GIFT50.COM Spammer/Telemarketer

(This blogpost has been extensively rewritten to include new information about this spammer and how to report them to the appropriate agencies)

*******UPDATE FOR 11 SEPTEMBER 2011*******

The website GIFT50.COM is now dead.

*******IMPORTANT UPDATE*******

It has recently been discovered that the registered owner of gift50.com, Nick Brown, is the official contact for a company called Best World Media (bestworldmedia.com).

This corporation is a lead generation company. They harvest customer information and sell it to their clients.

If you want to fight back against this textspammer, you may report them to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the  New York Better Business Bureau.

If you want to contact Nick Brown directly, here is the contact information given on the website:

BestWorldMedia.com
244 Fifth avenue
Suite 292
New York, NY 10010

PHONE: (646) 338-8558

E-MAIL: nick.brown@bestworldmedia.com

*******IMPORTANT UPDATE*******

If you receive a text message that tells you to claim your "free Walmart gift card" at GIFT50.com and you actually try going to that site, you will be redirected to this address
http://track.brandnewprizes.com/SplashPage.aspx?g=827b5f1edb144c97a95fa974fb054569&nm=014havx2mqx0&s=gift50&se=04 (this link is now dead and only a line of text is displayed saying "You have requested a non-existent page.")
Here is one version of the spam texts being received

Congratulations! You've been choosen to recieve a $1,000 Wal-Mart Gift Card! Use appoval code: Giveme visit:GIFT50.COM

I really don't know if you really get a gift card or you just have your name added to a list to be sold to other marketing companies, so I can't be any kind of judge on the veracity of the spammers' claims. I sent an email to Walmart to see if this activity is something they have sanctioned. This is the response I received from Walmart's Corporate Offices:

Thank you for your message.
Dear Duane,
Thank you for your recent inquiry regarding a potential telemarketing scam.  Walmart does not call or solicit customers to offer shopping cards, shopping sprees, or membership discounts in return for bank account, credit card, or personal information; nor would we solicit the customers with these incentives for them to take surveys.  Also, Walmart currently does not employ mystery shoppers and any company that claims to be affiliated with Walmart for this type of program may be part of a telemarketing scam.  Some telemarketers and internet ad companies use the Walmart name to engage the interest of the customer.
You may report the solicitation to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at www.ftc.gov or at 1-877-FTC-HELP (382-4357).  The FTC maintains a telemarketing complaint database called the "Consumer Sentinel" which is available to hundreds of law enforcement agencies in the U.S.  The more concerns the FTC receives and logs, the more likely it is that some law enforcement agencies will get involved.
Customers should also report the solicitation to the Consumer Fraud Division of the Attorney General's office in their state or to the Better Business Bureau.  The contact information for these organizations is located in the front of your local phone book.
Sincerely,

Walmart Customer Care

GIFT50.COM (dead) is was (LOL!) owned by the same person who owns owned MONEY500.COM (ownership apparently transferred), MONEY600.COM (dead), LAPTOP55.COM (dead) and over 100 other domains.

Registration Service Provided By: Namecheap.com
Contact: support@namecheap.com
Visit: http://namecheap.com
   
Domain name: gift50.com
Registrant Contact:

   Nick Brown ()

   Fax:
   244 5th avenue
   ste 282j
   new york, NY 10001
   US
Administrative Contact:

   Nick Brown ()
   +1.6463388558
   Fax: +1.5555555555
   244 5th avenue
   ste 282j
   new york, NY 10001
   US
Technical Contact:

   Nick Brown ()
   +1.6463388558  (appears to be a cellphone, registered to T-Mobile)
   Fax: +1.5555555555
   244 5th avenue
   ste 282j
   new york, NY 10001
   US
Status: Locked
Name Servers:
   dns1.name-services.com
   dns2.name-services.com
   dns3.name-services.com
   dns4.name-services.com
   dns5.name-services.com
  
Creation date: 02 Feb 2011 22:33:00
Expiration date: 02 Feb 2012 17:33:00

Current status of domains known to have been registered to this person

AidTest.info (unsubscribe page displays)

bestworldmedia.com (active)

