Home Repair forum - Free iPods...Proven Method!

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Free iPods...Proven Method!

Benjahmin

2006-03-24, 1:21 pm

Ok so here's the deal.

http://ipods.freepay.com/?r=28842487

1. Click on the link above or at the bottom.

2. Register (Use an email that already gets spam for obvious reasons. I
also wouldn't recommend giving a cell phone # as your phone # for more
obvious reasons.)

3. Complete one of the offers. This is easy. I signed up for one of the
credit cards and after I make a purchase with the card, I'm done. Piece
of cake and it doesn't really cost me anything since I'm not buying
something I don't want. Other offers include magazine subscriptions,
BMG, Gourmet Coffee, and Rhapsody Music Service (which is great but I
already have it).

4. Get 5 people to sign up and try one of the offers like I'm doing
right now. The website provides you with the referral link. Once 5 of
the people you referred completes an offer and you complete your offer,
you get the iPod (30 gb video or nano). Pretty sweet.

To clarify, I hate scams which is why I just told you everything you
need to know up front. But this isn't a scam. It was really easy and
one of my friends already got his iPod so it's a proven method!

http://ipods.freepay.com/?r=28842487

Enjoy!
Ben

Vanguard

2006-03-24, 3:21 pm

"Benjahmin" <Benjahmin@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1143220097.923575.142040@g10g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
> Ok so here's the deal.

<snip - bunch of spam crap using affiliate URL>

freepay-dot-com traces back to rackspace-dot-com which is operated by Gratis
Network (also using freeipods-dot-com). Domain registrant for
freepay-dot-com is Gratis.

You are spamming the newsgroups trying to accumulate dupes that get suckered
into the pyramid marketing scam from Gratis Network who, by the way,
prohibits spamming to acquire your points (read their terms of service).
Oooooh, like we are not suppose to recognize the affiliate parameter in your
URL.

Next time, bozo, read the terms & conditions for Gratis Network
(http://www.freeipods.com/Terms.aspx, section V.1.g). You are NOT allowed
to spam your way to your own freebie! Hopefully Gratis kills your account
and you lose all the points that you have accumulated so far, if any.

Spam reported to:
abuse@rackspace.com (Gratis Network)
abuse@harvard.edu (spammer's ISP)

Benjahmin

2006-03-24, 6:21 pm

I could have easily done the whole tinyurl thing to hide the domain,
but I'm not hiding anything here. It's technically not even a pyramid
scheme since there are ways to do the offers without spending money as
I mentioned, so no one gets stuck holding the bill. The income comes
from advertising, commissions, and selling your email to spammers (like
you didn't know). In that sense, it's sustainable. I found this link
that sums up everything that's been in the news about this. It's not
all good news, they warn against schemes like this rightfully so
especially when the offers involve buying something, but the bottom
line in every article is that you do get the free iPod or whatever in
the end if you get the referrals.

http://referralaccelerated.com/proof.php

About this being spam, it's not. I'm not asking people to buy something
they don't want, I'm being completely up front, and it's not
unsolicited since this is Usenet- not your personal inbox. I think I
covered everything you were bytching about so what exactly is your
problem?

Bill Funk

2006-03-24, 9:21 pm

On 24 Mar 2006 14:14:08 -0800, "Benjahmin" <Benjahmin@gmail.com>
wrote:

>I could have easily done the whole tinyurl thing to hide the domain,
>but I'm not hiding anything here. It's technically not even a pyramid
>scheme since there are ways to do the offers without spending money as
>I mentioned, so no one gets stuck holding the bill.

Technically, you're right.
But this requires ever more people, as those who are told about it
decide to not take part, leaving an ever-declining number of people to
take part. those who come in later have the same problems victims of
true pyramid schemes have: fewer people to enlist in order to get the
promised payoff.
There's another problem, too; just because the requirements are made
known doesn't make them any more palatable. I value my friencds far
more than to expose them to this sort of scheme; you and I both know
they will be subject to an inordinate amount of junk (e)mail. Why
would you wish that on someone? And don't even think about denying
this; you even mention it:
"The income comes from advertising, commissions, and selling your
email to spammers (like you didn't know)."
Is this really how you want to be known? As a person who dangles a
bauble (that is increasingly difficult to actually get) while you
*know* they will become targets of the lowlife scum you mention above?

