Wednesday, September 07, 2005

Bogus


One day I got a bit annoyed with all those spoof emails that arrive saying that I need to update account information for my eBay or PayPal account. They're just scammers fishing for credit card numbers.

Then I realized how I could get a small amount of revenge: Click on the link and enter fake credit card information!

Using the name of a 9/11 hijacker, I did this. The page, with no lag for processing, kept asking me to enter valid card numbers. I counted the number of digits on my card, and entered the right number of fake digits. Still, it asked me to enter valid numbers. That kept happening.

Then I realized that even if you were fool enough to enter your real credit card number, the page would probably still ask you to enter a valid number. That's an efficient tactic when they don't care about you wasting your time, and just want numbers. It works because, if you have entered an invalid number, this error message makes you double-check it and correct it. And if you haven't made an error, you confirm the valid information by posting it again. The bad guys win.

Next time I do it, I will first look up the names of people on the FBI's Most Wanted list. Maybe someone using the name to test the credit card number will attract a little attention.

Left grip is 29 pounds (26, 27, 29), right grip is 85 pounds (78, 81, 85), left leg balance is 6.19 seconds, and inhale volume is 4400 mL.
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