Gift90.com (active)

giftcard2.com (active)

Money600.com (dead)

outsidecathin.info (unsubscribe page displays)

ViewMyNewsCore.com (dead)

AidPeril.info (unsubscribe page displays)

ScatHin.info (unsubscribe page displays)

BareAid.info (unsubscribe page displays)

EastAid.info (unsubscribe page displays)

AquiVed.info (unsubscribe page displays)

MONEY500.COM (active)

LAPTOP55.COM (dead)

If you want to file complaints against this guy, send your email to support@namecheap.com. Tell them that you received the message via text message on your cellphone and include the complete text message that you received. If you received more than one text message, tell them that too and also mention if you have to pay for any texts you receive on your cellphone plan.

The (646) 338-8558 phone number given has been called by some one who read this blogpost (see comments section) and the people answering claimed to have no knowledge of GIFT50.COM, so I advise against calling them, as an innocent party may be involved. The owner of the website may have either entered a false number in their registration or has since changed their number to avoid complaints from people angry over being textspammed.

I found this link and this one mentioning that GIFT50.COM was slated for deletion on October 29, 2009 so, this website was purchased or renewed by the current owner in the past two years.

Phone numbers associated with GIFT50.COM

202-403-1171

203-736-7859

205-835-7576

207-299-3922

207-629-7627

210-324-9517

213-210-4098

213-447-9721

216-776-8628

218-535-5039

240-237-0891

251-253-2246

269-282-2617

281-954-1565

310-736-0903

319-671-2457

323-203-6170

325-513-9367

334-333-9575

337-784-1012

401-440-3856

404-429-6733

404-431-3279

404-452-0259

404-791-6913

407-486-6455

409-273-2891

419-378-4595

469-563-4512

480-274-3055

501-266-4125

503-836-2154

505-307-8276

507-841-8659

509-494-4402

513-435-4781

518-536-4148

520-238-2876

615-649-2642

615-681-6505

619-587-4426

641-232-0019

646-248-2717

701-403-2104

702-292-9294

703-314-4402

704-961-8439

803-217-0351

806-471-1293

813-720-5028

832-331-1612

860-634-1798

860-771-0749

860-830-4781

913-426-3107

917-261-0006

Several toll-free numbers appear to be linked to these textspammers:

866-571-8731

866-898-6147

877-774-5339

888-408-1754

Since the above search result indicates a possible link between these toll-free numbers and the text spammer, it is a temptation to call these numbers from a convenient payphone (to avoid the people answering from getting your home number and adding it to their database) to make a complaint about being spammed on your cellphone. If enough people were to call, it would cost them some money and they might stop, depending on if their scam was making them more money than it was costing. If I was a mean person, I'd be sorely tempted to call each of these numbers from a payphone, several times a day to complain. If I was a particularly nasty person, I'd call them several times an hour, every hour of my waking day, everyday of the week, for a whole month to get my point across.

But, that would be exceptionally cruel of me to do and would probably cost them a lot of money.

To continue...

The link I gave in the first paragraph is from BRANDNEWPRIZES.COM and is registered to:

I Marketing Survey Stop
Robert Celsi
100 Congress Avenue
Suite  2000
Austin, Texas,78701
Telephone: 866-852-1603
Email IMarketingSurveyStop@yahoo.ca

Domains known to be registered to this person

Freenewprizes.com

Wincoolgifts.com

Freenewgifts.com

Socialsurveygiveaways.com

WinCoolRewards.com

GIFTDELIVERYNOTICE.COM

DAILYDEALDELIGHTS.COM

Socialsurveygiveaways.com

WinCoolRewards.com

WinfreeNewPrizes.com

If you want to complain about this website to their domain service,

Registration Service Provided By: DYNAMIC DOLPHIN, INC, Contact: +1.7208723477

From I Marketing Survey Stop's website, I collected this contact information, which matches the above information from their website registration, except for the email address and no telephone number is included:

iMarketingSurveyStop.com

ATTN: CUSTOMER CARE

I Marketing Survey Stop

100 Congress AvenueSuite 2000

Austin TX

Email: Support@iMarketingSurveyStop.com

The address 100 Congress Avenue #2000 may be a virtual office for this company, since several other businesses claim this address as their own, mostly law firms. I personally sent a complaint email to both email addresses given for I Marketing Survey Stop and did not receive a reply or even an acknowledgement that my message had been received.

