In The FTC Federal Trade Commission Budget Request and Overview Fiscal Year 2007 they have a new plan of attack, now they plan on setting up a website to engage consumers and educate them into being smarter online and not being duped into giving out personal information, opening malicious files or setting themselves up for identity theft. In their 2007 FY Budget Request they listed The "OnGuard Online" Consumer Education Campaign stating that:

“The FTC, its law enforcement and nonprofit sector partners, and leading private technology companies launched the ground-breaking "On Guard Online" consumer education campaign to give consumers a one. stop resource for up-to-date and comprehensive tools and information about protecting themselves in the online marketplace.”

Perhaps this is a new and improved method to rules and regulations as it makes the consumer responsible for their own actions and placing a little bit of “buyer beware” into the mix rather than trying to regulate morality for the most ignorant amongst the masses. Such an approach is worthy yet, as the FTC asks Congress for more money one has to ask; how much does it really cost to set up and maintain a website to help educate consumers? Not much and therefore we should not grant the FTC much of our taxpayers monies. Consider this in 2006.

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

Virus is a harmful program which when gets executed on a computer may manipulate the information stored in the computer or replicate the files stored in the computer. All computer viruses are not lethal. The lethal nature of the computer virus depends on the programming of it. Some computer viruses like I-ray, just replicate the winfile.exe and other folder files. They create the copy of the folder inside the same folder, thus increase the hard disk covered space. But if nothing done at a proper time it can create severe problems even crash the system.

These days Spyware and Adware is becoming more nuisance for the computer than the usual viruses. Now you must be thinking how Spyware and Adware is different from normal virus. So let me explain you the difference between all of them (according to me based on my 10 years experience.).

Spyware and Adware are two forms of viruses which spread through internet. These are comparatively less lethal than other viruses, but still it creates a lot of havoc as it prevent the proper functioning of internet on any computer and as we all know today that internet is a vital component in our life.

It creates unusual internet traffic in your computer, which in turns slow downs the internet speed of your computer and also increases the consumption of bandwidth on it. Thus you have to pay hefty bandwidth charges to your ISP.

Adware creates problem by pop up windows and changing internet explorer homepage to some other websites (like some kind of search portal). It creates lot of problem while surfing the internet.

Now, you must be very clear about the problems created by these kind of viruses. If your computer get infected with it then you must try to remove it with any good anti- spyware program, some of them can be freely downloaded from the internet. Also increase the security settings of the internet explorer and also disable java on the browser, it will help in checking the problem to an extent.

Take Care,
Cyber Force is always with YOU.

Website: http://www.cyberforce.info

The World Wide Web is a good thing - tons of information (often even useful) at just a few clicks and key-strokes away. But when you consider the hordes of adware, spyware, worms, trojans and whatnot other parasites lurking the Internet nowadays the Word Wide Web start to be a scary and in some cases event dangerous place. Learn here how to take only the goods without the bads.

XoftSpy
XoftSpy is the latest and most advanced application on the Internet for detecting and removing malicious files. It will prevent anyone from "spying" on your Internet activities.

The Problem: Are you bombarded with pop-up ads, seeing new toolbars in your browser, is your home page changing to unwanted destinations or are you bombarded with irritating spam? Perhaps strange software loads on start-up or your favorites have new entries that you don’t want. If So.. Your PC is most likely infected with ad-ware, spy-ware, spy-bot, Trojans or another internet parasite.

The Disturbing Truth: Your Privacy is being seriously Invaded. These programs have the ability to track your browsing habits and even steal such personal information as bank account numbers and passwords. Spy-ware has the power to install more parasites on your computer without your consent. Everything you do and everything you type is being recorded right now! Companies know what your interests are! Hackers will access your PC and do anything they wish. They can even steal your Identity and You would never be the wiser!

The Solution: Download the latest version of XoftSpy right now. Within just a few minutes you will be able to completely clean your computer of all these invasive threats! Your computer will be clean and will run a lot faster - Your Privacy will be Protected!

MOST IMPORTANT - Your Personal Information, Your Online Privacy and your Families Financial Data/Security will be Protected from Malicious Intent!

Key features:

Anti Tracks
Anti Tracks is a complete solution to protect your privacy and enhance your PC performance. With a simple click Anti Tracks securely erase your internet tracks, computer activities and programs history information stored in many hidden files on your computer.

