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Date Posted: 21:46:25 03/04/04 Thu
Author: Zimmer
Subject: New Internet scam preys on insecurities

New Internet scam preys on insecurities

10:29 PM CST on Thursday, March 4, 2004


By BYRON HARRIS / WFAA-TV



A new Internet scam takes advantage of peoples' deepest insecurities to pull in money.

It's a Web site that poses as a worldwide repository of gossip - and it's probably legal.

Everybody worries about what others say about them, and for somebody applying for a work and listing references, somebody else's opinion might be the difference in getting a job.

So, when Linda McKee got an e-mail from a site called "Word of Mouth Connection," it startled her.

"One of our users has just begun researching your background for our Web site," McKee read from the e-mail she was sent. "As a result, our Web site has sent you this e-mail to make you aware of this."

Word of Mouth Connection purports to be a repository of peoples' opinions about other people. Since Linda McKee had just applied for a job, she thought her prospective employer was checking up on her.

In reality, Word of Mouth is basically just a clever form of spam.

"Disguise is definitely the secret of misusing the Internet," said Richman Lewin of the SMU School of Engineering.

The e-mail McKee got - which she thought was sent specifically to her - was really generated by a "robot" computer.

"I sent them an e-mail and said, 'I want to know who is looking into me,'" McKee said.

McKee's reply e-mail went through servers in Las Vegas and Los Angeles, and eventually ended up in the Philippines, where Word of Mouth is located.

By replying to the e-mail, McKee simply confirmed to Word of Mouth that she exists. Then, she started getting more e-mails from the site.

"You want to be careful to who you reply in e-mail, and you want to be careful with the Web sites you go to as well," said Lewin.

It turns out Word of Mouth is actually selling something after all. For $20, they offer a "power membership," in which you supposedly can easily find out what anybody is saying about you, or anybody else.

So, for $20, News 8 bought a power membership and looked up Linda McKee. After all those e-mails, she's not even listed in the Word of Mouth database - if there is a database.

All that can truly be confirmed is that somebody in the Philippines is $20 richer. Since Word of Mouth is located in the Philippines, it is immune to U.S. prosecution.

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