Craigs Free Hookup in Brief…

Craigs Free Hookup is a get verified / date verification scam that signs you up for a dating or pornography website(s) without your knowledge.   Although the site promotes itself as free, It hides the cost of $40-150 per month.

Site Name: Craigs Free Hookup

Site URL: 

craigsfreehookup.com

Note that sites tend to copy similar sites so the URL might not be the same as the above.  If you find a different URL that looks similar (see website pic at the end), please leave a comment below.

Type of Scam

Get Verified / Date Verification with hidden credit card charges

What happens if you sign up?

You are signed up for membership to a rotating set of branded dating sites , run by a white label service company.   After a 2 day trial period your credit card is charged.  Also ” . Your access to HookupHereNow includes a 2 day free trial promo to (rotating dating site).”    — or —  a rotating pornography site and additional pornography services (see “Fine Print” below).  Which option depends on how you navigate in the craigslist hookup scam site.

CraigsFreeHookup.com Cost

$39.99 recurring Monthly Charge, up to almost $150.  The charges are NOT visible in the fine print.

* Tested with Chrome on Windows 10 and an Android. Different browsers might have different results.

Redirect 

Your entry and credit card are redirected without your knowledge.  The redirect acts as a controller, and rotates to different branded dating sites.  There are multiple hops depending upon which option is in effect.

Who Owns Craigs Free Hookup

The site was registered on November 3, 2017 anonymously in Panama.

What Controls the Redirect:

Go2cloud.org, owned by Seattle Technology.  Lee Brown, also part of Tune.com an internet marketing company.   Seattle Technology and Tune.com share the same Seattle office.

Here is on of the hidden links used in the website:  http:// mmccash. go2cloud.org/aff_c?offer_id=702&aff_id=1010

Where does the redirect go:

A rotating set of white label dating or pornogrpahy sites.  See The Age and Date Verification Scam for more information how this works.  You can also watch this video.

The Fine Print

This is what happens if you are in the branded dating site option.  You cannot see the part in the red box.	This is what happens if you are in the pornography site option.  You cannot see this section at all.

Note that the Country Love Lasts is the branded dating site site for the instance that I clicked on the site.  BILLPMTKREWS.com is the billing site for the pornograhy site (the name is x-rated).  These site/names will rotate on each new click on the craigslist hookup scam site.

Website Picture

The Rabbit Hole

This is what the redirect looks like in the pornography option.  What this means is that where your credit card ends up is subject to each of these different websites, finally landing in F#@$wipe, which programmatically navigates you to another (rotating) pornography site.   Thanks to wheregoes.com for this super handy tool.

http*://mmccash.go2cloud.org/aff_c?offer_id=738&aff_id=1010

http*://proudcash. go2cloud.org/aff_c?offer_id=90&aff_id=1540&aff_sub=102f6f302647ac6fa03433a4fd3598

https*://www.dateverify tracking.com/cpa.php?mt=440520&ofid=141&tid=1&sid=1540&x2=102f6f302647ac6fa03433a4fd3598&x1=1020b577b07a54230a1f4a8553025f

http*://ldrtrack .com/ep.php/fsw1a:31773/57640:440520.148bdb3cd9adcc21b088e9dbc10b0fef

http*://www.f#@$swipe .com?page=iframe_/reg_inline11&x_source=vip57640.45424-1625823.440520.148bdb3cd9adcc21b088e9dbc10b0fef

Craigslist Hookup scam detection video

Theme Music
Costa del Sol
by The Rippingtons

How Date Verification scams work

This is a high level summary of how the scam works.  There are variations, but all are essentially the same.   

1. Contact

You make contact with a person of your desire on a dating website or forum. Although Craigslist is polluted with these scams, they appear on any website or service.

2. Email or Direct Message

The response includes an email or a phone number to text and continue a conversation

3. A fabricated conversation

Usually, there will be a response that simulates conversation. This conversation will seem klunky. The reason is that by contacting the email or the phone number a robotic script is behind the conversation, not a real person. The conversation is designed to build interest.

4. A “Free” Date Verification service

Your “date” wants to meet you but she wants to make sure you are safe, and asks you to verify yourself on a website she provides. She notes that it is free.

5. The Date Verification Website – a Façade 

The Date Verification website reinforces the verification to stay safe theme, and touts a free service.  The site asks for an email and a credit card, saying there is no charge.  In fact, this site is nothing more than a shell that redirects you to another website without your knowledge.  There is no verification website.

6. Charges

Your credit card is charged for access to a dating or a pornography site after a short trial period.  Charges run from $39.99 to >$160.00 per month.  Some sites show fine print that reveals the charges, some sites completely hide it.  Often the consumer doesn’t know they have been signed up for these sites until it shows up on their credit card, long after the free trial period has ended.

7. The Real website

The facade website you go to uses an internet programming command called iFrame.   Inside the iFrame is the controller website that directs the traffic.  This routes or redirects your credit card and email to another website without your knowledge. The hidden website is a dating or pornography site. Often the hard-to-find or hidden charges include multiple dating or pornography services.

The Branded White Label Site

The site where your credit card is entered is usually a gibberish name which you cannot see.  The name is short for the dating site name. For instance fntrlve.com might equal Find True love. These are branded white label dating sites. That is there is a very large dating site service company (white label company) that runs many (hundreds) of similar dating sites. The white label company provides which includes the servers, aggregated membership, and billing services. They all have the same format, but use different pictures, fonts and names, and themes (branding).

The pornography sites are also in the same model. The billing name is innocuous – perhaps an independent billing service that you will see on your credit card. Something like debitdesk.com which has association with the xxx site.

Why do they get away with this?

The people who create the date verification websites are usually from far corners of the world. Bangladesh, China, etc. The dating and pornography sites are companies incorporated in the UK, Spain, Cypress or the Bahamas.  In between are click generating sites (“who does the redirect” above).   This middleman give plausible deniability to the White Label Dating site owners.  It is unlikely that the Dating site owners know who the Shell Site owners are.

 

Early Warning Signs

1. Anytime you are asked to leave the communications you are on, and go to another form you should be suspicious
2. Klunky conversation or cannot answer a direct and simple question, such as what part of town are you in?
3. Anytime you are asked to verify it is a scam.

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Watch the Full Video, with proof positive of the scam