Mobile Phone Web Scammers - You Gotta Love 'Em
The plethora of unlocked cellular phones that are available for direct consumer purchase has made for a nice new "cottage industry" - the mobile phone Internet scam. In the <extreme sarcasm>"Wow! What a surprise!"</extreme sarcasm> category, most of these scams come from - drumroll please - Nigeria (home of the "Hello, I am <insert unpronounceable name>, the head of the <insert ficticious organization or company>. My <insert relative or work relationship> has..." e-mail). In this scam, phones are offered at ridiculously low prices, usually using a Yahoo, Hotmail or GMail accout for contacting. So why, you may ask, am I bringing this up. Well,...
Usually, my days begin by going to the BostonPocketPC.com web site for a quick "check in". Lately, these quick checks have taken a bit longer. You see, I start by looking at our latest forums postings, muttering some obscenity, then deleting a bunch of these mobile phone scam postings. NOTE - IP banning is relatively worthless; a new IP comes back for the next round. Then, I look at news submissions (our web site allows for the posting of news from the community; fortunately, the posts are queued first for editorial approval). Again, mutter some obscenities, then begin deleting news posts. Actually, I find it quite humorous to think that some idiot in a faraway land thinks "Hey! I'll post this scam advertisement IN ALL CAPS and referencing the same old Yahoo e-mail account to Don's news queue 10-12 times in a row. He'll never catch on!"
So, the following is my advice -
- Do not buy an unlocked cell phone from just anyone. There are a number of reputable (and legitimate) sites on the Internet to go to;
- If buying from eBay, give "due diligence" to research to avoid these folks;
- If you are uncertain about a seller, don't take any chances; err to the side of caution.
In conclusion, to all you mobile phone scammers who persist in annoying me daily at BostonPocketPC.com, I leave you with the following quote from the immortal philosopher Mr. Garrison of South Park fame...
"YOU GO TO HELL! YOU GO TO HELL AND YOU DIE!" :-D