--
Bill Funk
replace "g" with "a"

Kris Baker

2006-03-24, 9:21 pm

"Bill Funk" <BigBill@there.com> wrote in message
news:lv292252o8t9j4d7a97a3lvu52t0u8btvs@4ax.com...
> On 24 Mar 2006 14:14:08 -0800, "Benjahmin" <Benjahmin@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>
> Technically, you're right.
> But this requires ever more people, as those who are told about it
> decide to not take part, leaving an ever-declining number of people to
> take part. those who come in later have the same problems victims of
> true pyramid schemes have: fewer people to enlist in order to get the
> promised payoff.
> There's another problem, too; just because the requirements are made
> known doesn't make them any more palatable. I value my friencds far
> more than to expose them to this sort of scheme; you and I both know
> they will be subject to an inordinate amount of junk (e)mail. Why
> would you wish that on someone? And don't even think about denying
> this; you even mention it:
> "The income comes from advertising, commissions, and selling your
> email to spammers (like you didn't know)."
> Is this really how you want to be known? As a person who dangles a
> bauble (that is increasingly difficult to actually get) while you
> *know* they will become targets of the lowlife scum you mention above?
>
> --
> Bill Funk
> replace "g" with "a"

Applause!

These are scams. They appeal only to gullible, unsophisticated
adults or small children/young teens.

Kris

Justin

2006-03-24, 10:21 pm

In sci.math Benjahmin <Benjahmin@gmail.com> wrote:

: 1. Click on the link above or at the bottom.

Fuck off and take your newsgroup-filling crap with you.

Justin

JTS Brown

2006-03-24, 11:21 pm

Up yours, catamite.

Vanguard

2006-03-25, 12:21 am

"Benjahmin" <Benjahmin@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1143238448.659617.291240@z34g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
>I could have easily done the whole tinyurl thing to hide the domain,

That won't hide the domain. I would have also sent an abuse report to
TinyURL since they don't abide the use of their services to spam,
either.

> It's technically not even a pyramid scheme

Yes, all scammers using a pyramid scheme will declare that it is not a
pyramid scheme. You haven't thoroughly read or cogitated how the scheme
works. I didn't say it was illegal. It is legal but it is still a
pyramid scheme.

> since there are ways to do the offers without spending money

Wrong. At some point, one of the dupes at some level in the pyramid
hierarchy must spend money or some other valuable resource.

> I mentioned, so no one gets stuck holding the bill.

No. The reason you are abusing the community is so that YOU don't have
to pay the bill.

> The income comes from advertising,

Advertising doesn't survive unless there is more revenue than there are
expenses. Advertisers don't continue advertising at a site if they
never generate revenue.

> commissions,

Explain how commissions are *paid* if no money or other valuable
resource is involved?

> and selling your email to spammers (like you didn't know).

Oh, and you mentioned that fact in your post? Obviously you didn't
because that would turn every reader off from reading the rest of your
post or of ever visiting the URL link. The URL link includes your
affiliate account number. If you were as altruistic as you claim to be,
you would not have included your affiliate number but instead just
provided a URL to the site's home page.

> In that sense, it's sustainable.

As long as you can sucker in enough dupes to support the pyramid scheme
long enough to provide enough hierarchy so you can garner enough points
to use the dupes in getting your iPod. Then you're out and the dupes at
the bottom layers lose.

> I found this link that sums up everything that's been in the news
> about this.

A Google search will find many more, and far more damning than the one
you provided. Gee, I wonder why you didn't provide the pros AND CONS in
your oh-so-wonderfully explanative original post.

It's not
> all good news, they warn against schemes like this rightfully so
> especially when the offers involve buying something, but the bottom
> line in every article is that you do get the free iPod or whatever in
> the end if you get the referrals.
>
> http://referralaccelerated.com/proof.php
>
> About this being spam, it's not. I'm not asking people to buy
> something
> they don't want, I'm being completely up front, and it's not
> unsolicited since this is Usenet- not your personal inbox. I think I
> covered everything you were bytching about so what exactly is your
> problem?
>

- You cross-posted to multiple UNRELATED newsgroups.
- Your post was off-topic in EVERY newsgroup to which you posted.
- You duplicated your post by multi-posting the same message to
deliberately disconnect them (so replies to each are hidden from view to
visitors in other the other groups to which you multi-posted), the same
technique used by spammers and malcontents.
- While you managed to remain under the BI (Briedbardt Index) to score a
[suite of similar] posts for spam based on EMP (excessive multi-posting)
or ECP (excessive cross-posting), this is not the only measure of what
is deemed spam in Usenet.
- You posted in groups where *advertisements* are not allowed.
- You violated the terms already mentioned regarding Gratis' policy.
- Your are promoting a pyramid scheme regardless of your attempt to
claim otherwise.
- The advertising at Gratis cannot be sustained without SOME monies
coming in to the advertisers to qualify their continued contract to
advertise with Gratis.
- Commissions don't exist with some money getting transferred. That
Gratis is running a pyramid scheme does not make it illegal. I didn't
mention legality of their pyramid scheme, but it is still a pyramid
scheme.
- Stop confusing the criteria used to define e-mail spam with the
criteria used to define Usenet spam. They are two distinctly different
communication venues.
- Advertising doesn't require that you post an ad for a product or
service. Advertising for your own profit is also advertising.
- You weren't helping the community or asking for help from the
community. You were advertising.
- While most of us don't want moderation (i.e., censorship), there are
times when it can be useful. You KNOW that your self-serving post
would've never appeared if submitted to a moderated newsgroup.

