www.marilynbrant.com

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Scammers on the Loose

I have finally hit the big time. Bet'cha all didn't realize that "Brant Flakes" was prime blog real estate, did ya?! Yeah...me either. But just take a look at this new phishing scheme below. No, I'm in no way associated with "Sandra" or this scam (and I've sent the scammers an email saying as much), but if any of you get a message like this, please just delete it.

Many thanks to the friend who alerted me to this bogusness (reaching back to my '80s roots for that word, thank you very much :), and be assured that I will NEVER sell adverstising on my blog or have some "company" contact you on my behalf to sell you anything. I will, however, openly mock such foolishness:

From: sandra.sellers@ontime-ads.com
Date: October 17, 2010 8:36:34 AM MDT
Subject: Placing advertisements on marilynbrant.blogspot.com

Dear webmaster,

We, in Ontime-Ads, are glad to offer you payment on behalf of one of our clients for the publication of a small advertisement on marilynbrant.blogspot.com.

We would like to inform you that we are using a few advertising methods according to the selected website.

While reviewing your website I thought of a great way to advertise on marilynbrant.blogspot.com so it will fit it perfectly.

For full details please contact me at sandra.sellers@ontime-ads.com.

*If you have other websites which I can review for advertising please send me their URLs as well.

Regards,
Sandra Sellers
Advertising Specialist
sandra.sellers@ontime-ads.com

Aside from laughing, the only thing I can say about it is, "Wow. I am WAY more popular than I ever thought..." LOL.

BTW, Tech Review - TruXter got the same phishing message this summer, too, so I'm hardly the first.

Anyway, on to more fun news: I'll be blogging tomorrow (Monday the 18th) on Borders True Romance and giving away a copy of Friday Mornings at Nine!! Even if you already have the book, I hope a few of you will join me. It's my first time on Borders ;).

And I'd love to know what's going on with you all this week. Reading anything good? Looking forward to some fun TV shows? Any pre-Halloween festivities in the works? I just finished reading Cattitude by Edie Ramer and LOVED it!! And I'm gearing up for Halloween by window shopping for my candy. (I don't dare actually buy it yet or it'll be all gone by the 31st...really.) Trying to decide if I should go with Snickers miniatures, Almond Joys or the ever-popular Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Do you all already know what candy you're going to give out?!

15 comments:

Caryn Caldwell said...

I love how the spammers ask people to send them other URLs that they can then use to attack. That's what good friends do, after all - pass their friends' info on to spammers!

As for Halloween candy, it depends. If you want the leftovers then get what you like best. If you want to avoid the temptation then get something disgusting.

Marilyn Brant said...

LOL, Caryn! I know...like I'd willingly give out my friends' websites or emails to spammers ;). Funny but sad.

Re: the Halloween candy, I'm so torn. I like almost everything, so there isn't much I can resist -- except maybe those Dum Dum lollipops -- but all of us love the Almond Joy miniatures and my husband is disappointed if he doesn't get some treats like that. Still, I don't want TOO many leftovers... This is a delicate balance ;).

Edie Ramer said...

Marilyn, thanks for the really lovely comment on Cattitude. I say about my characters that her heart glowed. My heart is glowing right now.

About the scammer, it's rough being so popular. lol

We almost always have Snickers. Only the best for us, er, the children. I'm going to try not to eat too much this Halloween.

Unknown said...

I just received an email from Sandra. Glad I didn't respond. Something told me to google for verification. I hadn't solicited any ads so i was kind of suspicious.

Glad to find your post.

Maria Geraci said...

Wow. That's all I can say to that!

Marilyn Brant said...

Edie, you're most welcome. xo It was a lovely story ;). And LOL about getting only the best "for the kids" -- yeah. That's me, too. Always thinkin' about those poor neighborhood children...

M.Z.~I'm so glad to have been able to help! That's exactly why I posted it right away. I was so relieved to find Tech Review's experience posted online, too, just to confirm from every side that the message was spam.

Maria, bizarre, isn't it?! I just don't know where people find the time to come up with these scams...

Pamela Cayne said...

Wow--you have hit the big time, haven't you? ;-)

And I still need to get my candy corns. It's just not fall without them!

Marilyn Brant said...

Oh, I love candy corn, too, Pamela... Enjoy them!! :)

Unknown said...

I've received a couple of those. I thought I was just unlucky, but I'd rather think I've "hit the big time" .

Marilyn Brant said...

LOL, Marlyn! Yep, that's the way I'm taking it. We're cool! We're popular! That's right, baby ;).

TruXter said...

Do the snicker's Mini
It feels like a bigger bar and seems to take longer to chew. I remember as a kid, I would get excited when I got a reeses peanut-butter cup but they never lasted but 2 seconds. Meanwhile I would spend 4 minutes chewing on a snickers while I would dig through my candy. They lasted for ever and really felt like the best Halloween deal.
I then fell in love with magic of a Snicker bar :-P

Marilyn Brant said...

LOL, TruXter, you're talking me into it ;). I love those Snicker miniatures, too. They're so good right from the bag, but I also like them frozen...which can make eating them take even longer!

Robin said...

You're big time to me! ;)

I'm not too picky when it comes to candy. Which means I absolutely cannot buy it until the day before Halloween or I will eat it!

And now I'm hungry for a Snickers. :)

Marilyn Brant said...

Awww, Robin! {hug} Thank you. And I hear you on having to wait to buy the candy... It's bad enough having the leftovers around for weeks afterward, but we'd go through twice as many bags if we had them here before Halloween, too ;).

The Jilted Lover said...

Thanks for informing us. I just got an email from her/him/it/whatever too! ugh.