Affiliate Marketing Bulletin Boards
Hackers turn to Blackhat Marketing
Ten years ago, hacker groups dominated the landscape of cybercrime. They used to meet on electronic bulletin boards but moved to the internet soon. They followed gang structures, considering themselves the next new criminal wave, often taking pseudonyms not unlike those in gangs. Now this methodology has become that of black hat marketers that have cost the online advertising industry an estimated $2 billion in fraudulent losses in 2009.
They meet online in forums and groups such as Wickedfire, the dominate message board for the black hat marketing community. From the outside Wickedfire seems like a board for marketing enthusiasts, but experts in the industry call it the meeting place of some of the top criminal minds in marketing and advertising. Similar to hackers, the users use pseudonyms and keep their identity secret for fear of possible actions.
Wickedfire seems like a pornographic highschool of sorts. Messages are often filled with pornographic images as rewards to users who post information about possible fraudulent techniques. Most of the users admit they are under 24 years old, some of them in college and some still in highschool. Besides posting pornographic materials, users often post photos of themselves smoking pot.
What is most disturbing is that the board is filled with pages of information on how to cheat advertising networks. Information on the easiest networks to game are often a common topic, naming those networks that will accept almost anyone and then pay earlier than others, making it less likely to be caught before being paid. Often you can find people hawking programs that help cheating affiliate programs, alongside of people trying to sell stolen credit card lists.
When I visited the forum, one of the top discussions was about another marketing forum, WarriorForum. Users of WickedFire were engaged ridicule of the owners of that forum, openly using slurs for homosexuals as insults. Attached to the comments were manipulated photographs of some of the users of WarriorForum turning family photos into pornographic images.
I contacted one user and informed him I was writing a book and he happily spoke to me. He didn’t even want me to use his name on the board, fearful that by violating the code of silence he might be kicked off the board. For the purpose of the book, let’s call him “Jared.” Jared described himself as 22 years old, a college drop out who got into black hat marketing after reading an article about several well known civil cases against marketers.
“I read about how much money these guys were scamming,” stated Jared,”and I realized that probably anyone could do the same thing and make large amounts of money.” Jared admits that he makes over $10,000 a month cheating affiliate programs but says that some members of WickedFire take home over $100,000 a month. He makes it clear that he feels nothing of regret because, “people are stupid and deserve to be f**cked.”
About the Author
Jim Fisher is an former New York City Detective who worked in the financial crimes division for 12 years. He currently is writing a book about financial and cybercrime to be published by Harper-Collins.
Warning: Top Affiliate Programs right here! Web Affiliate Programs Tips & Guide!
|
|
The Guerilla Marketing, Building Effective Lead Capture Web Pages, Affiliate Marketing for Fabric Bulletin Boards Businesses … |