Lewis and Oswald : Sex Tourists / IT Magnates
In the latter days of the Internet Boom, anyone could make money on the web. Case in point: Lewis and Oswald. Their names aren't Lewis and Oswald. Those are the names of two idiots from the Drew Carey Show show look alot like these IT entrepeneurs. In an effort to protect the guilty, we'll refer to them as Lewis and Oswald.
Lewis worked in investment companies before the Securities and Exchanges Commission put a spotlight on those businesses and made his ilk uncomfortable. So, he went over to work for an IT company that was really got good at raking in hosting clients and design work. He learned how they did their business. Then, quietly set up his own server and started to encourage his employer's clients to move over to his server. That's when the daily calls started: "Hey, buddy, can you, uh, tell me, uh, how much it costs to, uh, do a database tied into a list of cities?" and off the cuff quote requests. Basically, he gives you a sentence and you have to give him an ironclad quote on the phone without a spec or an idea of scope or timeframe. Eventually, his employer figured that all of his days were spent dealing with his clients and not their clients. They booted his ass. It was time to turn his sideline into a business. The problem (well, one of many) with Lewis: he was user; a user without money. Enter Oswald.
Oswald was this lanky mutton head. If he didn't have money, he would been spitting in your burgers at the Gulp'n'Blow. Instead, his dad worked hard and built a chain of clothing store franchises in the area. He gave one to his dopey son. His dopey son also got to spend as much money as he wanted. Unlike Lewis, Oswald could run an Internet business out of his day job. That's it: an IT empire perched beside a pile of button fly jeans. User Lewis tapped dufus Oswald, his childhood friend for the cash.
They set up more servers, a toll free line and put an ad in the back of Wired. Lewis put his investment skills to work. They did the "pump" part of a pump'n'dump. Logging onto every website that rated web hosts, they gave their services rave reviews. The other web hosts seemed to have good and bad comments, but they were glowing examples of price and service. People loved their speedy Windows servers (they didn't have Windows servers); they loved their custom IT solutions (I did the programming; Lewis and Oswald collected the money).
Before long, they were making money hand over fist: tens of thousands of dollars every month. They leased matching BMWs (what a cute couple!). They partied into the night. They took off to Thailand and parts unknown on sex tours. They had money, nice cars and good looks; so why travel aboard for sex? Simple: they were both users. They couldn't get a disposable girlfriend or deflower a preteen without consequences. Those luxuries were only avalable offshore.
While a thousand or two per month should have gone to keeping their defenses shored up, their servers backed-up and all that; that didn't happen. When crap hit the fan, they begged and borrowed work. I made the mistake of hosting some of my clients there. When their servers were hacked and rampaged, my clients got pissed with me. I worked as hard as I could, but soon I was fighting their fires for free.
Eventually I sent them a bill for some of my services (ie. spend 40 hrs. at $40/hr. keeping their servers aloft; then billing them $300). They waffled on the bill. They delayed paying. When I told them that new work would come after they paid for old work, things got chilly. Still they didn't pay. Eventually, I sicced a collection agency on them. That really pissed them off. They denied the bill. When I sent the collection agency emails where they asked for the work, promised payment and all that, they made up false billing. They charged me for services I never knew existed. They had this knack for inventing people. "Janet" sent me a bill and "Bill" would handle my IT questions. Janet and Bill didn't exist. But, when they asked about this false bill, I told them that I spoke with Janet, she talked to Bill and they cancelled that invoice. When I finally got Oswald on the phone, he waffled and whined. Eventually, he said "We have to start a new company. You wrecked out credit rating." Tee hee. He did promise to pay.
In digging around for information about them, I found an WIPO/ICANN complaint summary where Lewis and Oswald's company had registered a named similar to a competitor's (e.g. their competitor is www.hostho.com and they registered wwwhostho.com) so that if someone misses the "." in www.hostho.com, they would come to Lewis and Oswald's front door. The typo-piracy/cybersquatting rules say that the offending domain has to be moved to the rightful owner's control in exchanges for the fair costs associated (e.g. spend $50 to register almostcoke.com and Coca-Cola has to pay $50 to get the domain if WIPO decides they should get it). Weasel Oswald's actions are best summed up by these WIPO complaint details:
These weasels had dozens of these typo-piracy links under their belt. All of them beat a path to Lewis and Oswald. In essence, they hijacked their competitor's marketing. They managed a "catch-me-if-you-can" mindset in their business activities. At one point, they began answering emails in my name and accepting the blame for what was going on. When I called the police about this, they said there was nothing that could be done if one person impersonates another without the direct intent of fraud. Getting them out of hot water didn't count. After that, Lewis and Oswald seemingly spent two years telling people that their towing company sucks; or that they were dissatisfied with their burger; or asking for more information on Amway; or ordering free samples of Depends.
My favorite example of "their" behaviour was when a Nigerian scammer tried to shuffle money out of the country. The first thing the Nigerian needed to do was get the company to fill out a form with bank account information and signatures. Once that fax was filled out and faxed back, Nigerian funds could be whisked to safety. So, Lewis and Oswald's voice line was accidentally provided instead of a fax number. When the Nigerian complained that the fax didn't work, he was urged to keep trying that same number and do so at all hours of the day and night. Lewis and Oswald's company was very busy and they had business going on at all hours, so the fax had to keep being tried. Also, the Nigerian was assured that he would be reimbursed for all long distance expenses. Janet or Bill would see to that.
