keys after that is up to your imagination. Their introduction video from their website even mentions that their service could be vulnerable to scammers.

  The video also notes that anyone wishing to gain access to a property needs to have a valid credit or debit card, however, that can be easily circumvented.

  While the idea of Rently sounds great in theory, there are too many ways to exploit the service to make it a viable alternative to having a real estate agent or property manager show someone around the home. When security is sacrificed in the name of convenience, you don’t really have either.

   
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  Greg Collier 10:32 am on May 11, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: check scam ( 85 ), craigslist ( 130 ), Facebook ( 182 ), gift cards ( 108 ), Lincoln, Nebraska ( 4 ), puppy scam ( 37 ), wire fraud ( 21 )   

  A Capital city hit with trio of scams 

  

  Lincoln, Nebraska, population 280,000+, was recently hit by a trio of online scams that were reported to police. Regular readers of our blog may recognize these scams, but as long as victims keep falling prey to them, it gives us the opportunity to review them once again, and discuss how to avoid them.

  In the first scam, a man was selling his car on craigslist and received a check for more than the amount asked. The man then wired the difference back to the ‘buyer’. The check later turned out to be a phony and the man was out over $1500 since the bank debited the man’s account for the amount of the fraudulent check. This is one of the most common scams when selling something online. If you receive a check that’s over the amount asked, chances are the check is a fake and should be discarded accordingly. In cases like this, you should always deal in cash only and meet the buyer at a secure transaction location like a police station.

  In the second scam, a woman lost close to $5000 after she received a Facebook message from a friend claiming to have received money from a grant in order to pay their bills. The victim paid the money to the phony grant givers for ‘processing fees’ before finding out that her friend’s Facebook account had been hacked. If you receive this kind of message from a friend on Facebook, it’s more than likely that their account has been compromised. You should contact them in a way outside of Facebook to let them know their Facebook has been taken over.

  Lastly, a woman was out close to $700 after trying to buy a dog online. In this instance, the victim was told to wire most of the money out to one state while paying the rest in gift cards to another state. Unfortunately, this victim was double-scammed. Both wiring money and paying through gift cards are sure signs of a scam and should always be avoided when buying something online. After the funds have been transferred in these matters, once the money is gone it’s impossible to get back and the scammers are virtually untraceable at this point. Also, if you’re looking to purchase a pet, we strongly recommend going to your local shelter or a licensed breeder as you’re also less likely to get a pet with health conditions as many puppy mills and the like advertise online.

  Again, while most of our regular readers are probably familiar with these scams, there are still many others out there that aren’t. We ask you to please share this blog post with them so they can be better-prepared consumers in the future.

   
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  Greg Collier 9:05 am on May 10, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: 13th Amendment, Backpage ( 70 ), florida ( 31 ), Florida Abolitionist, Human trafficking ( 100 ), lawsuit ( 48 )   

  Anti-trafficking group uses new approach to sue Backpage 

  

  Backpage has been no stranger to lawsuits in its controversial history. In the past, many of its lawsuits have been dismissed due to protections afforded them by the Communications Decency Act of 1996 which stated that a website was not responsible for third-party content posted by a user. Even with the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA) being passed into law and the criminal charges being filed against Backpage, a lawsuit win against Backpage still isn’t a slam dunk. However, an anti-trafficking group from Florida is trying a new tactic in an attempt to ensure judicial success against the website.

  In one of their arguments, Florida Abolitionist is claiming that Backpage violated the 13th Amendment rights of the women FA is representing by allowing them to be trafficked on Backpage’s listings. For those of you who may not be familiar with the 13th Amendment, it’s the Amendment that was supposed to end slavery in the United States. The text of the Amendment states…

  Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

  While the 13th Amendment was designed to end slavery in the wake of the Civil War, the Amendment has rarely been used to show a violation of rights has been committed. With Former Backpage CEO Carl Ferrer recently admitting that Backpage was complicit in the practice of sex trafficking, maybe we’ll see a new landmark case where the 13th Amendment is instrumental in addressing the future rights of trafficking victims.

   
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  Greg Collier 9:37 am on May 9, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: craigslist ( 130 ), real estate ( 140 ), rental scam ( 92 ), texas ( 23 )   

  Craigslist scammer steals entire home 

  

  We’ve discussed many real estate scams on this blog for the past couple of years. The most common one is when a home is listed for rent on craigslist by someone who doesn’t actually own the property. Usually, this is done to try to fleece prospective renters out of some kind of deposit or background check fee. More recently. we’ve heard of a scam that not only takes the cake, but it takes the whole house.

  In Missouri City, Texas, a couple was looking to put their home on the market. They were approached by a woman claiming to be a realtor. The homeowners signed something they thought was giving the woman permission to be their realtor. Instead, what they actually signed was a document that allegedly turned ownership of the home to the realtor for free.

  “These people changed our deed. They had got a power of attorney over our home, all the forms were notarized, but we’ve never been in front of a notary, never signed paperwork. Everything they’ve done was fraudulent.”

  To make matters worse, the alleged phony realtor listed the home for rent on craigslist and was able to lease it out to someone else who has since moved into the home. So far, no criminal charges have been filed but police are investigating.

  Trying to sell a home is hard enough without having to deal with scammers and con artists. If you’re approached by a realtor unsolicited, many states have a Real Estate Commission website where you can check to see if the realtor is legitimate.