So, since GIFT50.COM links to his website, you can call him on his toll-free number to voice your displeasure over being spammed on your cellphone. You can also contact him via his website at this link to make a complaint about being spammed, though I strongly advise that you not enter your regular email address in the form, to prevent it from possibly being placed into their own mailing list.

The owner of BRANDNEWPRIZES is a full participant in this venture and not a purely innocent party. If you read the Official Gift Offer Rules for redemption of the Free $1,000 Walmart Gift Card, you'll see that you must participate in surveys for a period of time in order to claim your "free gift card". Compare this to what Walmart actually says in their reply to me

...nor would we solicit the customers with these incentives for them to take surveys.

So, I would suggest that you should follow Walmart's advice in handling these text spam messages.

I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Walmart for their speedy reply to my message and to my readers who have  notified me of new phone numbers associated with this spammer.

Duane Browning

At Least He Stopped Using SMS

Our buddy, Basil Al-Haddad is now known as Geoffrey Owen and he has decided to stop using text messaging and use emails, like most of the other scammers out there.


The advantage to his using email, instead of SMS is that recipients no longer are forced to read his messages and those people who have limits on the number of texts we can send or receive before they have to pay for them no longer will lose money because some lazy jerk is running a scam. He's also stopped using O2 email and is now using Microsoft Live.


This is his new email address geowen@live.co.uk


This is the email he's been sending out lately:

Hello,

I am quite aware of the impact strange e-mails like mine do have onpersons especially when they are unsolicited for, I must therefore apologize for intruding.

However, I am getting in touch with you as regards the assets of a client (deceased) who you share the same family name. He served as a contractor for Jiyeh Power Station Lebanon until the power station was bombed by the Israeli air force during the Israel-Lebanon conflict in2006 (leading to his death).

I am Geoffrey Owen. I work as an investment adviser for an assets management firm. It is our responsibility to locate the family of the deceased and pass on the assets by intestate succession. I advise you to contact me ASAP seeing that the assets are about to be confiscated to the Her Majesty Treasury if nobody comes forward for it.

I patiently await your response. I can be reached at 011 (44) 787 2282424 or +(44) 787 228 2424 for further discussion

I appeal for your tolerance if my message is contrary to your moral ethics. Thank you.

Yours Faithfully,

Geoffrey Owen.

He really seems to like those two phone numbers, which are the same one he used in the text spam period.

Thus, our friend joins the legions of scammers who litter our inboxes with their scam letters. This, of course, can easily be ignored, as opposed to the text spamming.




Duane Browning

Yet Another Text Spammer (Part Two)

Here is the original post on the topic of this text spammer.


Until recently, the email address where you were supposed to send your personal information - market.dir@o2.co.uk - did not respond to inquiries. Only the original contact email - 4882@o2.co.uk - replied to any questions.


However, that has changed with a name and a new phone number added to this story. Several days ago, a friend sent an email to market.dir@o2.co.uk with a question regarding sending his details and received a reply from a person using the name Basil Al-Haddad. "Basil" also gave a new phone number by which he could be contacted: 
 011 (44) 787-228-2424 which is also a number from the United Kingdom.

Basil Al-Haddad

Marketing Director

TELEFONICA O2 UK LIMITED

260 Bath Road Slough Berkshire SL1 4DX

England, United Kingdom.

Phone: 011 (44) 787-228 -2424

Email: market.dir@o2.co.uk

According to information I received, this new number is a cellphone. If this number is correct, you can SMS this person via one of these addresses

• 07872282424@mmail.co.uk
• 07872282424@o2.co.uk
• 07872282424@mmsc.mms.o2.co.uk

Due to my ignorance of dialing phone numbers in the UK, these addresses may not be entirely accurate. So, be careful.

