just received a message on my screen one of my buddies has a crush on me, it even knows where i live.  naturally it then started talking about how the sms costs $6 .  is there anyway to find out what criminal mind is trying to make money out of the vulnerable, if i get my hands on person responsible i will be able to deal with them?

hi Pat what messages are you talking about, is it the ones that come across the top of the screen?? how have you got your pop up blocker set, have you got your filter set to medium, I dont understand how anyone could get your home address without you letting it out if anyone else is having this problem please do the following leave a message with Cindy (our webmistress) and describe what is happening to you!!

Any Scams I get,[and I get a lot.] I forward straight to both of the following addresses, one being Commonwealth, the other State.[Qld.]

infoline@asic.gov.au

brisbaneoft@justice.qld.go

Hope this is of some use,
Cheers,
xina.

-- Edited by xina at 16:16, 2009-03-11

yep seen the one's that you are talking about, they are just a "banner ad" they can in no way find out where you live or collect any info on you unless you click on them the site uses these ads as a form of revenue and unfortunately without them the forum would not be able to exist so please dont worry about them, annoying as they are they are harmless

I also received it. It's someone's way of getting money out of you if you subscribe to the "crush" mobile phone nonsense. Just ignore it and delete. If they persist send "STOP" to the phone number listed. It $6.60 every time. Read the details at the bottom of the screen. They don't know who you are or where you are. If you respond they will find out those details. It's just a pop-up ad. Cheers Granny

I do not agree with the suggestion they are acceptable, or necessary. In so much as "lonely hearts" or "you have won" The last time this happened Cindy had it corrected for "those" types. I think they come in via the reasonable adverts for revenue purposes, but are not part of the the package Talk with Cindy - everyone

yeah but did you see the "nudey one" now THAT'S acceptable surely (Dave waits for the inevitable raging of stampeding female indignance, with acompanying gnashing of falseys) HAH!! HAH!! HAH!

i dont agree that they are harmless or that they are necessary. some real smart alecs have found a way to make money out of vulnerable people. i once got caught when i entered a competition and they kept texting me and charging $6 a text. it got very expensive before i looked at my bill and saw what was happening. i am still attempting in my spare time to find the address of the company, naturally they are using a po box. when i find out who is responsible i will be more than happy to go to their home and discuss their behaviour with them

ps is still flashing on my screen, 2 of your buddies have a crush on you

have also on the top of my screen congratulations, you are the 9,xxxxxxxxx visitor, click here to see what you have won. the site is invaded by creeps

yeah, look just ignore the things, the only way they can be a problem is if you click on them, I will send a message to Cindy to try and get them revoked but obviously she still has some other problems elsewhere it's not an invasion it is merely revenue raising, sites like this cost money to run and unless we self fund (which I am loathe to do ) then we must put up with some sort of advertising but not necesarily this type

I'm finally getting the Bank Scams. One each from an on-line Westpac site, and the other from Bank West on-line, requesting confirmation of details of my accounts. Needless to say, I have never banked with either of them, and certainly won't give out any relevant information. Banks DO NOT ask for that sort of information on-line. Cheers, xina.

The mobile phone messages can be stopped by Telstra or your provider. In the mean time reply with "STOP", and there will be no charge, and they should leave you alone. Those congratulation ones are from USA and not viable in Australia. You can try to get your winnings but it won't work anyway. According to the emails I've been receiving lately I have millions of dollars out there in unclaimed compensation, bank transfers and lottery winnings. They try to get my bank details and my address to deliver these winnings, but I tell them nothing. I forward most of them to the Office of Fair Trading in Brisbane, to be investigated. The Aussie Government is working very hard to track these robbers down, and to stop the con job on poor, unsuspecting Aussies. I usually send an email back with a nasty note telling them to stop conning pensioners. I have a feeling these Crush things are not endorsed by the webmaster of GN's. And stopping pop ups won't stop these ads at the top of the page. Ah, technology is such a wonderful thing when it works, but there are crooks out there who can used it for con jobs while we nice folk just enjoy using it to communicate, share time together and research, or buy and sell. Life is good. Enjoy. Cheers Granny