Lewis worked in investment companies before the Securities and Exchanges Commission put a spotlight on those businesses and made his ilk uncomfortable. So, he went over to work for an IT company that was really got good at raking in hosting clients and design work. He learned how they did their business. Then, quietly set up his own server and started to encourage his employer's clients to move over to his server. That's when the daily calls started: "Hey, buddy, can you, uh, tell me, uh, how much it costs to, uh, do a database tied into a list of cities?" and off the cuff quote requests. Basically, he gives you a sentence and you have to give him an ironclad quote on the phone without a spec or an idea of scope or timeframe. Eventually, his employer figured that all of his days were spent dealing with his clients and not their clients. They booted his ass. It was time to turn his sideline into a business. The problem (well, one of many) with Lewis: he was user; a user without money. Enter Oswald.
Oswald was this lanky mutton head. If he didn't have money, he would been spitting in your burgers at the Gulp'n'Blow. Instead, his dad worked hard and built a chain of clothing store franchises in the area. He gave one to his dopey son. His dopey son also got to spend as much money as he wanted. Unlike Lewis, Oswald could run an Internet business out of his day job. That's it: an IT empire perched beside a pile of button fly jeans. User Lewis tapped dufus Oswald, his childhood friend for the cash.
They set up more servers, a toll free line and put an ad in the back of Wired. Lewis put his investment skills to work. They did the "pump" part of a pump'n'dump. Logging onto every website that rated web hosts, they gave their services rave reviews. The other web hosts seemed to have good and bad comments, but they were glowing examples of price and service. People loved their speedy Windows servers (they didn't have Windows servers); they loved their custom IT solutions (I did the programming; Lewis and Oswald collected the money).
Before long, they were making money hand over fist: tens of thousands of dollars every month. They leased matching BMWs (what a cute couple!). They partied into the night. They took off to Thailand and parts unknown on sex tours. They had money, nice cars and good looks; so why travel aboard for sex? Simple: they were both users. They couldn't get a disposable girlfriend or deflower a preteen without consequences. Those luxuries were only avalable offshore.
While a thousand or two per month should have gone to keeping their defenses shored up, their servers backed-up and all that; that didn't happen. When crap hit the fan, they begged and borrowed work. I made the mistake of hosting some of my clients there. When their servers were hacked and rampaged, my clients got pissed with me. I worked as hard as I could, but soon I was fighting their fires for free.
Eventually I sent them a bill for some of my services (ie. spend 40 hrs. at $40/hr. keeping their servers aloft; then billing them $300). They waffled on the bill. They delayed paying. When I told them that new work would come after they paid for old work, things got chilly. Still they didn't pay. Eventually, I sicced a collection agency on them. That really pissed them off. They denied the bill. When I sent the collection agency emails where they asked for the work, promised payment and all that, they made up false billing. They charged me for services I never knew existed. They had this knack for inventing people. "Janet" sent me a bill and "Bill" would handle my IT questions. Janet and Bill didn't exist. But, when they asked about this false bill, I told them that I spoke with Janet, she talked to Bill and they cancelled that invoice. When I finally got Oswald on the phone, he waffled and whined. Eventually, he said "We have to start a new company. You wrecked out credit rating." Tee hee. He did promise to pay.
In digging around for information about them, I found an WIPO/ICANN complaint summary where Lewis and Oswald's company had registered a named similar to a competitor's (e.g. their competitor is www.hostho.com and they registered wwwhostho.com) so that if someone misses the "." in www.hostho.com, they would come to Lewis and Oswald's front door. The typo-piracy/cybersquatting rules say that the offending domain has to be moved to the rightful owner's control in exchanges for the fair costs associated (e.g. spend $50 to register almostcoke.com and Coca-Cola has to pay $50 to get the domain if WIPO decides they should get it). Weasel Oswald's actions are best summed up by these WIPO complaint details:
Bad faith
On February 1[#], 200[#], the Complainant sent a letter to the Respondent concerning its registration and use of the disputed domain name and requesting that the Respondent contact the Complainant to resolve the matter. The letter was sent by first class mail to the physical address in [place], [province], Canada listed in the "Whois" registration records of the registrar for the disputed domain name. On April 1[#], 200[#], the Complainant’s counsel telephoned the phone number listed in the "Whois" registration records of the registrar. The phone was answered by "[Oswald]" who refused to give a last name but, when asked, said he had authority to speak for the Respondent concerning the
These weasels had dozens of these typo-piracy links under their belt. All of them beat a path to Lewis and Oswald. In essence, they hijacked their competitor's marketing. They managed a "catch-me-if-you-can" mindset in their business activities. At one point, they began answering emails in my name and accepting the blame for what was going on. When I called the police about this, they said there was nothing that could be done if one person impersonates another without the direct intent of fraud. Getting them out of hot water didn't count. After that, Lewis and Oswald seemingly spent two years telling people that their towing company sucks; or that they were dissatisfied with their burger; or asking for more information on Amway; or ordering free samples of Depends.
My favorite example of "their" behaviour was when a Nigerian scammer tried to shuffle money out of the country. The first thing the Nigerian needed to do was get the company to fill out a form with bank account information and signatures. Once that fax was filled out and faxed back, Nigerian funds could be whisked to safety. So, Lewis and Oswald's voice line was accidentally provided instead of a fax number. When the Nigerian complained that the fax didn't work, he was urged to keep trying that same number and do so at all hours of the day and night. Lewis and Oswald's company was very busy and they had business going on at all hours, so the fax had to keep being tried. Also, the Nigerian was assured that he would be reimbursed for all long distance expenses. Janet or Bill would see to that.
posted by A. Proud (Foolsoft Employee) at 4:12 PM
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