Once again, an IP trace was done and surprisingly the result was the same as the email received from 4882@o2.co.uk in that the IP was out of the USA. So, my initial assumption of a ringleader being in the UK was incorrect. Either that or they are using a proxy, but I had always thought that a proxy would give a different IP every time you used it.


Examining the headers of both emails, I found this in the first

Return-Path: info3@telefonicamail.net

and this in the second

Return-Path: veunit@telefonicamail.net

I didn't think much of it, at first. But, curiosity got hold of me and I did a WHOIS on telefonicamail.net and received this result

WHOIS information for telefonicamail.net :[Querying whois.verisign-grs.com]
[Redirected to whois.melbourneit.com]
[Querying whois.melbourneit.com]
[whois.melbourneit.com]
Domain Name.......... telefonicamail.net
Creation Date........ 2010-04-29
Registration Date.... 2010-04-29
Expiry Date.......... 2011-04-29
Organisation Name.... John Russell
Organisation Address. PO Box 61359
Organisation Address.
Organisation Address. Sunnyvale
Organisation Address. 94088
Organisation Address. CA
Organisation Address. US
Admin Name........... Admin PrivateRegContact
Admin Address........ PO Box 61359
Admin Address........ registered post accepted only
Admin Address........ Sunnyvale
Admin Address........ 94088
Admin Address........ CA
Admin Address........ US
Admin Email.......... contact@myprivateregistration.com
Admin Phone.......... +1.5105952002
Admin Fax............
Tech Name............ TECH PrivateRegContact
Tech Address......... PO Box 61359
Tech Address......... registered post accepted only
Tech Address......... Sunnyvale
Tech Address......... 94088
Tech Address......... CA
Tech Address......... US
Tech Email........... contact@myprivateregistration.com
Tech Phone........... +1.5105952002
Tech Fax.............
Name Server.......... ns1.officelive.com
Name Server.......... ns2.officelive.com

Doing a reverse WHOIS reveals that "John Russell" owns hundreds of other domains. However, it would cost me a lot of money to find-out which domains they are and I do not care about it that much to spend money on this. So, it seems that "John Russell" is behind this whole thing.


Other email addresses used in the past with this scam:

• veunit@o2.co.uk
• inquiry@o2.co.uk
• query1@o2.co.uk
• info@o2mobile-uk.com

I'm sure that I could find more addresses, if I was inclined to keep looking.

Apparently, the scam got started in Nigeria with these text messages being sent out randomly with all correspondences being done by email. The addition of real telephone/fax numbers shows that it is possible they have confederates in the UK working as part of the scam.

Duane Browning

File A Complaint Against Text Spammers

What really pisses me off about text spammers is that they send out their spam with no regard as to whether or not the recipient has to pay for the texts they receive. If you have a texting plan with your cellphone provider that allows a certain number of texts before you have to start paying for them, receiving text spam could cost you some money.

It doesn't matter how much it costs, it only matters that you have to spend your money because some jerk wants to either sell you something or is trying to swindle you in some way.

I have only today become aware that you can file an official complaint with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) against text spammers. Simply go to this link
https://esupport.fcc.gov/ccmsforms/form1088.action
fill it out and include all communications you've had from this text spammer in a file that you can attach to your complaint. If you sent a reply to an email address provided in the original text and you received a reply back, copy and paste the email you received (including headers) in the file you're attaching.


Duane Browning

WaterWorks4U & Peter Goodgold

The are people out there that want us to believe that the water we drink is too acidic and that this is the cause of many or all of our health problems. These people can often be found selling water ionizers, which supposedly can save us from the health-damaging effects of acidic water. One man, Peter Goodgold, goes so far as to claim that there is only one disease: acidosis; and if we can prevent acidosis in our bodies, we will not get cancer or other diseases.


