Scampup
Well-Known Member
"like taking candy from a baby". But are you willing to kill the baby for that candy? Somebody was. The past few days the cyber community came together locally and internationally, preparing for a war. This afternoon was going to be D-Day if a serious issue was not resolved affecting the very lives of babies. Preparations were being made to protect a protector ...
Background
Shepherd's Keep in Durban is an orphanage started by Mr & Mrs Pratley in 1998 to address the issue of new born babies being dumped. Many were HIV/AIDS positive. The facilities too look after these babies did not exist. Naturally this is a 24x7x365 task demanding specialist care, equipment and devotion. The good work of Shepherd's Keep and the Pratleys has been widely acknowledged in South Africa. Naturally this comes at a price and public donations are key to making this happen. Shepherd's Keep website is at http://www.shepherdskeep.org.za (currently being upgraded). Previous website archive: http://web.archive.org/web/20120307184841/http://www.shepherdskeep.org.za/
A Despicable Scam
A fraudster saw fit to to steal images and content, including the company and NPO registration numbers from their website. Then try and divert donations to himself. This was hosted at https://sites.google.com/site/cancharityproject44/
Based upon experience with abuse issues and Google hosted scams, both local such as Woza Online and other issues internationally, we knew it was going to be difficult to move Google to disable the scam expeditiously.
Planning the Removal
Google could either remove this website immediately or face a barrage of complaints. This issue had nothing to do with free speech or denying such. This was also not a party mistakenly doing harm. The scam was showing a cold and deliberate attempt at defrauding both the public and Shepherd's Keep. This scam was simply not acceptable. If technology was being abused to defraud a worthy cause, technology could be used to make it disappear. This scam was not only trying to defraud, it was trying to steal from abandoned HIV/AIDS positive babies that desperately needs every cent they can get.
Phase one initiated - low volume abuse reports: Parties in the cyber community used the normal advertised channels to complain. Abuse reports started rolling in. Here is a visible portion of this phase: http://forum.aa419.org/viewtopic.php?t=69365
In this time other channels we also used to make Google aware of the fraud.
Phase two - global awareness: If the scam had not been removed by 16H00 Friday afternoon (today), the community was going to make Google and the world aware of it in a social media equivalent of a pyramid scheme; "Complain to Google and forward to at least five friends". A page was prepared describing the scam and how to complain to Google. Contact was made with Elitehost to see if they would be able to handle the traffic and resources required for the details page. Upon seeing what this was about, they kindly offered to monitor and allocate more resources as required, also offering additional advice on how to optimize the campaign. The relevant scam details page was altered. The global launch was timed to ensure that the start would coincide with working time across the pond at Google, California.
We were ready ...
Scam removed
This morning the scam was removed. Somewhere, somehow, the message had gotten through and a cyber war of kinds was averted. The cyber community had made good on a promise to assist. Google has also lived up to their policies. Thank you to everybody who participated, you know who you are. Also thank you to Google.
Follow Up Needed
While the above was taking place, the following comments was made by Michelle Potgieter, daughter to Colin and Cheryl Pratley:
The cyber community has done their part in phase one and neutralized a threat to Shepherd's Keep. Yet more help is required. Please consider assisting in this extremely worthy cause.
Disclaimer: ScamPup is not affiliated in any way to Shepherd's Keep.
Background
Shepherd's Keep in Durban is an orphanage started by Mr & Mrs Pratley in 1998 to address the issue of new born babies being dumped. Many were HIV/AIDS positive. The facilities too look after these babies did not exist. Naturally this is a 24x7x365 task demanding specialist care, equipment and devotion. The good work of Shepherd's Keep and the Pratleys has been widely acknowledged in South Africa. Naturally this comes at a price and public donations are key to making this happen. Shepherd's Keep website is at http://www.shepherdskeep.org.za (currently being upgraded). Previous website archive: http://web.archive.org/web/20120307184841/http://www.shepherdskeep.org.za/
A Despicable Scam
A fraudster saw fit to to steal images and content, including the company and NPO registration numbers from their website. Then try and divert donations to himself. This was hosted at https://sites.google.com/site/cancharityproject44/
Based upon experience with abuse issues and Google hosted scams, both local such as Woza Online and other issues internationally, we knew it was going to be difficult to move Google to disable the scam expeditiously.
Planning the Removal
Google could either remove this website immediately or face a barrage of complaints. This issue had nothing to do with free speech or denying such. This was also not a party mistakenly doing harm. The scam was showing a cold and deliberate attempt at defrauding both the public and Shepherd's Keep. This scam was simply not acceptable. If technology was being abused to defraud a worthy cause, technology could be used to make it disappear. This scam was not only trying to defraud, it was trying to steal from abandoned HIV/AIDS positive babies that desperately needs every cent they can get.
Phase one initiated - low volume abuse reports: Parties in the cyber community used the normal advertised channels to complain. Abuse reports started rolling in. Here is a visible portion of this phase: http://forum.aa419.org/viewtopic.php?t=69365
In this time other channels we also used to make Google aware of the fraud.
Phase two - global awareness: If the scam had not been removed by 16H00 Friday afternoon (today), the community was going to make Google and the world aware of it in a social media equivalent of a pyramid scheme; "Complain to Google and forward to at least five friends". A page was prepared describing the scam and how to complain to Google. Contact was made with Elitehost to see if they would be able to handle the traffic and resources required for the details page. Upon seeing what this was about, they kindly offered to monitor and allocate more resources as required, also offering additional advice on how to optimize the campaign. The relevant scam details page was altered. The global launch was timed to ensure that the start would coincide with working time across the pond at Google, California.
We were ready ...
Scam removed
This morning the scam was removed. Somewhere, somehow, the message had gotten through and a cyber war of kinds was averted. The cyber community had made good on a promise to assist. Google has also lived up to their policies. Thank you to everybody who participated, you know who you are. Also thank you to Google.
Follow Up Needed
While the above was taking place, the following comments was made by Michelle Potgieter, daughter to Colin and Cheryl Pratley:
The cyber community has done their part in phase one and neutralized a threat to Shepherd's Keep. Yet more help is required. Please consider assisting in this extremely worthy cause.
Disclaimer: ScamPup is not affiliated in any way to Shepherd's Keep.
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