Predatory lenders trick Google into serving ads to desperate broke people

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It would be nice to believe in karmaā€¦ but these psychopaths will probably retire early to a nice place in the sun and smugly count their cash.

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I am increasingly coming to the conclusion that ā€˜entrepreneurial/evilā€™ as an alignment was cut from D&D to preserve its status as escapist fantasy.

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Jesus is really laying into that old lady. I thought he was supposed to be driving out the money changers and merchants, not their poor customers who couldnā€™t afford any fancier sacrifice than a dove.

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Christ, whatā€¦

wait, what?

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These predatory companies also buy their info to send them physical snail mail. Probably from credit card companies because iā€™m in the process of paying off some high debt thatā€™s accumulated between 3 different credit cards and suddenly early this year i started getting targeted junk mail from several companies wanting to assist me in paying off my debt. Itā€™s so specific that i was instantly weary, i just throw them directly into the dumpster.

Iā€™m currently trying to figure out how i can stop getting the snail mail junk from them.

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Gosh, if only Google had the means to search a companyā€™s name and see if any keywords jumped out from their page.

But, alas, weā€™ll never have the technology.

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Poor google. Tricked into having a positive veneer of superficial policies while still profiting from bottom-feeding greed.

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My method wonā€™t stop the snail mail, but it does give me some catharsis when I get the same stuff.

Snail Mail Spam:
Step 1: take contents of Spam1 and write whatever your heart desires, wherever your heart desiresā€“I usually start with ā€œDON"T SEND ME THIS SHITā€ and go from there. I think itā€™s best if you donā€™t align your text with any lines on the sheet, and I prefer to use a large marker.

If that doesnā€™t pickle my fantasy enough, and especially if the contents donā€™t fit in the envelope (a standard tacticā€“the application fits in the smaller envelope, but the larger promo shit doesnā€™t), scissors, or the power of the hand, is your friend. Tear/cut to fit.

Step 2: Insert pleasantly modified Spam1 contents into return envelope of Spam2 (assuming there is one) and send.

Variations on this theme have included, and are definitely not limited to, filling out ā€˜applicationsā€™ with information obtained from various corporate headquarters, CEO names and such. I enjoy using a return address of 1060 West Addison, Chicago, IL 60614 because itā€™s lodged firmly in my memory for reasons. I understand the RNC headquarters appreciates any spam you can swing their way as well.

Telephone spam: If itā€™s a recording, Iā€™ll listen and press the number they want me to press to connect to their ā€˜sales representativeā€™. Once I get a human, Iā€™ve got the option of giving them bogus info to take up their time until I tire of the game and say ā€œTAKE ME OFF THE LISTā€. Between being on the FCCā€™s Do Not Call registry, and this tactic, my spam calls are down to ~2/month.

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Thereā€™s this great old quote from bash.org on how to do this:

http://bash.org/?127039

[quote]

  1. Save every Free Credit Card Offer you get, Put it in pile A
  2. Save every Free Coupon You get, put that in pile B
  3. Now open the credit card mail from pile A and find the Business Reply Mail Envelope.
  4. Take the coupons from pile B and stuff them in the envelope you hold in your hand.
  5. Drop the stuffed to the brim envelopes in your mail and walk away whistling.

I have now received two phone calls from the credit card companies telling me that they received a stuffed envelope with coupons rather then my application. They informed me that it they are not pleased that they footed the bill for the crap I sent them. I reply with ā€œIt says Business Reply Mailā€ Iā€™m suggesting coupons to you to ensure that your business is more successful. They promptly hang up on me.

Now, I did this for about a month before it got boring, so I got an added idea! I added exactly 33 cents worth of pennies to the envelope so they paid EXTRA due to the weight. I got a call informing me about the money, I said it was a mistake and I demanded my change back. After yelling at the clerk and then to the supervisor they agreed to my demands and cut me a check for the money. I hold in my hand at this very moment a check from GTE Visa for exactly 33 cents.[/quote]

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FTW!!! Thatā€™s pretty much my Holy Grail. In times of boredom Iā€™ll write letters to companies about how I found this blinking device in their box of corn flakes and who-the-hell-do-they-think-they-are type of stuff. AOL responded, once, to the bill I sent them for having to deal with their ubiquitous CDsā€“I think I charged them $200-$300 for my timeā€“to which they responded something akin to ā€œyeah, sorry, too bad weā€™re not gonna pay youā€. Itā€™s the original, and to my mind far far better, version of driving trollies.

EDIT: That said, Iā€™ll never top <a href=http://www.amazon.com/Singular-Man-J-P-Donleavy-ebook/dp/B008TSRYWW/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8>this authorā€™s high-water mark:

Have you read Robert Popper/Robin Cooperā€™s Timewaster Letters?

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Oh dear lord thank you for that. Gotta up the game!

Ha. ā€œEND OF CORRESPONDENCEā€

:smiley:

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Apparently securely taping the reply paid envelope to a brick can result in the company getting a bill for unpaid weight.

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I presume the contents have to fit the return envelope. In which case i recommend filling it with rocks in a baggie.

Or perhaps fill the return envelope with nothing but cut out heads of various Nic Cage heads in various states of expressions. Because reasons.

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Mark Thomas has pointed out that a roof tile will fit nicely into a jiffy bag.

No video this time, it was in his book 100 Acts of Minor Dissent

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Another book for the reading list!

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I think a bag of rocks seems more amusing. A bag of manure might be more-so but one might potentially get in trouble for something like that.

I like idea of sending them Nic Cage pictures too lol.

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I have a very common last name and a fairly common first name, add that to signing up for gmail back in the stone age and I have a "lastnamefirstname@gmail.com" that is, by my count, desired by at least 8 other people with the same name as me.

I have variously been signed up for Spotify, PoF, OkCupid, 2 Instagrams, 2 Twitters, some wedding services in London, and once I received a job offer from a university in Scotland, oh and I get invited to a cottage in Muskoka at least once every summer and asked out on a date every new years eve (one day Iā€™m going to take up those offers!). But one time I received a womans terrible horrible predatory loan documents from an ā€œinterest freeā€ loan place in New Zealand. Not only did they send me her loan document, it included all her personal information, tax return, residence/phone, bank account, it also included all that same info of her brother, who was cosigning this very terrible no good loan. After much back and forth with a not very bright loan officer who did not understand that I was not her client, she emailed the documents again, but this time ccā€™d the actual person, who I then emailed directly and counselled as best I could that they should under no circumstances take this terrible loan. $300. ā€œInterest Freeā€ - 3 years of payments @ $30 a month.

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