FBI warns of Hurricane
Katrina-related web scams
Hurricane
Katrina-related internet scams are becoming so prevalent that yesterday
the FBI has issued a warning. The feds said there are about 4,000 web
sites set up for Katrina relief services, 60 percent based overseas. Some
sites pretend to be small charities working to help Katrina victims, while
others pretend to belong to the Red Cross. The Red Cross, in turn, has
hired an independent security company to scour the internet for fake
emails that try to swindle people into revealing their credit card number
or other personal information. The FBI suggests typing in web addresses
manually instead of clicking on links that could lead to fraudulent sites.
Charities remind donors that they don’t send solicitations via email,
and receiving one is a sure tip-off to fraud.
Nielsen//NetRatings: Image-hosting sites surge
The
surge of blogs has led to a spike in traffic to sites where users can
upload and share images. Such sites attracted more than 14.7 million
unique visitors in August, a 406 percent increase versus traffic back in
January, according to Nielsen//NetRatings. Most visitors to these sites
are referred by blogging sites like MySpace and Xanga, a category that
attracted 29.3 million visitors in July. The top image-hosting site last
month was PhotoBucket, which attracted 12.24 million visitors, a 696
percent increase versus 1.54 million visitors in January. ImageShack,
Putfile.com, TinyPic.com and Imagevenue.com filled out the top five
image-hosting sites last month. Nielsen//NetRatings says females
12-17 were two and a half times more likely to visit such sites
than the average internet user.
Depeche Mode starts one-of-a-kind web promo
Sometimes
old dogs do learn new tricks. Veteran rock group Depeche Mode is using
Apple’s iTunes Music Store to give fans who preorder the group’s
latest album “Playing the Angel” a password good for up to four
priority-seating tickets from Ticketmaster.com for its North American
tour. The special runs through Sept. 26, and the tour starts Nov. 2 in
Fort Lauderdale. The tickets will be available to the preorder customers
starting Sept. 20, before the general public gets a crack at them. The new
album comes out on Oct. 18.
Trump
University day one: A few tech bombs
Donald Trump's not firing anyone
this time. In fact, he's teaching them how to get ahead. Yesterday, Trump
conducted his first online course at Trump University to at least 2,000
people who ponied up $249. The course covered the economy, the real estate
bubble and better ways to make money. Students were able to ask the
money mogul questions, as well as read his words onscreen and view
pictures of him. The New York Post reported that the virtual classroom had
some technical issues, though, when servers crashed and class had to be
postponed. Six more lectures about entrepreneurism, persuasion, mastering
money and more, are set to take place through Sept. 19.
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