Have a read at ftp://ftp.faqs.org/faqs/usenet/advertising/how-to/part1
(notice point #1 under "How *not* to advertise on Usenet"). Also at
http://www.webservertalk.com/infoce...dvertising.asp.

I'm not saying the scheme doesn't work. I'm not saying it is illegal.
I'm not even saying that it necessarily a bad scheme provided the dupe,
er, participant understands fully into what they are getting - but then
the scheme is pandering to rocket scientists. The scheme isn't a true
pyramid but then most folks don't see a 2-layer hierarchy as a pyramid.
The scheme flattens out quite fast. See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gratis_Internet. Also, whether you want to
argue regarding the merits or detriments of the scheme used by Gratis,
it is YOUR OFF-TOPIC POST CROSS-POSTED TO MULTIPLE *UNRELATED* GROUPS
that has generated the complaints regarding it.

Kevin McMurtrie

2006-03-25, 3:21 am

In article <e01g1f$a107$1@news3.infoave.net>,
"Vanguard" <vanguard.news@yahooNIX.com> wrote:

> "Benjahmin" <Benjahmin@gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:1143220097.923575.142040@g10g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
>
> <snip - bunch of spam crap using affiliate URL>
>
> freepay-dot-com traces back to rackspace-dot-com which is operated by Gratis
> Network (also using freeipods-dot-com). Domain registrant for
> freepay-dot-com is Gratis.
>
> You are spamming the newsgroups trying to accumulate dupes that get suckered
> into the pyramid marketing scam from Gratis Network who, by the way,
> prohibits spamming to acquire your points (read their terms of service).
> Oooooh, like we are not suppose to recognize the affiliate parameter in your
> URL.
>
> Next time, bozo, read the terms & conditions for Gratis Network
> (http://www.freeipods.com/Terms.aspx, section V.1.g). You are NOT allowed
> to spam your way to your own freebie! Hopefully Gratis kills your account
> and you lose all the points that you have accumulated so far, if any.
>
> Spam reported to:
> abuse@rackspace.com (Gratis Network)
> abuse@harvard.edu (spammer's ISP)

That's bullshit. Gratis exists through spamming. Saying they don't
approve of spamming is just a facade to make their sleazy colo Rackspace
pretend that everything is OK.

Gratis is being sued by NY Attorney General Eliot Spitzer for selling
personal data despite promising users that they don't. Expect many more
lawsuits to follow. People who signed up have their personal data in
the hands of criminals and spammers and they're not going to get their
iPod either. Gratis execs have probably already fled the country with
everything they can get their hands on.

Paul Heslop

2006-03-25, 7:21 am

JTS Brown wrote:
>
> Up yours, catamite.

ooooh! Who swallowed the dictionary then? :O)

--
Paul (This is really happening, happening)
-------------------------------------------------------
Stop and Look
http://www.geocities.com/dreamst8me/

CWI

2006-03-26, 10:21 am

"Vanguard"
> freepay-dot-com traces back to rackspace-dot-com which is operated by
> Gratis
> Network (also using freeipods-dot-com). Domain registrant for
> freepay-dot-com is Gratis.
For more on rackspace, try googling on
rackspace jihad .
I have reported this thing, and I don't mean to Google Groups or to
rackspace.

Vickster

2006-04-04, 12:21 pm

I was searching for any recent info on the Freepay websites (one of
which is www.ipods.freepay.com) and I found this thread. I can
assure you I don't know the original poster, and I don't dispute that
he has taken a risk by spamming his referral link on this board (in
fact that is against Freepay's terms & conditions!), but I just
had to post to say that the thing as a whole ISN'T a scam - and I can
prove it as I received an iPod for free from Freepay (formerly called
Gratis) just before Christmas last year.
The most difficult part about it is trying to convince people it's not
a scam! And you can genuinely do it without anyone paying anything at
all - it just requires a few people to spare about 15 minutes of their
time.

Anyway just thought I would set the record straight on the whole scam
thing :-)

(PS - and just to prove that I'm not also trying to spam your board -
my other half is currently trying to get a free iPod but I'm not
posting his referral link here!)

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