Some "Internet Marketers" are just scum...

38 replies
So today I was doing some maintenance on my websites and noticed one I'd completely forgotten that I had. So I go to check it out. Realize I need to finish up on some things and come across a post where I'd added a youtube video. Someone had hacked into my site, changed the video from a niche specific video to one featuring an IM product, then added their own affiliate links.

Some people who attempt to call themselves Internet Marketers are just scum.

Rashell
#internet marketers #scum
  • Profile picture of the author DonHuevos
    Wow, that's crazy. It would be nice if you had some form of recourse.
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    • Profile picture of the author Danny McConnell
      "Some" people involved in anything are scum, but that person isn't an internet marketer. That is a hacker.

      Calling them a marketer is like calling all those Club VIP emails I get a marketing promotion.

      Dan
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      • Profile picture of the author sethczerepak
        Originally Posted by Danny McConnell View Post

        "Some" people involved in anything are scum, but that person isn't an internet marketer. That is a hacker.

        Calling them a marketer is like calling all those Club VIP emails I get a marketing promotion.

        Dan
        Nicely put Dan
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  • Profile picture of the author Ewan1998
    Banned
    They aren't in my opinion.

    I really do hate the black hackers that ruin it for all the other white hatter's trying to make an income legit.
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  • Profile picture of the author davejug1
    Agreed, they are a hacker with brains (opposed to the regular hacker who does it for kicks)

    What they did is illegal, immoral and it will ultimately be their downfall. You could call your relevant authorities if you like well the hacker has left themselves open to prosecution by leaving a trail (their affiliate link)

    Dave.
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  • Profile picture of the author sonicadam123
    That's really horrible, just like with any group of people, there is always people who just don't care about anyone else and have no morals at all.

    I believe in karma though, so what comes around goes around

    They will get their just desserts and it certainly won't involve and cake type goodness
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    • Profile picture of the author Rashell
      Originally Posted by DonHuevos View Post

      Wow, that's crazy. It would be nice if you had some form of recourse.
      I reported them to both the company that hosts the affiliate program and the product owners. We'll see what happens with that.

      Originally Posted by Danny McConnell View Post

      "Some" people involved in anything are scum, but that person isn't an internet marketer. That is a hacker.

      Calling them a marketer is like calling all those Club VIP emails I get a marketing promotion.

      Dan
      I wouldn't call them an Internet Marketer either. This guy/girl was total scum. But even things suggested in some WSOs are borderline scummy, lazy and overall shortsighted. It's almost as if anything that can manipulate an algorithm or technology is OK. Doesn't matter if it interrupts the community.

      Originally Posted by davejug1 View Post

      Agreed, they are a hacker with brains (opposed to the regular hacker who does it for kicks)

      What they did is illegal, immoral and it will ultimately be their downfall. You could call your relevant authorities if you like well the hacker has left themselves open to prosecution by leaving a trail (their affiliate link)

      Dave.
      Leaving the trail was pretty daft. But your post got me thinking... what if the hacker left someone else's affiliate link just because hackers like to be a--wipes?

      In either case, I reported the incident. The product owners can do the research to determine if this is a pattern with that affiliate.

      Right now I've got to work on hardening the security of my sites!

      Rashell
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  • Profile picture of the author JamesMcCaferty
    Are you using wordpress:
    Harden up the sites:
    http://www.shareaschnitzel.com/how-to-secure-wordpress-wordpress-security/

    Everything here helps. For example, I use limit logins, and I receive a notification almost daily from a bot trying to crack break into one of my sites using a randomly generated login/pass.

    An easy way to secure your sites is you change your login from "admin" to something totally different.

    Strong log-in credentials (login/pass) will surely stop any type of brute force attack (trying to guess your password with a piece of software).

    Follow the steps in the link I posted to harden even more parts of your sites.

    Of course, none of this matters if they hack your hosting company, as I've seen with my inmotionhosting sites!
    Cheers!


