Cybercriminals Ride Wave of Election Mania to Click Farm City
ADOTAS — Cybercriminals have found new targets for their dastardly schemes: the election-obsessed. The most eagerly followed election race in recent memory has triggered an avalanche of cybersquatter activity as online speculators try to shake down the public by registering more than 1,900 domain names related to presidential candidates, NetNames reports today.
Many domain names lead to support or hate sites, but a significant number lead to click farms – featuring Google-style pay-per-click advertisements where the cybersquatters sit back and cash in while users search in vain for official information on the candidates. Such is their value in advertising terms that one canny ‘cybersquatter’ from California is trying to sell www.ihatebarackobama.com and www.ihatehilaryclinton.com for $1,299 immediately after registering them, requesting payment simply via his paypal account.
So who’s getting the most attention from cybercriminals? The report indicates that Hillary Clinton is the most popular candidate online with 1,080 domain names having been registered in her name by fans and foes with highlights including sites such as www.clintonsucks.org. Barack Obama trails with 635 registered domain names, including www.thebarackobamasong.com written and performed by supporter Alan Burrell.
Republican candidate John McCain lags well behind with just 269 dedicated domain names registered in his name, and largely unflattering ones such as www.stopjohnmccain2008.com and www.mccainsucks.com.
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