Spring Break
Binary Boys: Recognizing Internet scams
Glen Pfeiffer and Ryan Gibbons
Issue date: 4/9/09 Section: Verve
As cheap, financially challenged college students, the proof is in the plasma -- we're always looking for ways to make or save a buck, and luckily the Internet is there to help (as always). We can hop on Craigslist or eBay and find everything from Jesus toast to cities for sale.
Sadly, the Internet is known to harbor some less-than-reputable characters: people who will try to steal your hard-earned money. It's shocking, we know. And while it may be easier to think of Jesus toast as a sign of the Internet's purity, you're only fooling yourself.
Now before you swear it all off in frustration, let us give you some advice that will put you one step ahead of those Interweb bullies. Trust us, if there was one thing we learned growing up as geeks it was how to be one step ahead of those bullies.
First and foremost, if it sounds too good to be true, IT IS. Last week we Binary Boys happened to be in the market for a used MacBook Pro (we know, you all thought that we could buy new on Collegian columnist salaries), so we browsed eBay and Craigslist and started e-mailing everyone who had merch' in our price range. One thing became clear: some of the prices listed were only there to catch the eye of the about-to-be-scammed.
In fact, we received e-mails from so many scammers offering to sell us cheap hardware that the characteristics of the scams became painfully obvious, and here we will share them for you.
"Let me know soon!"
Scammers will often try to rush you into a transaction. We conversed for several e-mails with one guy who ended every message with "let me know soon!"
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