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Crafty scam - A whole fake forum!

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  • xoggoth
    replied
    It's not a coincidence, I think they just make a generic page for every single book with a query parameter ?bookname=abc
    You're probably right. "Anglo-Norman Antiquities considered in a tour through part of Normandy, by Doctor Ducarel" is the exact title, and it's on Amazon. Scouring the titles from the books section in Amazon and adding very generic comments probably isn't that hard.
    Last edited by xoggoth; 31 January 2021, 10:46.

    Leave a comment:


  • OwlHoot
    replied
    Originally posted by MarillionFan View Post

    Try looking for Arse Ticklers and Faggots Fan Club by AtW and see if the same thing happens.
    Tried that, and this came up:

    YouTube - Lock Stock - Arse Tickler's Faggots Fan Club

    The only other result was a dodgy looking site called "Contractor UK". I'd steer well clear!

    Leave a comment:


  • FIERCE TANK BATTLE
    replied
    It's not a coincidence, I think they just make a generic page for every single book with a query parameter ?bookname=abc

    They probably then have a master page with every single ISBN/book from some pilfered database of every book in existence.

    Then they just get google to index their site, google thinks oh this is a site with a list of every book ever made, indexes a link to page.html?bookname=python for dummies etc. etc.

    You click the link on google, it generates a fake page based on the query parameter

    et voila

    That is my guess, unless they have some way of taking your google search query and feeding it in, which is also a possibility - sometimes you google something like 'specific model 33boobs plasma television' and you get an advert in the side bar like 'ebay buy and sell specific model 33boobs plasma television and many others items today!' and it links to an ebay search for what you typed in.

    Leave a comment:


  • MarillionFan
    replied
    Originally posted by xoggoth View Post
    Probably lots of fake sites selling popular stuff but not sure I understand how a bot would come up with that header post or why it would be worth it. Your interest must be one in millions.
    Yeah. Conspiracy or co-incidence. I'd say co-incidence.

    Try looking for Arse Ticklers and Faggots Fan Club by AtW and see if the same thing happens.

    Leave a comment:


  • xoggoth
    replied
    Hey there! Anglo-Norman antiquities considered : in a tour through part of Normandy, by Doctor Ducarel, 1767. Illustrated with twenty-seven copper-plate
    Probably lots of fake sites selling popular stuff but not sure I understand how a bot would come up with that header post or why it would be worth it. Your interest must be one in millions.
    Last edited by xoggoth; 31 January 2021, 10:13.

    Leave a comment:


  • OwlHoot
    started a topic Crafty scam - A whole fake forum!

    Crafty scam - A whole fake forum!

    I was searching for an obscure ebook, when as luck would have it (so I thought) I came across a forum thread that discussed that very book!

    caffeine
    Jack
    Member
    Join Date: Aug 2014, Posts: 48

    #1
    January 28, 2021 02:00 PM
    Hey there! Anglo-Norman antiquities considered : in a tour through part of Normandy, by Doctor Ducarel, 1767. Illustrated with twenty-seven copper-plates. searched all the web couldn't find anywhere.

    ---

    yurikuzn
    Harry
    Senior Member
    Join Date: Mar 2014
    Posts: 3090

    #2
    January 28, 2021 02:34 PM
    Here is the link, was searching for this myself for a long time, found only on this fileshare.

    ---

    caffeine
    Jack
    Member
    Join Date: Aug 2014, Posts: 48

    #3
    January 28, 2021 02:39 PM
    But it requires CC.

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    Makov
    Oscar
    Junior Member
    Join Date: Jun 2016
    Posts: 19

    #4
    January 29, 2021 11:58 AM
    Yes, just fill it in, its trusted site.

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    yurikuzn
    Jack
    Senior Member
    Join Date: caffeine
    Posts: 48

    #5
    January 29, 2021 01:25 PM
    Thanks, the CC is just to make sure you aren't a bot.

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    Makov
    Sofia
    Junior Member
    Join Date: Jun 2016
    Posts: 140

    #6
    January 30, 2021 08:24 PM
    Thanks guys, looked for this long time too.

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    Makov
    William
    Junior Member
    Join Date: Jun 2016
    Posts: 158

    #7
    January 30, 2021 10:46 PM
    Oh man, that's great, thank, solid website, entered CC and just got what I needed.

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    yurikuzn
    Admin
    Admin
    Join Date: Mar 2012
    Posts: 3090


    #8
    January 30, 2021 11:19 AM

    Topic is closed.
    It was a really slick looking forum page. But look at those datetimes - I was searching today, 2021-01-31, and the above "discussion" has a regular sequence of datetimes starting only a couple of days ago! What are the chances two or three people would all be keenly interested in some old book like the one I was looking for and would all reply within a day or two?

    So someone has created a whole fake bulletin board discussion generator to lure unsuspecting ebook searchers to hand out their credit card details.

    (Clicking on the user names and similar popped up a message saying "site under maintenance".)

    Also, I just noticed the datetime the Admin closed the thread precedes that of the previous comment (unless I made mistake copying and pasting the posts - Can't be bothered to check now.)

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