The latest attempt to shut DegreeInfo down

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by Chip, Oct 4, 2003.

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  1. Chip

    Chip Administrator

    Well, obviously we're becoming even more effective in getting our message out about fraudulent schools, because the latest attempt to shut DegreeInfo down is currently underway.

    One of our friendly diploma mill operators has hired a spammer to send a bunch of spams to people advertising DegreeInfo's searchable database of degree programs.

    The expected result is that we (and our upstream) are getting tons of complaints for sending spam.

    We have never, ever sent spam, and will never do so. But the current campaign is certainly a clever attempt to shut us down.

    Fortunately, we had already anticipated this possibility and have backup plans in place. We're also fortunate to have a good relationship with our ISP and upstream providers, and they understand what's going on.

    While it's very possible that we'll be offline here and there as we implement the backup plans, we're here to stay, and what the degree mill operators don't seem to realize is that each time they do this, all they do is bring us more visibility and publicity, which makes us an even bigger player. We've already contacted some of the key media about this latest attack, and have had several responses with interest in doing an article... so the degree mill spammers efforts, once again, are backfiring.

    And, once again, all of this takes money, and DegreeInfo is not making money yet. So anyone that wishes to help to support this site can either buy one of our books or CDs, or send a contribution to us via paypayl ([email protected])

    (BTW, thanks again to the many generous contributors who helped out last time . Your contributions are very much appreciated and have helped to keep us up and running.)
     
  2. armywife

    armywife New Member

    Wow that's terrible. I would have never found my degree program without help from this board. People really need this information. Your books are better than Peterson's.
     
  3. tcnixon

    tcnixon Active Member



    You'd think by now that they would have caught on to this fact. How incredibly stupid can they be? The answer, apparently, is super-duper-incredibly stupid.

    And, Chip, you really should be paying them a commission. You couldn't buy this kind of good publicity.:)



    Tom Nixon
     
  4. Chip

    Chip Administrator

    Well, that which doesn't kill us makes us stronger :)

    So far, we're getting a lot of support from the anti-spam community, most of whom apparently realize that this attack we're seeing has all the signs of what, in the field, is called a "joe job"

    The good news is publicity for our plight. Just as last time, the news media is calling ... theory being, if the degree mill operators are working that hard to take us offline, we must be doing something right!

    So we're still here. We're fortifying and adding some additional backup, but if we're momentarily unavailable, it won't be for long.

    Thanks again for all your support!

    Regards,

    Chip
    Co-founder
     
  5. bruinsgrad

    bruinsgrad New Member

    I've been referring friends to this site and they're all astute enough to know the difference between a mill and a legit dl school. I'd like to see the spammers traced and prosecuted.
     
  6. JLV

    JLV Active Member

    This is pure terrorism. I, like Bruinsgrad, would like to see this people prosecuted. It shouldn’t be that difficult at all to catch them, but I am afraid this requires funds that might and might not be available. I am sure it isn’t necessary but I can confirm with all certainty that in these almost three years I am a member of DegreeInfo I have never ever received SPAM.

    Sorry, guys, you have to go through this BS every once in a while. You definitely must be doing something right.
     
  7. Bill Huffman

    Bill Huffman Well-Known Member

    I'm guessing that the diploma mill(s?) that is doing this is as much out for revenge as they are trying to solve their little problem of the truth being spoken here. I admit though that I have absolutely nothing to back that up, only my own subjective imaginary degree mill operator. I don't picture this fellow sitting in his office making business decisions rationally. I picture him getting furious whenever the truth is spoken about his operation and making decisions irrationally.

    What it definitely indicates though is that these morally bankrupt frauds have more money than they know what to do with. It's kind of fun speculating to myself as to which fraudulent operation is behind this. :D
     
  8. oxpecker

    oxpecker New Member

    The infamous "factwatcher" on AED a few years ago certainly seemed to be irrational. He/she really seemed paranoid -- or at least presented a convincing appearance of paranoia (people trying to kill him/her, he/she had mysterious tapes to prove his/her case against the Bear, etc.).
     
  9. Chip

    Chip Administrator

    Well, the spammers are nothing if not clever.

    They're now using [email protected] (the email address we've listed on the index page of our website to request people to forward spam reports) as the return address for the spams.

    What they *don't* know is that we have a great relationship with our upstream providers, who totally realize this is a joe-job, and that we have several backup plans up our sleeves as well.

    Expect that there could be intermittent periods of outage as we fortify, but we won't let this take us down, no matter what.
     
  10. kevingaily

    kevingaily New Member

    Yesterday I tried multiple attempts during the day to get in and kept getting some site called "keen space comics" which was some wacky forum. I was using the address stored in my address bar. I tried to get in through a google search and got that site again. My address showed it as degreeinfo.com, though. I gave up after 4 or 5 failed attempts to get the REAL degreeinfo.com. :mad:
     
  11. roysavia

    roysavia New Member

    It's obvious that this forum is really beginning to annoy the people who are running these degree mills. It's just to bad we can't "do unto others as they do unto you".

    Yes... it would be unethical and unprofessional but at least it would temporarily put them out of business.
     
  12. cbahur

    cbahur member

    To quote John, diploma mills are a "huge crime wave". As long as this crime wave exists, we will always be here to combat it.
     
  13. John Bear

    John Bear Senior Member

    All-time on-line high yesterday. Take that, spammers.

    I see that there were 95 people on line at once yesterday -- a new record, by a considerable margin. Further evidence, it seems, that attempts to shut this place down only make it stronger.
     
  14. Mike Albrecht

    Mike Albrecht New Member

    DegreeInfo Motto

    Ah yes, the perfect motto for DegreeInfo.com:
     
  15. John Spies

    John Spies Member

    If it were not for this board, I would not have gotten my degree; followed by my new job! Keep up the good work and as they say here in Arkansas; don't let the bastards wear you down!
     
  16. xxikickers

    xxikickers New Member

    comment

    That is terrible! im so thankful they have this very unique site! if not for this site i wud be another victim of diploma mill operator! Thanks degreeinfo.com
     
  17. jeepnbeep

    jeepnbeep Member

    Madison University---Is it legit?

    Hello, sorry it would not let me start a new thread.

    Just wanted to know if anyone can tell me if Madison program is legit. It is somewhat like Excelsior college where they take into account your life experiences, etc.

    Thanks,
    jeep
     
  18. tcnixon

    tcnixon Active Member

    Re: Madison University---Is it legit?

    Yes, I can. No, it isn't.



    Tom Nixon
     

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