A pretty heavy claim, Pete. When I think of the centuries of time wasted in doing the research to find cures of cancer, AIDS, diabetes, etc when all we had to do was simply drink alkaline water, I just want to crawl into a bottle of rum and stay there until I die.


Peter is such an altruistic human being that he's even started a business to sell products that you can use to make your own alkaline water: WaterWorks4U.com and for a measly $2000 you too can find the miracle cure for all known diseases. Oh, sorry, Peter says that the only disease we have to fear is acidosis.


I could save you some serious money if you want to find a way to cure acidosis, but don't have the money to spend on Pete's super-spiffy ionizer. Here you go
  

Pete has a long history of selling stuff that makes you healthy and happy, besides water ionizers. He sells WildWaterfalls, too. Of the rocks he carves when he's making them, Pete said

"When I carve the rocks, they talk to me. They tell me where to cut...."

Whatever you say, man. Whatever you say. Most people would get put away in a mental hospital if they went around saying that rocks talked to them. But, who am I to judge?

Anyway,  the water ionizers appear to be Pete's main product, so let's deal with Pete's claims by offering-up some videos for you to watch. I am no scientist, but I'm a pretty sharp guy and I think I have the wherewithal to be able to discern between a scientist with a solid background in the field being discussed and a bullshit artist who's simply out to sell me something. I'm also smart enough to let the experts speak for themselves, rather than make a pathetic attempt to explain the science myself. 

These videos were posted on YouTube by people with scientific backgrounds (as opposed to Peter Goodgold, who has no scientific training that I am aware of) and contain a lot of scientific jargon. But, I think they can be understood by most people.

From AnswersInBooks

From SuperSoylent2

From lapkine77

Peter Goodgold or friends of his, responded to these videos by filing complaints under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), as you can see here

and it was mentioned by lapkine77 in the video posted above, which is actually a remake of a previous video which was taken off YouTube, due to a Terms of Use complaint. But, I personally found the video so entertaining that I found a mirror of it and I include it here

I'd also like to post this video from AnswersInBooks, who posted this video about the current ongoings with the potential legal battle between himself and Pete Goodgold. He also gives me a nice shoutout near the end of the video

I think many people prefer videos rather than reading stuff, but if you have some free time, you can read the following webpages which debunk the pseudoscience of ionized water merchants here, here and here. In the description box of this latest video, AnswersInBooks also posted these links to articles he wrote with even more information at here and there.

But, what about the business practices of Peter Goodgold and WaterWorks4U? Not having done business with Peter & Co. doesn't allow me firsthand experience. However, others who have done business with Peter have posted reports of their experiences here.

Peter Goodgold used to have his own channel on YouTube where he featured his videos hawking his stuff, but that channel was taken down and if you go to the link where his channel used to be, you will see this message

Waterworks4U has been terminated due to multiple or severe violations of our Community Guidelines.

Tsk, tsk, tsk. Seems that Peter doesn't play well with others.

At least there is one bit of truly honest information available on the WaterWorks4U website and you can find it at the very bottom of his website in very, very small print. It says:

All information presented through this web site, or associated manufacturers, has not been evaluated by the FDA, and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. These products are neither formulated nor prescribed for any medical condition; they are formulated for use as an important addition to the daily diet.

Uh, yeah. I guess these water ionizers aren't the Fountain of Youth, after all. Besides, if you take a look at Peter Goodgold himself, you'll notice that ionized water can't even cure male-pattern baldness, so how great can they be?


Peter Goodgold may be making some good money by selling this crap and preaching bad science and he may think that this entitles him to step on anyone who tries to educate people about Goodgold's spurious claims. I think that Grimlock the Dinobot could sum-up my response to Peter Goodgold, his company and the products he sells: 

"You wrong and you ugly, too."