Anti Tracks support Internet Explorer, AOL, Netscape/Mozilla and Opera browsers. It also include more than 85 free plug-ins to extend erasing features to support popular programs such as ACDSee, Acrobat Reader, KaZaA, PowerDVD, WinZip, iMesh, Winamp and much more. Also you can easily schedule erasing tasks at specific time intervals or at Windows stat-up/ shutdown.

To ensure maximum privacy protection Anti Tracks implements the US Department of Defense DOD 5220.22-M, Gutmann and NSA secure erasing methods, making any erased files unrecoverable even when using advanced recovery tools.

eTrust PestPatrol Anti-Spyware
PestPatrol is a powerful security and personal privacy tool that detects and eliminates destructive pests like trojans, spyware, adware and hacker tools. It complements your anti-virus and firewall software, extending your protection against non-viral malicious software that can evade your existing security and invade your personal privacy.

PestPatrol defeats the threat by detecting and removing:

Spyware and adware that "phones home" information about you, your computer, and your surfing habits Remote access trojans (RATs) that allow an attacker to remotely control your computer Keyloggers that can steal passwords and other confidential data Denial-of-service (DoS) attack agents that can crash or hang a program, or your entire system Probe tools that look for vulnerabilities on your system that a hacker can exploit

The easy-to-use interface, automatic updates and extensive on-line research center make it simple to keep your computer clear of unwanted pests. A 2002 PC Magazine Five Star Utility, PestPatrol makes it easy to surf with confidence, knowing that your personal information stays private and your computer stays secure.

Your purchase includes a one-year subscription to pest detection file updates, product upgrades, and online technical support.

For More Information:
XoftSpy: http://www.lightsparkle.com/product_page.php?product_id=1025
Anti Tracks: http://www.lightsparkle.com/product_page.php?product_id=297
eTrust PestPatrol Anti-Spyware: http://www.lightsparkle.com/product_page.php?product_id=24

Joe Light supports a huge collection of free download shareware programs aimed to protect your online privacy at LightSparkle.com.

Is your computer corrupted by a virus? Do you have the proper security plan in place for your PC? You should, have anti-virus software on your computer and if not you are a potential time bomb and risking your data. Recently a friend sent this email message to a business associate;

“What I am saying is that the attachment you sent me had a virus in it and I trusted you, so I opened it. Then it caused havoc with my MS Word Program screwing up the drivers to open it and corrupting the data. It seems unfair that I should be subjected to this. And therefore I would not subject others to this. Because sending out malicious viruses whether intentionally or unintentionally from a compromised system is unacceptable. If you put that information into an email, then perhaps, I can send it like that. I can forward that information, but as it stands your system is corrupted and you are sending out corrupted files? So I will not be opening any more files from you as the risk-reward scenarios would not be worthy of possible potential.”

Can you imagine getting an email like that from a business associate who no longer trusts your correspondence? Do your self a favor and get some anti-virus protection on your computer before it is too late! Consider this in 2006.

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

Computer security, in basic terms means keeping your computer and the data that’s in it safe and secure. More of our personal data is stored in or accessed from our computer, now more than ever before. Yet most people lack even the basic understanding of how to keep their computers safe and secure. By following just a few simple rules you can dramatically improve the overall security of your computer.

The first thing to understand is what exactly it means to be connected to the internet. Your computer connected to the internet is similar to your house in many ways. There are many ways into your house. Windows, doors, etc. The more windows and doors you have, the more ways someone has into your house. An open door doesn’t necessarily mean you are going to be robbed, but it does improve the chances. Complicating matters, the ones that you think are locked, may not be because the lock is faulty or even the door itself may have an as of yet undiscovered flaw that would allow an intruder easy access to your home.

Your computer has many windows and doors, not all of which are locked. New flaws are being found everyday, often with the fix not coming until days after. Just like you wouldn’t leave your front door unlocked, you shouldn’t leave your computer wide open either. The first two things we will discuss to help with this task are installation of a quality firewall and regularly updating your installed software.

Updating your software is becoming easier these days, especially your Operating System. We don’t have the time here to go into detail about the many ways to update the many software packages you may have or use, but generally speaking the software manufacturer will provide you a way to do this automatically via the internet. A good example of this is the Microsoft Windows Update feature. Be sure to get the updates for everything installed on your computer, nothing is too trivial.

There are two basic types of firewalls and both perform the same functions. One is hardware the other is software. A hardware firewall is probably included in your router if you are using one, while you may or may not have a software firewall installed. To continue our house analogy, a firewall is like building a wall and gate around your home and giving the guard at the gate instructions on who to let in and out. While this does give a great deal of protection, it is not all that is required. Someone may know a way around or under your wall, or even be able to coerce the guard into letting them in.