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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      Some "Internet Marketers" are just scum...
      Rashell, you have that exactly backwards. Some scum call themselves "Internet Marketers"...
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      • Profile picture of the author biffula
        Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe View Post

        Rashell, you have that exactly backwards. Some scum call themselves "Internet Marketers"...
        Exactly right
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      • Profile picture of the author Tim3
        Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe View Post

        Rashell, you have that exactly backwards. Some scum call themselves "Internet Marketers"...

        This ^^ (nicely put John)


        If they put as much effort into doing something honest and worthwhile, they would not need to do what they are doing.
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        • Profile picture of the author ShaneGorry
          Originally Posted by Tim3 View Post

          If they put as much effort into doing something honest and worthwhile, they would not need to do what they are doing.
          Agreed and in the long term they would probably do a lot better with a lot less stress.
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    • Profile picture of the author stanli
      Originally Posted by JamesMcCaferty View Post

      Are you using wordpress:
      Harden up the sites:
      http://www.shareaschnitzel.com/how-to-secure-wordpress-wordpress-security/

      Everything here helps. For example, I use limit logins, and I receive a notification almost daily from a bot trying to crack break into one of my sites using a randomly generated login/pass.

      An easy way to secure your sites is you change your login from "admin" to something totally different.

      Strong log-in credentials (login/pass) will surely stop any type of brute force attack (trying to guess your password with a piece of software).

      Follow the steps in the link I posted to harden even more parts of your sites.

      Of course, none of this matters if they hack your hosting company, as I've seen with my inmotionhosting sites!
      Cheers!


      James, thanks for the good advice. Many people will benefit by just getting away from the default settings. In the bigger issue, what hosting companies have you found to be particularly secure?
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  • Profile picture of the author chris187
    I would call 99% of so called Guru's scum ! These people say they are helping people make money. when they dont make money they blame the buyer and then sell them something else and something else and something else untill they final catch on.
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  • Profile picture of the author gearmonkey
    What software do you use? Is your site Wordpress, HTML, Joomla?
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  • Profile picture of the author buckeyes09
    Welcome to the world of business. I'm sorry that happened to you.
    Signature

    Christian

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  • Profile picture of the author kimmer551
    scums not only call them as 'Internet Marketers' also 'Gurus'.
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    • Profile picture of the author Tess D
      "But even things suggested in some WSOs are borderline scummy, lazy and overall shortsighted."

      Looking through the marketing courses I purchased in the last year, a good portion would fall into the "shortsighted" category.
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  • Profile picture of the author marketwarrior06
    Banned
    For these hackers Internet marketing is getting harder and harder every day. everyone should be careful to protect them from these hacking.
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  • Profile picture of the author freddyjrtips
    Hackers are always bad news to internet marketers, that is why we must change our passwords at least every 6 months. When it comes to the internet you never know!

    Hope you have fixed that problem!
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  • Profile picture of the author sarconi
    It 's a shame some people have no moral, after seeing this post i'd better check my sites aswell!
    and thanks for usefull answers !
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  • Profile picture of the author JamesMcCaferty
    I've never had my bluehost servers hacked!
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  • Profile picture of the author chow
    I have had one of my sites hacked. Thanks James for the link to secure my sites better!
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  • Profile picture of the author GeorgR.
    I use limit logins, and I receive a notification almost daily from a bot trying to crack break into one of my sites using a randomly generated login/pass.
    Sites get CONSTANTLY scanned by bots for open ports and other security holes. Security needs to start on server level, your hosting (your server) needs to have a Firewall running, just to start with.

    Many hosting companies, VPS providers etc. have no security level "out of the box"..and securing wordpress etc. wont be enough because bots from China etc. are scanning sites 24/7..this is how they can upload scripts etc.
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  • Profile picture of the author MyCogitate
    I accept the fact that not all internet marketers are legitimate but are scums usually doing scam job..
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  • Profile picture of the author godinu
    you have to be careful even here on the WF. I did a job for someone on here, turned it in and never got paid, and there's no recourse via the forums either. Lesson learned.

