Scam or just a memorabilia collector?

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Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2008 10:25 pm

This came into my catcher account, and I'm still like "What the hell... ?" about it.

Quote:

From: "Robert Sexton" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Subject: Collectible Wizard of Oz - please read (October 1, 2008)
Date: Wed, 1 Oct 2008 14:55:19 -0700
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
Content-Length: 882

Hello,

I represent a company called StarPosition -- a company that does
what's known as advanced search engine placement. We reach a
Network of over 32 million people who are predominantly US based.
Our Network is entirely opt-in, and the users on our Network allow us
to present them with a preferred choice whenever they are looking
for anything on the top sixteen search engines. (GOOGLE, YAHOO,
MSN and thirteen others.)

I seek one source to send the users on our Network, from the major
search engines, for different types of collectible Wizard of Oz items.

I would like to speak with you on this.

Please contact me at your earliest convenience. I will be in the office
today and Thursday from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM Pacific time.

Best regards,

Robert Sexton
Director of Business Development, StarPosition
Phone: 800.481.2979, ext 2001
Direct line: 949.215.0022

Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2008 10:29 pm

Well, I can tell you that the direct phone # is a California number. Smile

I didn't follow what he was saying completely, but it sounds like one of those businesses that will get your website noticed on the first page of a search engine - for a fee. Not exactly a scam, but a bit of pie-in-the-sky, I would think.

Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2008 10:32 pm

That's what I thought, but then there's "Wizard of Oz" stuff that comes out of nowhere. Bizarre!

Also: I have zero connection with anything to do with the Wizard of Oz. I've watched the movie a few times, but that's about it.

Not quite a Newb Joined: 18 Sep 2008 Posts: 38

BBB Approved FWIW. Mostly legit but goofy? http://www.starposition.com/

Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2008 11:08 pm

I think it's trying to sell, or foist something on you, but being very vague about what it is, and using some very general and unspecific descriptions to lure you in.

There is some mention of a toolbar in one of the segments and I have heard of this before. They install a toolbar in your browser and are then able to direct you to preferred paying clients instead of page ranked google or yahoo ones.

It all boils down to whether you trust someone you know nothing about to install software on your pc and then make money out of you for doing so. It's not a crime, but as there's no benefit to me I'd prefer an itchy rash.

I've come across previous incarnations and I think there were worries about what it did.

I used the demo and it was pathetic. I used an obscure reference that I have searched on Google for successfully and it came up simply with something like - "Yes it was there". Rolling Eyes

The general idea is that they insert themselves between you and Google and then people pay them to get a better page rank. A nice idea - for them.

Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2008 11:38 pm

Thanks!

Sounds exactly like something I wouldn't want to allow anywhere near my computer. I don't even feel comfortable installing Google Toolbar or Yahoo Toolbar or whatever, never mind a more obscure company's piece of intrudoware.

Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 12:14 am

~ Otterfan,

A wise choice, especially if you don't want to have every single thing you do profiled - for instance if you run several email accounts and personalities for baiting purposes why bother if they'll all get interrelated by spyware (malicious or otherwise)?

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