You yourself may unwittingly allow someone in. This could happen by simply opening an email or even simply surfing the net. Spyware, viruses, trojans and the like are ever more adept in their methods of fooling you and your guards. Emails may come from a trusted friend containing a dangerous virus without them even knowing it. This is where the next layer of protection comes in, anti-virus software.

Anti-virus software is a large category these days. Often these packages come as “suites” including a firewall and Spyware scanner. While most of these programs are very effective in their promised tasks, it is not wise to be lulled into a false sense of security by them. They are simply one layer in what should be a multi tiered protection plan for you and your computer. One last important note about anti virus software is to be sure that it updates on a regular basis. New threats come out daily so check its updates manually to be sure they have happened.

Back to our house analogy, we now have all of our windows, doors and other entry ways locked and fully updated. We have a wall around our house with a guard at the gate and we have software scanning everything that comes in past the gate. Sounds pretty good, but there’s one last security hole we need to address, you.

A large percentage of infections are caused by the computer user themselves. The internet is an ever changing place that requires it’s users to be educated about its use. I’m not suggesting that you need to be a computer expert to simply read your email. I am however suggesting that you take some time to educate yourself on some of the dangers that pop up everyday, and the precautions to take in order to avoid them.

In summary, your computer is a powerful machine connected to one of the greatest things ever invented, the internet. This vast resource can be a dangerous place if you are not properly prepared and informed. Regular software updates, a good firewall, anti virus software and a little education are the basics in computer security. Having and understanding these basics will make your computer safer, more secure and more enjoyable.

D. David Dugan is the president of DD&C (http://www.dugancom.com) and personally helps to maintain their computer support forum at http://forum.dugancom.com as well as their Spyware Information site http://spyware.dugancom.com

I’ve often wondered when in human history the concept of the scam originated. At what point in civilization did the first man or woman decide to broker an exchange of currency and goods on a deceptive premise? Was it a corrupt Egyptian chariot dealer who sold poorly refurbished vehicles at top market value? Or perhaps an unscrupulous Babylonian alchemist who sold colored water in the guise of powerful love potions? There is no clear historical indication of when the act of cheating an individual out of their money, wares, or other assets was pioneered.

The American Heritage Dictionary cites the origin of the word "scam" as unknown. Some scholars have suggested the word derives from"scamp", which is the 19th century British slang for cheater or swindler. Other sources indicate the word first enjoyed common usage in the 1960s. I have yet to find a study that actually pins down the coining of the term.

Despite the ambiguous background of both the word and the practice, one thing is certain. Scamming, swindling, hoodwinking, and duping of all kinds does not by any stretch appear to be a short lived phenomenon.

We are warned on a regular basis about some kind of shady operation that has cheated victims out of x amount of dollars. For confirmation of this, just tune in to the evening news or click on over to your favorite news site.

Regrettably, it is common knowledge that cyberspace is brimming with identity thieves, con artists, ponzi schemes, email phishing, and an endless array of unethical "business opportunities". Millions of dollars each year are lost by victims of such scams.

If you’re like me, you probably get angry when you hear about a life insurance scam that targets senior citizens and disappears into the night with thousands of dollars, or a false charity that solicits massive donations from middle to lower class households before vanishing without a trace. I mean, it’s appalling to think of these crooks who, for whatever reason, feel they don’t have to work an honest job like the rest of us. How can these people call themselves human when they go to such despicable lengths to steal from people who probably need every dollar they have just to pay the light bill and feed their households?

On the other hand…

Life is a two way street. We can’t push all the responsibility for the outcome of an interaction onto only one party.

Clearly, I’m not justifying the actions of those who operate scams at the expense of the innocent. I am saying, however, that "it takes two to tango".

In many cases, a little common sense, or some time spent on careful investigation of the circumstances, would dispel the efforts of a would be scammer before any money changed hands. All too often when people are conned, they are hoping against hope, and buying into an idea that is obvioualy too good to be true.

