Beware Of Internet Scam on Freecycle

SweetSassyLady · 07-25-2011, 10:46 PM

There is a scam going on on the freecycle network. The other day someone posted they had a 4 man tent and a Coleman lantern to give away. Stupid me, I bit and emailed them that I would love to have it. They emailed back from a different email address and sent a link for pictures of it.

Of course, I clicked on the link and it was a virus. I know better than that but I did it. : / So I had to restore from a backup and the laptop is OK now.

Just wanted to give everyone a heads up about this one. They had a lot of other items under different names such as an espresso machine and a bread machine. Just be careful guys and learn from my mistake.

**CozInCowtown** · 07-26-2011, 05:33 PM

Thanks for the heads up.
Some people have nothing better to do.....ugh.
Idiots.
DC

Grandpa · 07-26-2011, 06:00 PM

Thanks for the heads up. I just can't understand why people work so hard to create this havoc.

Qweetzy · 07-26-2011, 06:20 PM

I think people who do this should be prosecuted and made to work to help the economy. Even if they make them pick up trash on the road, they need to do it. Then take away their computers and ban them from the internet for a certain period of time. They have too much time on their hands.

Scotty · 07-26-2011, 06:44 PM

Thanks for the warning, SSL. We have been active participants in our local Freecycle for some time now. We would probably have bitten on this one too. I long for the days when people spray painted graffiti on things as a mischievous hobby.

MountainMan22 · 07-27-2011, 02:06 PM

Thanks for the warning. I get a lot of e-mail these days from people that have addresses that are similar to the real sites I use. Some how I have a bunch of email that has parts of all my Facebook friends names in the subjects. Is that the work of a hacker?

GROUNDpounder · 07-27-2011, 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Qweetzy

I think people who do this should be prosecuted and made to work to help the economy. Even if they make them pick up trash on the road, they need to do it. Then take away their computers and ban them from the internet for a certain period of time. They have too much time on their hands.

How about instead, if they are found guilty they are put to work at a security firm, that way they're making money and stimulating the economy.

ChadTower · 07-27-2011, 03:32 PM

I have been a Freecycle list owner for years. I've seen this attempted quite a few times. The best way to defend it is to have the list set to moderate new members. I won't expose it but these messages have a distinct pattern to them that you can easily spot. I spot them, reject the message before it hits the list, and ban the member. It did take me a bit of time to recognize that pattern, though.