Having access to one of their machines was really interesting. This guy had a piece of software called "AutoLog" that essentially sent a worm out in the world to create accounts on forums in the background. It does this all autonomously... and when it successfully creates an account, it logs the username and password along with the url into a database. So this guy had a database of over 1000 forum accounts. From there, he had a number of private message templates that he could send folks. It looked to me that once the forum account was created, he had to manually log into that forum, search out the wanted ad, and then cut and paste his template into a pm. It's a weird mix of not working smarter or harder?
Thanks Ryan, I've had several, after being scammed on a Knetch dash board I was looking for I got a little smarter. It was a 200.00 lesson
Thank you Sir for keeping an eye out for all of us. Your efforts and time all too often goes unrewarded.
Great image of Ryan defending the H.A.M.B. from the marauding scammers! Thanks for keeping this website safe!
Sounds like somebody forgot to latch their virtual screen door. Thanks for losing some sleep over us!
That was 4 hours of missed sleep well spent. In these times, it's good to have computer skills to counter scammers like that. I hope the scammer is burned to the ground and he can't easily reconstruct his network. On a similar note: I had a timeshare that I washed my hands of and gave back 8 or more years ago. I still get scammers contacting me that claim to have a buyer, they're going to make any missed fees for the last 8 years go away, my cut of the sale is a guaranteed amount and it's a big one, etc. Recently, I've been playing them, acting interested, having them mail me hard copies of documents instead of email, asking questions that require more messages, etc. Eventually, they ask for money to be sent via Western Union for "filing fees"....... I tell 'em that it'll be done in the next hour (never happens *wink*)....... They contact me to ask "Why no money?"......... "I had an emergency to take care of first. I sent the cash a few minutes ago. So go pick it up and get cracking on the sale." (*wink-wink* )...... They get smart and don't contact me again. My game is over. ........ Until the next time.
Thanks Thanks Ryan. I'm not that computer savvy to combat these pricks but I can string them along easily which is fun. So how'd you bugger his online life? Somehow send him phone scammer replies, ruin his online data base?
I don't use the wanted ads. But I will keep an eye out for any anomalies. Thanks for lookin out for us my friend. Your are good people.
I followed Ryan's suggestions. I pulled up the bio of the person who responded to my add. He just became a member yesterday and had O other posts or threads. Sam
I will not ever do "friends and family" payments on Paypal. Why would anyone want to pay someone's fees?
That's some Mr Robot level justice, I'm loving it. And as a reminder for those out there who aren't so tech savvy, you don't have the scammer's real name or address. You never had it because they didn't need to give it to you. They don't need it to collect the money. That name you're posting is likely just made up on the spot and the address is some innocent person's place or an empty lot, or doesn't exist.
Well you aren't paying the fees, there are no fees if you use friends and family. If you paypal your mom $100 she gets $100 and there's no fees at all. There's also no fraud protection. A lot of guys ask for payment this way to avoid the fees that ebay tack on. I'm not saying you should do it. Just telling you why people ask for payment that way.
There are no fees when using Friends and Family. It's for what the name says, for sending cash gifts with no strings attached. PayPal gets nothing for doing it. But it's understood that the sender has no "buyer protection" and can't ask for anything back just because the receiver didn't say 'thanks'. For example, I use it to send my grandson money every month now while he's in college. He gets 100% of what I send. But for purchases, PayPal holds back their fee from the seller's payoff, and I, as the buyer, get protection in case the seller doesn't follow through. I'm not a big fan of everything about PayPal but I do use it if and when it makes sense to me.
@Ryan i think I know what you have done. I only have a few posts on FordBarn. I’d placed a wanted ad, and was trying to reply to the fellow I’d found the part, but system wouldn’t let me. So I sent a pm to Cob to relay the info. I understand the intent, but I wonder if there’s a work around to take some load off the mods?
Love what's being done to protect HAMB'ers! Would love to see part of the code as well... Not publicly of course.
Outstanding Ryan , just remember if you ever need any help locating someone near me , I’m up for the challenge for the team . I have experience in this line of learning experience . Lots of times you will determine stupid is hard to cure , but it just takes a different type of training ! I’m a certified training expert , a subject matter expert !
Cool Boss! Slam the assholes with their own game! If those asshole scammers put that work into something useful, we’d have a cure for cancer and cars that made their own gas, lol! They have got to be smart, it’s just human decency that they are lacking!
So, now we know why some forums have strict rules on who can post, and read, for sale and wanted adds.
The Jalopy Journal
