QL ‘not to blame’ for ad-scam
Even the most successful classified websites in the world are plagued by scams, an official of community website, qatarliving.com (QL) , said.
The official was responding to a Gulf Times report on July 22 that pointed out an increasing number of possible vehicle-ad scams by impostors claiming to be former Qatar residents.
“The Internet is full of scams. These scams get run via e-mail, on websites, and wherever people congregate. Even the most successful classifieds website in the world, Craigslist is plagued by this problem,” the official told Gulf Times.
“Qatarliving.com is not party to any financial transactions. We just provide a space for people in Qatar to sell their second-hand property,” the official added.
The popular forum receives nearly 400,000 visitors a month, according to official’s count.
To detect scam, the website has taken a series of measures including displaying two big yellow boxes with warnings to visitors on how to safely access advertisement, above and below each ad.
“Each of those warning features a link to a page called ‘Avoiding Scams and Fraud’ while we also provide two different methods for users to report suspicious adverts,” the official explained.
First, all users can use the abuse form and secondly, users who are logged in can also use the “flag” option to mark suspicious ads. And if more than one user marks something as suspicious, it is automatically removed.
“These suspicious adverts are reviewed and removed on a timely basis if they are considered scams. Whenever possible, we usually ban the IP addresses of users who we find to be posting scams. We believe that these tips are in plain English and can be understood by everyone.”
According to the official, greed and the idea of a “deal of a lifetime” often blinds many people who get lured in by such scams worldwide, and not just in Qatar.
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=304931...
the ad-scam in QL:
http://www.qatarliving.com/node/609722 by http://www.qatarliving.com/user/desjncdsn89202
Nationality: Qatar (later he said he is british)
Job Title: nurse
Gender: Male
Age: 26 - 35
Member For: 1 week 3 days
http://www.qatarliving.com/node/609716 by http://www.qatarliving.com/user/hertropds9030
Nationality: Qatar
Job Title: medic
Gender: Male
Age: 36 - 45
Member For: 1 week 3 days
http://www.qatarliving.com/node/589474 by http://www.qatarliving.com/user/vechstirl022
Nationality: Qatar
Job Title: pharmacist
Gender: Male
Age: 36 - 45
Member For: 3 weeks 1 day
http://www.qatarliving.com/node/589448 by http://www.qatarliving.com/user/esrhsncs0129
Nationality: Qatar
Job Title: arhitect
Gender: Male
Age: 26 - 35
Member For: 3 weeks 1 day
http://www.qatarliving.com/node/589420 by http://www.qatarliving.com/user/oretsncdmisn
Nationality: Qatar
Job Title: medic
Gender: Male
Age: under 18
Member For: 3 weeks 1 day
Can u c the similarities?
the first 2 ad were made on the same day by different member who register in the same day. No telephone no., the email addresses are the same with the username and it seems like auto-created name.
Similar things also happened in mobile add, especially for iphone.
QUICK TIP (from QL): Make Sure the Seller is in Qatar by checking for a local phone number and don't ever buy anything listed in $ (or without local no). Read Avoiding Scams and Fraud for more advice.
Have you seen how much spam there is? I reckon it would take one or two full time people working on it to keep it clean. And even then they'd miss some.
i have never heard of text msgs going to an email....may be i sound stupid but i have not.
Aana free, jaana free,
Pakde gaye tho khana free.
we as a member should inform the MOD by clicking on the SPAM button.
Once I have clicked on the Agree button I should know that I am not supposed to contact a person who does not have Qatar Contact Number or who does not exit in Qatar.
If I agree with the seller thru email and agree to do online transaction with him, I should be responsible for my action I cannot blame QL for any kind of fraud.
I mean, why to make things complicated for QL?
You could set it up so the incoming text goes to a email account, which all moderators have access to.
and where is one suppose to text when the people moderating are more than one and on different locations.
Aana free, jaana free,
Pakde gaye tho khana free.
That SMS thingy would be a great idea. And they can give a time gap as well. like before 24 hrs, they wont get another sms.. something like that ?
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How does that stop the spammers and scammers? They'll just click on 'Agree' and carry on posting.
Anyone willing to place an ad on QL should sign the undertaking...
I mean Classified Rules and Regulations OR the Terms and Conditions should pop up and ask the member to click on the 'Agree' button once he/she has read all the information mentioned.
Also this should be restricted to one who are viewing the ads for the purpose of purchase.
I think this is the simplest way out.
Malie Bug - who do you think they've quoted in the article?
Agreed...Brit
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Whenever I find the KEY to SUCCESS...Someone steals it.
I have seen these types of scams on websites all around the world..
Rather than focusing on the site, why not educate the "users" to be more vigilant..
Where's the registered owner of this site? I think this is the time for him to give his side.
I'm sure they can. I don't think they would do it just cos someone from QL asked them to though.
yes, i know that. But Q-Tel can track out that particular PC right ? They can check out the complete route right..
