Smart People --> Weird web/domain Question

[havlock]

Hi Folks,
I have an odd question that I thought I would pose here and see if anyone can shed some light for me...

Does anyone know who/what this site is -->> PromotionExpert.com?

If I do a google search for 'promotionexpert.com' I get the following results;

Ignoring the 1st result, promotion-expert.com, and looking at the rest of the results I am confused.

I am curious because I got an ebay message this morning that I believe is a spoof which used this domain in a link. I got curious and went to see what was behind 'promotionexpert.com' and found all these pages with big company names .promotionexpert.com. There does not appear to be a web site there at promotionexpert.com but somehow all these links.

Anyone have any idea what this domain is and how it is connected to all these other companies? The google results seem to go on forever.

 

[Biggie]

why waste time investigating if you think it's a spoof?

just delete it and move on



was the message worded so good that it drew you in

 

[havlock]

I guess my biggest concern is because if I go to "http: // ebay.com/auctionduplicates" (spaces are intentional to prevent an active hyperlink) I still get redirected to a site with that domain in it. I cannot tell whether it is a spoof or not since I am going directly to an ebay site/page. If it is a spoof, how are they able to use the real ebay.com domain name in a link typed into a browser? You will only notice it briefly if you visit it, and then it switches back to just ebay.com. eBay tells me they have nothing to do with the domain/site promotionexpert.com.

 

[INFORG]

It is just a mouseover effect, where you can make it say whatever you want when you hover on it - what you are actually clicking is something else entirely. It then redirects you through their affiliate link and on to eBay. Don't click links like that! It could be a virus.

 

[havlock]

It is just a mouseover effect, where you can make it say whatever you want when you hover on it - what you are actually clicking is something else entirely. It then redirects you through their affiliate link and on to eBay. Don't click links like that! It could be a virus.

There is nothing to mouseover, I am typing it directly into a browser. If you type http://ebay.com/auctionduplicates into your browser, you will first see it flash with the promotionexpert.com domain before it sends you to an ebay login screen. How are they able to redirect the original ebay.com domain which I typed into my browser?

It appears to me that there is either a folder or a file of some type called auctionduplicates on ebay's host which has been hijacked.

 

[INFORG]

I am at work, so eBay is verbotten -, but either they are affiliated with eBay, or maybe you already have a trojan/malware that is redirecting you through that site whenever you go to eBay. Run MalwareBytes.com

 

[Biggie]

How are they able to redirect the original ebay.com domain which I typed into my browser?

auctionduplicates may be the affiliate link or code name for "promotion experts" user id with ebay,

it appears they are using the ebay login page to get visitors to sign-up under them



"signin.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?SignIn&runame=strobe_sellercomm&SessID=dxAAAA**e919069c1350a47a37558c25fffba75e"

 

[vettermich]

removed

 

[DigiNames]

The site looks like it belongs to Area Technology Inc. If you look at their website it says that they work with eBay:

http://www.areatechnology.com

They were probably tracking the results of the link you got in association with a campaign or something. PromotionExpert.com is actually a very high traffic site and it looks like they work with some big companies for technology/promotions/contests etc..

 

[havlock]

The site looks like it belongs to Area Technology Inc. If you look at their website it says that they work with eBay:

http://www.areatechnology.com

They were probably tracking the results of the link you got in association with a campaign or something. PromotionExpert.com is actually a very high traffic site and it looks like they work with some big companies for technology/promotions/contests etc..

That's what I was able to conclude as well. Although everyone I spoke with at eBay swears they are not associated with either domain. I think it was a legit message I got to begin with, but probably came from a division of ebay that does not speak with other divisions.