    As far as websites go, yes, I have had just about every WP site targeted by spammers and bots, especially sites which have been dormant a while. You definitely need to do continual upkeep and security. The plus to that is that doing things to your site will also keep you higher up in google listings.
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    • Profile picture of the author Rashell
      Originally Posted by ShaneGorry View Post

      Agreed and in the long term they would probably do a lot better with a lot less stress.
      Some people love the stress though. To them it's a challenge or just part of the game. Of course (s)he'd have to had done this to a boatload of sites to get any results. It was a completely non-targeted message and the site traffic was absolutely dismal.

      Originally Posted by GeorgR. View Post

      Sites get CONSTANTLY scanned by bots for open ports and other security holes. Security needs to start on server level, your hosting (your server) needs to have a Firewall running, just to start with.

      Many hosting companies, VPS providers etc. have no security level "out of the box"..and securing wordpress etc. wont be enough because bots from China etc. are scanning sites 24/7..this is how they can upload scripts etc.
      Did a scan of my files and found a keylogger in the downloaded backup for the sites on my server. I had just downloaded it cause I made a change to another one of my sites and lost a few files. Anyway, I have no idea if that contributed to the hack. But jeesh...

      I also found one in an IM eBook I got in one of those "mega download" free plr offers.

      Rashell
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      • Profile picture of the author ShaneGorry
        Originally Posted by Rashell View Post

        Some people love the stress though. To them it's a challenge or just part of the game. Of course (s)he'd have to had done this to a boatload of sites to get any results. It was a completely non-targeted message and the site traffic was absolutely dismal.
        So true. I still see people I grow up with now going on middle age and still trying to play the hustler. lol Better them then me. I've been to all the places they say they'll go when their next big scam pays off. lol As long as the're having fun I guess.
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  • Profile picture of the author PPC-Coach
    Or they automated the whole thing and just work off volume.

    Either way it sucks, but I wouldn't label internet marketers this way.

    That's a hacker not an IM'er.

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  • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
    Originally Posted by Rashell View Post

    Some people are just scum.
    Fixed that for you.
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    "The Golden Town is the Golden Town no longer. They have sold their pillars for brass and their temples for money, they have made coins out of their golden doors. It is become a dark town full of trouble, there is no ease in its streets, beauty has left it and the old songs are gone." - Lord Dunsany, The Messengers
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  • Profile picture of the author PaulyC
    That really is a shame, but like danny said in post #2, there are people like this in each and every area of life - its just a part of life and can't do much else but keep moving forward.

    Don't let it ruin your day!
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  • Profile picture of the author yourreviewer
    Being a complete non-techie, I spent quite a bit of time to figure out how to change the default admin for my wordpress website after I realized how bad it is to use the default admin as login.

    I found this tutorial most helpful.

    How to change the default ‘admin’ username in WordPress? (WordPress Tips)
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    • Profile picture of the author r30ducez
      Well, now you know what people are capable of and you can protect your sites in the future. Sorry this happened to you.
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  • Profile picture of the author pwrhouse92
    Plenty of crooks out there mate, gotta be wary!

    You can use a powerful tool called Viral URL to protect your affiliate links from these hackers. I suggest you check it out.

    Alex
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  • Profile picture of the author rltenney
    I had this same thing happen to me minus the affiliate links. Someone just swapped out my video for a video of a rapper. Who would do something like this? A hacker with nothing else to do but eat chips, drink pop and waste their life away.

    I used to think hackers were cool, but after some time now, I've come to realize what they really are and the dictionary defines what a hack really is:

    a person, as an artist or writer, who exploits, for money, his or her creative ability or training in the production of dull, unimaginative, and trite work; one who produces banal and mediocre work in the hope of gaining commercial success in the arts: As a painter, he was little more than a hack.

    I think it says it all.... LOL!!!!!
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  • Profile picture of the author LTurnerJVManager
    Some great security tips here and as others have said its not a marketer and it's not someone doing blackhat marketing it is a hacker!

    You know sometimes you can learn a lot from people who "push the boundaries". In your case why dont you look an d see if that product converts better for you? probably wont but might be worth a shot!

    Lewis
    JV Manager
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