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Yes, but the problem in Qatar is that Qtel assigns multiple users to one IP address. If QL admin ban an IP address they'll knock out hundreds of users in one go.
000....they can ban a particular user only if the user is having a fixed IP....normally the users (especially dial up users) get the IP address randomly. The user can be traced later on but you just cant ban a particular user with a random IP address.
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Whenever I find the KEY to SUCCESS...Someone steals it.
tallg....that's exactly why I said this is not the solution.I guess I should have explained in the first go.
PS: Probably I misunderstood your post stating that they cant ban qatari IPs.
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Whenever I find the KEY to SUCCESS...Someone steals it.
Bad pplz r every where....the question is how much v r cleaver to get skip from such situations
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"(A little learning is a dangerous thing)"
If anyone is fool enough to fall for these scams, then they deserve all tey get..
Cant they block a particular PC frm an IP with the help of Q-Tel ?
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Abuse should not be an issue..there are 2 kind of users on QL the ones you find on forums and the others who just login to post adverts or looking to buy stuff....
Aana free, jaana free,
Pakde gaye tho khana free.
Yeah that might work, though it could be open to abuse.
yeah looks like a never ending issue...
another suggestion would be that the if a add is marked as a spam by 3-5 users it will be removed automaticaly..then again i dont know how many people actually flag them.
Aana free, jaana free,
Pakde gaye tho khana free.
I meant time consuming from a moderation/admin point of view. I don't think QL has full time workers available to vet every advert before it's submitted to the website.
anyone who is posting a advert here is not paying or supporting the website financially.....so let them wait.
Aana free, jaana free,
Pakde gaye tho khana free.
That definitely would require a lot of human input and be very time consuming.
i would rather suggest that adverts are being moderated prior to posting and not after it has been posted.
Aana free, jaana free,
Pakde gaye tho khana free.
The whole process could be automated.
tallag sounds good but a time consuming process and a nightmare for somebody moderating the site which has quite a lot of adverts being posted on a daily basis.
Aana free, jaana free,
Pakde gaye tho khana free.
One solution would be to implement a system whereby anyone wishing to place an advert is given a code prior to the advert being submitted, which they then have to text to a given phone number.
This would enable admin to check they person is based in Qatar, and also provide a way to check if a previously banned user has re-registered and is trying to advertise again.
bangy_37 this would bring up a identity theft issue as your ID can reveal a lot of information about you.
Aana free, jaana free,
Pakde gaye tho khana free.
I would suggest QL users in Qatar to requires to put thier ID for membership.
KHATTAK - please explain how you'd ban just 1 users IP in Qatar, when Qtel allocate the same IP address to multiple users.
If you ban Qatar IP, you stop lots of people from accessing the site.
Sorry Mod didnt see it, i thought it was todays news :)
Banning IPs is a very easy job for the Network Administrator of the QL Website, be it IPs allocated to Qatar or from anywhere in the world. Infact you can ban a whole class of IPs....but it can never be a solution. Scammers are not fools. But i agree with every_mothers_.... that the scammers here are not that threatening and can easily be identified provided that QL users use their minds.
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Whenever I find the KEY to SUCCESS...Someone steals it.
Am illiterate ! :( Gud Aft boss ! :)
tallg: thnx for the info !
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tEaCh Me RuLeS, i'Ll TeAcH hOw To BrEaK iT ..
rMs..!!
THey can't ban Qatar IP addresses. Only those of people outside of Qatar.
Also, I don't think you can post a classified if you don't have a Qatar IP address.
But as mentioned above, it's very easy to get round these restrictions.
yes speed bhai GM to you..commom sense is the only answer.
The scammers on QL are entry level scammers and are very easy to identify. Proffesional scammers dont target websites like these.
Aana free, jaana free,
Pakde gaye tho khana free.
One should read and follow the simple rules.
Also common sense person will never deal with someone who is not in Country and asking for payment to be transferred.
EMS.../rMs
Good Morning Sir! Did you have your Breakfast?
rms scams are mostly posted from a different country.
Aana free, jaana free,
Pakde gaye tho khana free.
What if He/She is using frm a public network ?
Eg: Corniche ?
--
tEaCh Me RuLeS, i'Ll TeAcH hOw To BrEaK iT ..
rMs..!!
banning IP addresses will not keep the scammers away....people who are into scams know very well how to get over it...its up to the users to be more cautious.
Aana free, jaana free,
Pakde gaye tho khana free.
“These suspicious adverts are reviewed and removed on a timely basis if they are considered scams. Whenever possible, we usually ban the IP addresses of users who we find to be posting scams. We believe that these tips are in plain English and can be understood by everyone.”
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tEaCh Me RuLeS, i'Ll TeAcH hOw To BrEaK iT ..
rMs..!!