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Archive for January 24th, 2010

Affiliate Networks And The Scene In India

After locally produced search engines job portals travel portals news websites and community web sites we now have affiliate networks coming up. This time it is business and bloggers beware for they will be heavily profited.

Affiliate networks facilitate what is popularly called affiliate marketing. It sounds more English but do not go by the name. Affiliate marketing is a service provided by web site owners. Web site owners and publishers put advertisements and links of different advertisers on their sites and get paid. These advertisements help the business to reach out to the people who are engaged in some activity or who just visit the web sites of the publishers.

Affiliate networks provide third party services and acts as gobetweens. The allow publishers to promote the advertisements and messages of advertisers. Affiliate networks have business relations with a lot of advertisers and clients. These people clients need to sell or advertise their products. The networks help them by connecting them with the publishers.

So far affiliate networks have been encouraging the heavy users like bloggers to take an active participation in affiliate marketing. The most catching factor in affiliate marketing is the money. There are many people who have already realized the potential of online advertising and marketing. Many of then understand the basics of online advertising and promotions and services like advertisement serving. Will people experiment with the new online platforms and services? Will bloggers take a u turn and try their luck in affiliate marketing? Such questions remain to be the hot debates in discussion forums.

Affiliates marketing in India if they succeed in mobilizing the people and in involving people in online buying and selling then tomorrow will be a different day. Affiliate marketing or online marketing has been received with a warm welcome but a largescale deployment in not likely to happen in this country. Ecommerce or online buying and selling services in India are not that much popular. Their penetration and popularity has been limited to few urban centers.

Moreover it can be a new avenue for the young and talented work force that exists in India. It can help in providing self employment as well as establishment of affiliate business groups through out India.

About the writer:  Author: Meenakshi Wali is the co founder of Rupiz Affiliates a leading online media buying agency. She is heading a team of experts which is into affiliates marketing India search engine optimization online advertising affiliate network.

3 Pervasive Phishing Scams

Scams involving email continue to plague consumers acrossAmerica indeed the world. These so called “phishing” scamsinvolve “spoofed” emails meant to draw the unwary to bogusinternet sites masquerading as legitimate sites. These scamartists phishers attempt to hook visitors in by havingthem divulge certain critical and personal bits of information.Once the information has been divulged the phishers start theirdirty work and you have been conned. Several phishing scamscontinue to persist the following are three of the mostpervasive ones.

1. Financial Institutions. It is highly likely that youhave already received this type of notice which appears to havecome from your financial institution. It goes something likethis:

We are glad to inform you that our bank has anew security system. The new updated technology will ensure thesecurity of your payments through our bank. Hoping youunderstand that we are doing this for your own safety wesuggest you to update your account this update will maintainthe safety of your account. All you have to do is complete ouronline secured form. Thank you .

Comment: No financial institution will require you torespond to an email asking you to update your account. Inaddition I left in the typos punctuation errors and overallpoorly worded request just as it is. Finally many of thesescams do not go to account holders as the phishers spam emailaccounts in the hope that someone will take the bait.

2. Paypal Account. This scam is giving Paypal/eBay fitsas its says that billing information must be updated by you therecipient of the notice. Verbiage is included whereby “Paypal”threatens to close your account if you do not respond moneywill be withheld etc.

Comment: The first time I saw this note I thought: huh?!The nerve of Paypal! However I forwarded the letter to Paypalwho confirmed its scammy nature.

3. ISP Fraud. An internet service provider has seen anumber of “their” letters surface in emails around the US. Acommon request goes something like this:

DearComcast customer

We recently attempted to charge your account but we seem toreceive an error when charging your card. This sometimes occursfor a variety of reasons including card expiration over limitsuspicion of fraud or several other technical difficulties.Please visit the Comcast Service Center by clicking on thehyperlink shown below and update your information so this issuecan be resolved.

Comcast Service Center

Thank you

Chris Hammonds

Comcast Service Department

Comment: Another request to obtain valuable informationbelonging to you. I have seen 34 variations of this letter allallegedly from Comcast.

Oftentimes phishers will go to great lengths to copy thecompany’s logo and other pertinent information and include thatwithin the email. Almost without fail they provide a link foryou to click on so that you will go to a site thinking that itis legitimate.

Once at the scam site all kinds of questions will be asked ofyou including: social security number credit card informationyour address and more. The more information you give theeasier it will be for you to become a victim of identity theftas the perpetrators assume your identity and open up multipleaccounts in your name.

Usually the consumer knows nothing of the scam until theyreceive letters demanding payment for accounts opened up intheir name calls from creditors and rejected creditapplications because of assumed bad credit.

The best defense of course is to not respond to the email.However you can play an important part in stopping phishingfraud by forwarding a copy of the message to the company beingmimicked. Their fraud department will be grateful and you willhelp them as well as policing authorities in their quest tostop phishers in their tracks.

About the writer:  S. Kumar is the webmaster and owner of Learnhomebusiness.com the site he started from a remote village in India and took it to one of the top ranked sites in the world!. Immediately Subscribe to his Free 1000 Gift Series’ before it wanishes!