Duane Browning 

Yet Another Text Spammer

I received this text message on my cellphone right after I had finished breakfast yesterday morning

From: noreply@o2.co.uk CongratulationsYou've been awarded 418,000 British Pounds by Telefonica O2. Send an Email to 4882@o2.co.uk for claims

So, I sent a reply from the email account I use for responding to text spam and I received this message the next day: 

From: "O2 Mobile" 4882@o2.co.uk
Ref: O2/1629/11
Dear winner,
I congratulate you on behalf of the management of Telefónica O2 UK Limited. This promotion is brought to you as a marketing strategy designed to create an awareness of the expansion of O2 network coverage to the North American region.
23 cell phone numbers were randomly selected worldwide via a computer draws system. Your number was selected from the 2nd category in the 1st draw, hence made you a silver award winner.
To facilitate the redemption of your award, kindly contact the Marketing Director with the following details:
First and Name:
Contact Address/Tel:
Email:
Age:
Occupation:
Winning Phone Number:
Amount won:
Send information to Email: market.dir@o2.co.uk
Upon receipt of the above information, the marketing director will verify the details to ensure you are the registered owner of the winning phone number. Once these formalities are concluded, your funds will be remitted to you. Be assured that your details are highly secured. It will neither be disclosed to third parties nor used for illegal activities.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
1) Any falsification of your details will render you disqualified.
2) Friends or relatives are not eligible to receive award on your behalf.
3) To avoid multiple claims and impersonation you are expected to respect the integrity of the privileged information regarding your winnings, do not disclose to third parties until your prize money is received by you.
4) After you receive your award, you will be required to honor an invitation to join Telefónica O2 marketing team on TV for an interview regarding this promotion in North America.
Please advise how convenient this interview will be for you. Congratulations once more and thank you for being part of our expansion awareness program.
Best regards,
Promo Co-ordinators.
TELEFONICA O2 UK LIMITED
MARKETING DEPARTMENT
Office: 011 (44) 127 479 2353
Fax: 011 (44) 191 247 8151
260 Bath Road Slough Berkshire SL1 4DX
United Kingdom

IMPORTANT NOTICE: This electronic message contains information from Telefonica O2 UK ltd which may be privileged or confidential. The information is intended to be for the use of the individual(s) or entity named above. If you are not the intended recipient be aware that any disclosure, copying distribution or use of the contents of this information is prohibited. If you have received this electronic message in error, please notify us by email.

I would have figured that would have come out of Nigeria, China or someplace like that. But, no, it came from within the USA. A simple IP trace was all that I needed to do to discover this.

Obviously, this is a scam. So, I forwarded the message I received to O2's corporate offices in the United Kingdom for them to take whatever action they deem appropriate.

While the address given in the email is Telefonica's real address, the phone numbers don't match. The phone numbers are from Great Britain, but they are not Telefonica's. From another blogpost, I learned that if you call the numbers, somebody actually does answer the phone and they even give you a tracking number for whatever package they are supposedly sending you.

So, this isn't some slapped-together scam, these guys have a pretty convincing swindle going here and I think many people might be taken-in by them, due to their appearance of legitimacy. Due to the IP trace and the real British phone numbers, I came to the conclusion that this is actually a group of scammers working together with members on both sides of the Atlantic.

UPDATE: if you've received the first message, but the email address is different, please let me know by posting a reply to this blog. I'd like to update this blog with current information as it becomes available to me. A second post on this topic has been posted.


If you live in the United States, you may file a complaint against the sender of this text spam by going to this webpage
https://esupport.fcc.gov/ccmsforms/form1088.action


Duane Browning

Beware of Jim Humble's "Miracle Mineral Supplement"

Once again, a product has entered the market and the people selling it are making claims that it is some sort of miracle cure that can treat anything from AIDS to cancer. The product I am writing about is the "Miracle Mineral Supplement", also known as the "Miracle Mineral Solution".

The originator of this particular product is a man named Jim Humble, who has no scientific background that I am aware of, yet makes claims for his product that are based upon testimonials, rather than scientific evidence.

For an explanation as to why this product may not be everything - or anything - that Mr Humble and his sycophants claim, watch this video:

This video was recorded by a person with a scientific background and gives a very detailed explanation as to what this product really is and how it can adversely affect your health.


Duane Browning