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The .feedback scam

everythingsysadmin.com

71–80 of 171 posts

Re: The .feedback scam

#71

Wow, the author is not exaggerating when saying it is a scam. Looking at the .feedback page for Stack Overflow, it says at the top, in fairly large letters "We make Stack Overflow, where the world's developers get answers, share knowledge & find jobs they love. Also proud builders of the @stackexchange Q&A network." Then at the absolute bottom, in small, washed out print it says "Disclaimer: This site is provided to…

It is a scam, but the reality is nobody will ever go to these domains, they will never be ranked in google or bing. So who cares. I could create a site called myfeedbacksite.com/google or google.myfeedbacksite.com.. same thing.

If you owned one of those sites, you'd probably be a bit concerned. You're probably wondering right now if it's worth it to take action, wait for another company to do so, or hope that it never gets traction, like you suggest.

Also, the domains you suggested are quite different from the current situation. A site like myfeedbacksite.com/google is clearly not owned or operated by Google. Very few people would be confused. Whereas a site named google.feedback is far more confusing. Not sure anyone would know if it's an official Google site or not.

Re: The .feedback scam

#73
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> !!!11!one! Is there a word for the feeling you get when you see 15+ year old idiot message board / forum / usenet catchphrases apparently still going strong? It's a curious mix of nostalgia and revulsion.

Everyone knows adults mix in cos(0) somewhere among the 1's

Really??!!!11-i^21?

Re: The .feedback scam

#74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is a scam, but the reality is nobody will ever go to these domains, they will never be ranked in google or bing. So who cares. I could create a site called myfeedbacksite.com/google or google.myfeedbacksite.com.. same thing.

If you owned one of those sites, you'd probably be a bit concerned. You're probably wondering right now if it's worth it to take action, wait for another company to do so, or hope that it never gets traction, like you suggest. Also, the domains you suggested are quite different from the current situation. A site like myfeedbacksite.com/google is clearly not owned or operated by Google. Very few people would be confus…

You should only be concerned about people who know enough to tell that `google.com.feedba.ck` is probably not owned by google, but don't know enough to tell the same about `google.feedback`. I really don't think this covers a lot of people.

Re: The .feedback scam

#75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You must be joking or have no experience beyond 1 or 2 people. The vast majority of the online population does not learn nor care about these details. The massive amount of scams that continue to exist and grow is evidence enough. If people did something as simple as confirming the domain listed in the address bar is the site they should be on, we would see a major decrease in malware, but alas the situation continue…

The flipside of this is that if nobody visits .feedback domains, they won't be able to scam anyone. Users don't need to learn anything to avoid them, because they probably won't ever hear about them in the first place. If they have no audience, they can be safely ignored. No reason to pay $600/yr for hypotheticals. All I meant was, the moment someone brings up a .feedback domain or "Google's new feedback service," ju…

The amount of education you spread (and assuming it's remembered and trusted) will never match the advertising and other underhanded methods scammers will use to trick people into visiting and believing this is a real site. They work on the scale of billions of online users.

Re: The .feedback scam

#77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you owned one of those sites, you'd probably be a bit concerned. You're probably wondering right now if it's worth it to take action, wait for another company to do so, or hope that it never gets traction, like you suggest. Also, the domains you suggested are quite different from the current situation. A site like myfeedbacksite.com/google is clearly not owned or operated by Google. Very few people would be confus…

You should only be concerned about people who know enough to tell that `google.com.feedba.ck` is probably not owned by google, but don't know enough to tell the same about `google.feedback`. I really don't think this covers a lot of people.

Two points: - I do think they are concerned about google.com.feedba.ck, those lawyers need to fill up their day. - google.com.feedba.ck is far more sketchy looking than google.feedback. It's far easier to fool someone with the latter, and therefore far more of a thread.
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