IT'S WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2ND 2011.
I'M BRIDGET CAREY ON CNET.COM AND IT'S TIME TO GET LOADED.
YOU MAY BE PAYING TAXES SOON ON AMAZON PURCHASES, IF SOME LAWMAKERS GET THEIR WAY.
TWO REPUBLICAN SENATORS ARE INTRODUCING A BILL TO FORCE AMAZON AND OTHER OUT-OF-STATE ONLINE STORES TO COLLECT SALES TAXES, AND ITS BEING SUPPORTED BY RETAILERS LIKE WAL-MART AND BEST BUY.
BUT THIS ISN'T JUST A REPUBLICAN ISSUE - A FEW MONTHS AGO SOME DEMOCRATIC LAWMAKERS PROPOSED A SIMILAR ACTION.
BUT ACCORDING TO A WELLS FARGO STUDY, EVEN IF AMAZON STARTED CHARGING TAX, IT STILL WOULD BE 10 PERCENT CHEAPER THAN BUYING FROM WAL-MART.
SO, YOU KNOW WHEN YOU GET A FACEBOOK FRIEND REQUEST FROM SOMEONE YOU DON'T REALLY KNOW, BUT YOU SEE YOU HAVE ONE FRIEND IN COMMON SO YOU FIGURE, EH, MAYBE I MET THIS PERSON BEFORE.
THEY KINDA LOOK FAMILIAR.
AND YOU ADD THEM TO YOUR FRIENDS?
STOP.
DOING.
THAT.
THERE ARE FAKE ACCOUNTS TRYING TO DUPE YOU INTO ADDING THEM, AND IT'S WORKING.
A UNIVERSITY WAS ABLE TO DUPE THOUSANDS OF USERS INTO BEFRIENDING BOTS -- AND WHEN THERE WAS JUST ONE FRIEND IN COMMON, MORE PEOPLE WERE OKAY WITH SAYING YES TO THE CONNECTION.
WHEN ADDED AS A FRIEND THE FAKE ACCOUNTS COULD ACCESS PROFILE INFORMATION AND COLLECTED 250 GIGABYTES OF PERSONAL DATA.
SO NEXT TIME YOU GET A FRIEND REQUEST FROM SOMEONE YOU DON'T REMEMBER, DON'T JUST BLINDLY CLICK ACCEPT.
THIS MAY HAVE BEEN JUST A STUDY, BUT I'VE SEEN MY FRIENDS ADD FAKE ACCOUNTS WITHOUT THINKING TWICE.
IT'S INCREDIBLE HOW EASY IT IS TO SUCKER PEOPLE.
IF YOU'RE GOING TO BUY A TABLET THIS YEAR, PERHAPS AS A GIFT, YOU NEED TO BE CAREFUL NOT TO BUY A KNOCKOFF.
A REPORT FOUND MORE THAN 23 THOUSAND WEBSITE LISTINGS FOR CLONE OR COUNTERFEIT TABLET COMPUTERS IN A SINGLE DAY.
TO TRICK BUYERS INTO THINKING THEY'RE GETTING A DISCOUNT IPAD OR MOTOROLA XOOM, THEY MIGHT BLUR THE BRAND NAME IN A PHOTO.
SOME TIPS FOR SPOTTING FAKES - IF A STRANGE SITE IS SELLING ONE FOR MORE THAN 50 PERCENT LESS THAN EVERYONE ELSE, IT'S PROBABLY TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE.
AND THIS MIGHT GO WITHOUT SAYING FOR THE SAVVY GEEK, BUT IT'S ALSO A FAKE IF THEY'RE SELLING ONE THAT HASN'T BEEN RELEASED IN STORES YET.
IF YOU DIDN'T THINK THERE WERE ENOUGH DAILY DEAL GROUPON CLONES OUT THERE ALREADY, ANOTHER ONE LAUNCHED TODAY WITH A SIMPLE NAME - DAILYDEALS.
COM.
ASIDE FROM TIMING THE LAUNCH JUST WHEN GROUPON IS ABOUT TO CLOSE THE BOOKS ON ITS IPO TOMORROW, DAILYDEALS.
COM MARKETS ITSELF AS THE ANTI-GROUPON.
IT WON'T DO ANY LOCAL DEALS -- JUST NATIONAL AND ONLINE MERCHANTS.
SPRINT NEXTEL HAS FORMED A MOBILE SECURITY COUNCIL TO FIGHT THE VILLAINY THAT SEEKS TO INFECT OUR HANDSETS WITH MALWARE.
ITS A GROWING PROBLEM - ESPECIALLY WITH ANDROID PHONES.
MCAFFE FOUND 44 ANDROID MALWARE THREATS JUST IN THIS SECOND QUARTER, COMPARED WITH 4 ON BLACKBERRY AND NONE ON THE IPHONE.
THE COUNCIL CONSISTS OF IBM AND CISCO SYSTEMS, AS WELL AS PHONE MAKERS LIKE SAMSUNG AND MOTOROLA.
BUT...
THE TWO BIGGEST PLAYERS IN MOBILE, APPLE AND GOOGLE, ARE NOT ON THE TEAM.
THAT'S LIKE HAVING A JUSTICE LEAGUE WITHOUT BATMAN OR SUPERMAN.
THOSE ARE YOUR HEADLINES FOR TODAY, I'M BRIDGET CAREY FOR CNET.
COM AND YOU'VE JUST BEEN LOADED.
