Meddling

It would’ve worked, too, if it weren’t for those meddling kids!

There are 617 posts filed in Meddling (this is page 41 of 62).

“Your USPS shipment postage labels receipt” scam

I got this creative phishing email scam in my inbox today. The links go to a phishing website where the crooks collect your payment information. Don’t be fooled!

Return-Path: USPS_Shipping_Alert@usps.com
From: “Royce Erickson” USPS_Shipping_Alert@usps.com
To: mister cool guy at markturner.net
Subject: Your USPS shipment postage labels receipt.
Date: Fri, 23 Mar 2012 11:14:02 -0300

Acct #: 0341903

Dear client:

This is an email confirmation for your order of 3 online shipping label(s) with postage. We will charge you the following amount:

Transaction ID: #6924766
Print Date/Time: 03/12/2012 02:30 AM CST
Postage Amount: $47.65
Credit Card Number: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX

Priority Mail Regional Rate Box B # 0697 5722 3716 9279 1176 (Sequence Number 1 of 1)
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Yet another infographic

An Internet acquaintance forwarded to me this email he received from our infographic-making friend Tony Shin:

From: Tony Shin imtinytony@gmail.com
Date: Sat, Mar 17, 2012 at 1:17 AM
Subject: A graphic on the ethics of the wealthy
To: blah blah blah at gmail.com

Dear Editor,

While I was searching for blogs and posts that have talked about social psychology, I came across your site and wanted to reach out to see if I could get your readership’s feedback on a graphic my team and I designed, which focuses on the studies found on how those socially and financially well-off behave unethically compared to the lower ladder.

If you’re interested, let’s connect.

Thanks! =)

—
Tony Shin
@ohtinytony

The infographic in question can be viewed here.

Google search turns up many infographic mentions

This Google search on “infographic my team built” seems to find many of these spam emails posted on various websites.

Look closely and you’ll find a few sent by our friend Tony Shin, too. Here’s another, and another, and another.

Here’s a whole blog post of Tony Shin’s infographics. Here’s another.

Here’s another from Peter Kim. It was taken from the HackCollege.com website, which is (surprise!) also registered through Moniker:
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Mystery infographic email part of stealth SEO/marketing scheme?

Looks like I’m not the only one who’s gotten the mystery infographic emails. I found this post on blogger Andrew Gelman’s blog:

A personal bit of spam, just for me!
Posted by Andrew on 13 March 2012, 6:50 pm

Hi Andrew,

I came across your site while searching for blogs and posts around American obesity and wanted to reach out to get your readership’s feedback on an infographic my team built which focuses on the obesity of America and where we could end up at the going rate.

If you’re interested, let’s connect. Have a great weekend!

Thanks.
***

I have to say, that’s pretty pitiful, to wish someone a “great weekend” on a Tuesday! This guy’s gotta ratchet up his sophistication a few notches if he ever wants to get a job as a spammer for a major software company, for example.

Similar formula. It’s pretty slick, actually.

The real Peter Kim?

Peter Kim


A Google search shows that Peter Kim is a search engine optimization guru. Note his bio on Amazon.com for his soon-to-be-released book:

Peter is currently Chief Strategy Officer of Dachis Group.

He is a leading advisor on social business, working with clients on strategy formulation and driving global industry discourse. Peter has been quoted by media outlets including CNN, CNBC, NPR, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal and featured as a speaker at events including SXSW, Web 2.0 Expo, and Dachis Group Social Business Summits.

?Peter was previously an analyst at Forrester Research and head of international marketing operations, e-commerce, and digital marketing at PUMA AG.?? He holds degrees from the Darden School at the University of Virginia and the University of Pennsylvania.
This biography was provided by the author or their representative.

He also has a blog on seomagpie.com, as does Response Mine Interactive. I don’t know if this is the same Peter Kim who wrote me but it’s possible.