the absolute second you reply to these things in ANY WAY shape or form they have got you, a complaint email does not bother them it just confirms that there is someone there answering that email in any way makes you a target for more rubbish do not answer emails of this sort in ANY WAY, delete them straight away, the same with mobile phone rubbish, do not answer it in any way this is a means of them finding out that there is someone there, and you will be charged accordingly, they want you to ring them back to complain or to ask them to stop, thats how they make the money the rubbish calls and emails are computer generated and will only be highlighted and taregeted if you answer them the ads at the top of this website are harmless although very annoying and in no way can get to you unless you click on them, they are not triggered by any words they are nothing more than advertising no more no less, answer DONT CLICK ON THEM!!! if you have rubbish coming in to your email then it is from another source and not from the banner ads found here, go to your internet browsing security and raise the security safety setting

My information about the mobile phone approaches to sell you ring tones, competitions etc comes from Telstra. You will be charged $6 per call if you don't answer and just delete. By replying with "STOP" the procedure will be stopped and you will not be charged the $6. Telstra phoned me about 3 of these such calls listed as Premium Mobile on my mobile phone bill. They couldn't stop the charges ( $15)on that particular bill, but they have put a block on my phone services so I don't receive them anymore. Until they called me I had not idea what Premium Mobile meant, so the dumb and innocent got slugged. I reply and play the email attempts at conning me out of my money until the bite comes, when they ask for money to insure the transfer of funds to me. There is no such fee, and the money is in US currency. By playing the game right to the end I get all the con information, names and places, to pass on to the Office of Fair Trading. It doesn't cost me anything at the end of the day, but it gives me lots of evidence against them. Most come from Nigeria, a few from the Uk with Nigerian connections. The Aust government is keen to catch these crooks, and are reported to be working with the governments of the origin of the attempted con. At the end of the day it's up to you how you handle these things, but ignorance is not always bliss, and it could be costing you. Never too old to learn, Granny

ah!! when I signed up for telstra about 150 years ago I was asked if I wanted advertorial material, I ticked "no" I have never been asked to purchase a ringtone or anything like that from telstra, wouldnt know how to install it anyway so I am not familiar with this one, I bow to your greater knowledge however most scams work on a simple principle, a list is obtained from the dark side through various sources, a computer then emails or sms's or phones those on the list, if no answer then that line is deleted, if an answer pops back then it is "tagged" placed into another list of "known verified contacts" and exploited and sometimes sold on to a third party who then sends out all the crap the list of "known" contacts can then be resold hundreds of times making tens of thousands of dollars or whatever the currency of that nation is, no answer then you wont be on the system, if telstra are involved then I would hold telstra acountable, they have ways of blocking this rubbish I have not been "scammed" either by phone or sms or email. I delete the rubbish straight away, I never open or reply to them, I have my internet security set at medium and my filter set high and I keep away from suspiscious websites I am however always ready to learn and have filed the info on the ringtones from you granny in my usefull stuff to know box, and will be aware if ever it threatens me as you say, never too old

Cheers Dave. The big thing about those unsolicited mobile approaches is they cost as soon as the message comes in, unless you reply with stop. However, it seems your Telstra sales person actually applied customer service, which I can't say for the rest of them. I'm getting really sick of these big privatised corporations. They give huge returns to the shareholders and the board executives, but the poor old customers who keeps them in the manner to which they've become accustomed get bugger all except confusion and b...sh...t. Oops! Sorry, I'm on my band wagon again. Over and out. Granny

I contacted Cindy and her reply was the same of what we are all saying, they are unacceptable. I also found, if I right clicked on the "offensive banners" and selected "stop popup", those banners stopped, but the original adverts continued. Thats why i say they are not part of the original package.