I’m sure you’ve received at least a couple of emails that fit into the "Nigerian Scam" category. These messages usually run along the lines of:

DEAR SIR,

CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS PROPOSAL

HAVING CONSULTED WITH MY COLLEAGUES AND BASED ON THE INFORMATION GATHERED FROM THE NIGERIAN CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, I HAVE THE PRIVILEGE TO REQUEST FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE TO TRANSFER THE SUM OF $47,500,000.00 (FORTY SEVEN MILLION, FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS) INTO YOUR ACCOUNTS. THE ABOVE SUM RESULTED FROM AN OVER-INVOICED CONTRACT, EXECUTED COMMISSIONED AND PAID FOR ABOUT FIVE YEARS (5) AGO BY A FOREIGN CONTRACTOR. THIS ACTION WAS HOWEVER INTENTIONAL AND SINCE THEN THE FUND HAS BEEN IN A SUSPENSE ACCOUNT AT THE CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA APEX BANK.

These emails then go on to explain how the recipient can receive this enormous transfer of funds within a few business days. All that is required is a routing number so the money can be easily wired into the correct account, and an advance fee of between $1,000 and $10,000 for "adminitrative purposes".

Let’s see. An email from someone you have never met, who claims you are entitled to 47.5 million dollars, if you’ll just shoot them your bank account info, complete with wire access number, and an administrative fee of up to $10k.

Could this be a scam of some sort?

Would you believe the "Nigerian Scam" model had resulted in losses exceeding 6 billion dollars by 2002? Absolutely incredible that anyone could be duped by such a transparent ruse.

Another point of interest is that, according to an FTC study conducted last year, nearly 20% of all consumer fraud victims were scammed on at least two occasions, and almost 10% were duped a third time. Impressive learning curve for a twelve month period, eh?

If so many people weren’t allowing themselves to be robbed blind by anyone with a trick up their sleeves, maybe there would be less scams to worry about. Without victims who are (apparantly) willing to buy into even the most absurd pitches, I imagine many con artists would be forced to get day jobs.

I’ve been a little coarse in an effort to make a point, but now I’ll be honest. I’ve been scammed myself on multiple occasions.

Granted, I’ve never fallen for anything quite as ridiculous as the "Nigerian Scam", but I have done my share to fund the scam industry by taking risks despite my better judgement. During the first eight months I spent in the net marketing arena, I blew more money than I care to admit on stuff that I knew deep down would never pay off.

Why did I do it? Because I wanted to believe that I was in the right place at the right time, or that I was somehow entitled to a lucky break.

I’m not ashamed to tell you this, because I know I’m not alone. I know quite a few intelligent, successful people who have allowed themselves to be fleeced on at least one occasion.

The important thing is that we learn from our bad decisions, and accept at least part of the responsibility for our loss. It seems personal accountability is not a popular ideal in our society, but pointing fingers and laying blame has historically done very little toward creating a real solution to any problem.

As the saying goes…

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

****************************

Tim Whiston is a full-time entrepreneur and internet marketer. He publishes a monthly ezine, and is the author of Net Marketing Exposed.

****************************

Disclaimer: Before we even start, I’d like to let my readers know that I am a full-time information security professional. I do not condone the theft of anyone’s personal information including passwords, social security numbers, credit card numbers, etc. Moreover, I condemn such acts as morally and ethically wrong. The purpose and goal of this article is not to assist people with criminal or nefarious intentions, but rather to educate about the type of information that can be easily found with a web browser and a search engine, and by extension, the type of information that should and should not be submitted to web sites.

By now we all know of Google’s dominance in the search industry. Although Yahoo and Microsoft remain competitors, neither one of their search engines are as mature as Google’s. And beyond the "big three", you’re hard pressed to find any search engine worth using anymore. GYM (Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft) have all but eliminated the smaller players in search–including former giants like Altavista, Lycos, and Excite. But even amongst the big three, Google is far ahead of the pack. In fact, Google’s indexing prowess and relevancy ratings have become so good that many information security professionals now use Google as a key part to their vulnerability assessment and penetration testing services. Security professionals know that the first step in performing a successful assessment is to gather intelligence about the target. This is known as the "footprinting" or "profiling" phase of the security engagement. And what better way to profile your target than to leverage the power of the world’s greatest search engine? By simply using search queries (aka Just Google It, one can quickly locate sensitive and quasi-sensitive company information including domain names, subdomains, network address ranges, mail servers, FTP servers, whois contact information, even e-mail addresses. And the kicker is that all of the above can potentially be found about a target without sending even a single packet to the target’s network. In an effort to better automate the footprinting phase using Google, some in the security industry have even written software that will go out and perform various search queries on the target inan effort to obtain an accurate profile. Of particular interest is Foundstone’s SiteDigger and BiDiBLAH by Sensepost. SiteDigger will look for vulnerabilities, configuration problems, and other "interesting security nuggets" by searching Google’s cache. Like SiteDigger, BiDiBLAH also uses a Google API license key to query the search engine for various keywords in an effort to determine a target’s subdomains. Incidentally, BiDiBLAH is an all-around excellent free tool for professional penetration testers.