Update: SEO guru Peter Kim grew up in Atlanta, where Response Mine is located. I don’t know if they’re connected or not, however. I do know that his Twitter page lists his email address as hello@beingpeterkim.com, which is strikingly similar to the hello.pkim@gmail.com address that was on the email I received. I’m leaning towards this being a SEO stunt of some sort.

Update 18 March: Peter Kim, SEO guru, says he’s not behind the infographics.

Mystery of the Infographics

Who is Peter Kim?


I’m really not sure what’s going on here but it’s gotta be something. And hold on to you hats, I’m going to be doing some serious geeking out with this post. You have been warned. 🙂

Out of the blue a few weeks ago I got an email from a complete stranger who had this to say:

From: Peter Kim hello.pkim@gmail.com
To: “Mark” blah blah blah at gmail.com
Subject: Re:SOPA and PIPA
Date: Tue, 28 Feb 2012 03:16:40 -0800

Hi Mark,

I was wondering if this is the correct contact in regards to the content on the http://markturner.net. I came across the site while searching for resources around PIPA and SOPA. I just created a graphic on the topic and was wondering if you’d be interested in taking a look, I’d love to get your thoughts.

Thanks in advance for your time.

Peter

Well, I don’t normally have Copious Free Time to be dicking around with critiquing infographics. But what the heck, I decided to humor the guy and answer:
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Copywriter for MT.Net?

Like a few others, I got an intriguing email from “someone” claiming to offer copywriting for my blog:

From: “Imogen Reed” imogen@linegray.com
To: blah blah blah at gmail.com
Subject: Professional Copywriting for Mark Turner Dot Net
Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2012 04:34:56

Howdy J. Mark,

I hope you had a great weekend. I’m just getting in touch to ask if you’re in need of any freelance writing at Mark Turner Dot Net – if so, it’d be an honor to help out and I would love to get involved if you have any need for me.
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NC Medical marijuana backers try to make their cause heard

I hope more people speak out favorably on this cause.

Margaret Wakefield is not a college student nor does she sport dreadlocks and Birkenstocks while chatting about how the world should focus more on peace and love.

Despite her clean-cut appearance, Wakefield is a vocal leader for, what some may find, a surprising cause — medical marijuana.

Wakefield’s mother died from cancer a year ago, and the life-changing event has made her very open and passionate about allowing people suffering from chronic illnesses to use cannabis as a form of treatment.

“If I had known then what I know now … (my mother) would have had some to smoke everyday,” said Wakefield, a member of the North Carolina Cannabis Patients Network.

via Medical marijuana backers try to make their cause heard.

Happy Two Years In Hell, Jefe de Jefe

Here’s a sobering look by a former federal officer at America’s failed drug policy and its disastrous effect on our neighbor south of the border.

Just a short while after the operation, the DEA’s intelligence chief — Anthony Placido stated: “Nobody left out there has the extensive contacts that Arturo had. He moved thousands of metric tons of drugs into the United States, including cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin,” Placido said. “In addition to that … he is responsible for much of the violence in Mexico. Arturo Beltran Leyva wasn’t a big fish. He was a whale.”

Though frustrating, I can’t help but brush off some of those comments. For starters, I’m in awe that he actually said there wasn’t anyone left out there with the extensive contacts that Arturo Beltran had. Secondly, I’m bewildered by the fact that marijuana is completely left out of the equation. Revenues from marijuana smuggling produce the majority of capital for Mexican drug trafficking organizations, and in the case of the Beltran Leyva Organization, I witnessed it firsthand. Yes, Arturo had plenty of contacts in the South American Andes, and for sure cocaine earned his organization boat loads of cash — but the coca plant played second fiddle to cannabis sativa as it nearly always does with the cartels in Mexico. Yet this DEA executive is reluctant to utter the “M” word, perhaps out of fear that mainstream America might soon wake up to the role that marijuana prohibition is having in the killing games being played out below the Rio Grande.

via Jamie Haase: Happy Two Years In Hell, Jefe de Jefe.