The Verizon 48 scam

I’ve written before on how the SEO industry is riddled with people of low integrity. The Internet, in some ways, is like the wild, wild West.  (See my post from February 16, 2014, What Percentage of Supposed SEO Experts Have Integrity?)

I just got a very tricky scam call on my cell phone, and I thought I’d pass it on in case anyone is searching on this or needs a tip for helping distinguish a genuine offer from a malicious scam.

I got a call on my Verizon cell phone purporting to be from Verizon and saying that I was being given a $48 rebate. Simply log in to www.verizon48.com, it said.

Here’s how to investigate something like that. There is a database you can access online that reveals the owner of each valid domain name. It’s called the Whois database. I like to use Network Solutions to access this database, so I go to www.networksolutions.com/whois/index.jsp. When I search for the domain name verizonwireless.com, it shows me that it is owned by Verizon Trademark Services LLC in Arlington, VA. However, when I look up verizon48.com, it shows it is owned by Michael Ruiz in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

When I go to verizon48.com, it has a Verizon logo to make it look legit, and then it asks me to enter my cell phone number and password to claim my rebate. To add to the appearance of legitimacy, the links at the bottom of the page point to real pages on the true Verizon website: About Us, Careers at Verizon, Support, etc.

A tricky scam.