Now finding company web sites, domain names, and even e-mail addresses is one thing. But stealing people’s eBay passwords? Credit card numbers? All by doing a few Google searches? Yes. And unfortunately not only is this possible, it’s often simple to carry out. "But how can you search for someone’s password if you don’t know what it is"? Good question! The answer, of course, is you do not. Since the unique element is unknown, you need to search on a known, common element. Allow me to further explain.

By its very nature, software contains fingerprints–bits of information that uniquely identify and differentiate that software. For example, when you connect to a Microsoft IIS server, that web server will reply with its server string ("Microsoft-IIS/6.0", for example). Even tiny components of a software application will leave fingerprints. For example, McAfee VirusScan 8.0.0 has a small component called Access Protection which acts as a very simple firewall. But the log file for this component can be easily spotted because of a common, known element that is shared across all instances of that log. Now because this log file does not contain highly sensitive information such as passwords (it actually does contain disk path information though), the risk is not substantial if someone’s log file found its away into the wrong hands. But what about other application log files that have common, known elements? How about configuration files? Spreadsheets? Accounting software? I think you get the point. Searching Google for these known application fingerprints will inevitably bring up "interesting" results. By the way, there are entire web sites devoted to sole purpose of sharing Google queries that will result in juicy googlebits such as passwords, social security numbersand yes, credit card numbers. And although I won’t list any of those sites here, they are not hard to find (hint: use Google!).

Incidentally, one of the things that makes these queries possible is Google’s support of advanced operators. Google supports a growing number of these operators which help narrow down the output and generally provide a more specific result set. Using Google’s advanced operators, you can even limit a searches to a specific domain or even filetype. For example, the following query searches registry files looking specifically for a text string beginning with "Username" and the word "putty" (PuTTY is a free implementation of telnet and SSH for the Windows and Unix platforms):

ext:reg "username=*" putty

If successful, the query would result in a list of username to machine mappings for folks who use puTTY. Armed with this useful information, an attacker could then possibly launch a brute-force password guessing attack against the target (assuming the. target’s firewall allowed for inbound SSH connectivity). As you can see, coming up with searches that reveal Googlebits is mostly an excercise of the imagination.

As stated on their corporate website, Google’s mission is to "organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful". So far, I’d say Google is doing an excellent job in fulfilling their mission statement. Are you upset that Google’s database contains sensitive personal information such as credit card numbers? Me too. And though I won’t give Google a complete pass, the primary parties at fault here are web site operators and web users (you and me). If you operate a Web site, please don’t leave config files, log files, and other files that contain sensitive information sitting on your web server! And if you enjoy the many services the web has to offer, please understand that any information you send to a web site has the potential to show up in a Google search. I can’t tell you how many forum posts I’ve stumbled on during a Google search that contained things like cell phone numbers, driver’s license numbers, and even social security numbers.

You have been warned.

This article may be reprinted or published for free with the condition that the author and site information below is retained.

David Andrew is an Information Security Professional specializing in vulnerability assessment and penetration testing. He is the primary operator and owner of Security Tricks, an online resource devoted to computer security and spyware help geared towards the "average Joe". If you would like to contact David for interviews or other inquiries, please e-mail him at daveATsecuritytricks.com. If you are interested in learning more about information security, please visit Security Tricks.

Copyright 2006, David Andrew, Security Tricks.

1. Spyware - A spyware is a computer software that can steal important information from the users computer without their consent or knowledge. Spyware only works whenever your computer is connected to the internet. a spyware once installed on your computer sends important information from your computer like stored passwords, important documents, computer codes and internet banking accounts to its server or in other words to the computer controlling the spyware. Spyware are of two different types:-

a. key loggers:- one that logs your keystrokes and your screen activity.

b. Trojan horse: - one that monitors every aspect of your computer and helps the controller to gain complete control over your computer.

Solutions:- a. In order to prevent the installation of the spyware, remember never to open warez sites, never download any freeware from un-trusted sites.

b. Always scan a downloaded file by a trusted anti-virus and do keep the antivirus and some internet security software running while accessing the internet.

2. Spoofing attacks (Email & URL)

Spoofing attacks are now a days becoming more common and already many people have been affected by it. Spoofing attacks are those attacks in which someone tries to spoof someone else identity. In simpler terms, you can receive an email from your bank not actually sent by the bank. Spoofing attacks again are of two types:-

a. email spoofing:- I’ll explain this by example. Suppose you receive an email from xyz@bank.com but in actual bank.com never sent that email. The spoofed email might prompt you to send important data to the person emailed you either through a reply or through some link to website provided in the email. The link to website may again be URL spoofed so as to give a perception of everything real.

b. URL spoofing:- again I’ll explain this by using example. Suppose someone sends you a link to the website either through email or through some other means like chat. You open the link and it opens up some well known website like yahoo asking for your authentication, but in real it’s some other site where-in the URL is spoofed to give it a real look.

Prevention:-

a. Never respond to spoof emails asking for some type of important or confidential data. For example, a bank will never ask for important information through emails.

b. never visit links which opens to well known websites, instead open the website directly in a new browser and type the url address.

c. keep your browser updated in order to prevent url spoofing attacks.

d. always check the trusted domain sign when opening a website through a link. if its an untrusted domain and asking for authentication, close it.

e. never provide any kind of authentication asked by some email or link in the email to website.

by Bikramjit Singh author for sycamore.in and sarvpriya.com

Blackworm started on the 3rd of February and has been programmed to attack an infected computer on the 3rd of every month thereafter. So far it has been estimated that over 300,000 computers have been infected. It can also disable the keyboard and mouse of infected computers. Some Internet users have already lost important files after becoming infected by the Blackworm mainly because the clock time on their computer was wrong.

Like many Internet worms, Blackworm attempts to spread by mailing itself to contacts in a user’s address book. The e-mails containing the worm can have a wide variety of Subject fields and attachment names. The worm also tries to add itself to the auto-start programs in the Windows registy. Once a computer in a network has been infected, Blackworm will try to infect all other systems in the network.

To prevent getting infected by Blackworm you shouldn’t open attachments or click on Web links within these e-mails, especially if these e-mails have a porn-related subject line. You should also backup any important files that you would like to preserve. Most antivirus products will detect Blackworm assuming the worm hasn’t disabled the antivirus software. It is also recommended to scan your computer for viruses and use a firewall.

About the Author: Edward is the owner of http://www.thespywareterminator.com where you can download the highest rated spyware remover for 2005. This superior software removes many unwanted Internet parasites such as viruses, trojans, popups, adware and spyware. It has been downloaded over 35 million times by people in over 100 countries. It really works!

There is a new little scam going on, and it relates to link exchange requests.

It goes like this:

You get a request from somebody to exchange a link with their site and they offer in return a link to your site. But the catch is that the link they offer is actually one of your old links they found on another site you’ve exchanged links some time ago! So basically they are offering you a "useless exchange" for nothing in back as your link has been posted before by the True owner of the site.

Let me give you an example: 2 days ago I got a submission to my Craft site to put a link to a poker software site! Although I Specifically state I only except links from Industry Related sites it didn’t deter this retarded person to submit his/her request - which raised the first flag right away. Then of course the person entered a total nonsense instead of the name on the submission form.

And when I checked the supposed link-back, I found out it is one of the links I’ve exchanged with the owner of that site long time ago. How do I know it was not a "new" link? The description of that link was long time not accurate as I have changed it since, even the number in it was not accurate as I increased the commission I offer my affiliates to 60% instead of the 40% like those years ago…

Then yesterday I got another submission to the same site again from the same scamster, again pointing to another of my old links on the site I also exchanged links some time ago. When I’ve contacted the owner of the supposed link exchange request he was very surprised as he never did that new submission.

But wait:

Today the same person was brazen enough to send me a request to another of my sites and as a "link back" even stated my own Article I wrote long time ago and has been posted in one of the article directories! Can you believe that nerve?

In case you are wondering all the submissions came from the domain name @zettwalls.com, so pay a close attention if you get a submission from this domain name.

However since I doubt I was the first one this shameless scamster tried to trick, and obviously it had to work for him/her before, I’d recommend check those Link Exchange requests, and if you Do link exchanges check the site of the submitter and also the link-back they are offering.

Dagmar Rakos is the owner of Conopmark.com - Your Resources and Directory for internet business, internet marketing, affiliate marketing, small business online. Tips, tools, reviews, updates – get it all at: http://www.conopmark.com