I’ve been reading a lot about a scam that’s targeted at Pinterest users, mainly foodies. Not being a “food blog”, I never thought about it happening to a pin from ahensnest.com. However, this morning as I was checking my StatCounter, I noticed a new trackback from a blog called kimsdeliciousness.blogspot.com.
I clicked it because I love leaving a comment for any awesome person who happens to link to my recipes. This link was NOT awesome though! It’s a phony link that actually turns into a SCAM link pointing to pinterets instead of Pinterest. I am pissed.
How dare someone use my recipe post as a way to scam others!
This is just to alert you that this scam is real. Please know that you will NEVER have to download any kind of tool or viewer that pops up while you are using Pinterest. If you see a pop up like the one in ths screenshot, then you are being scammed! DO NOT CLICK IT! In fact, run far far away from it. This scam is not to be confused with the Official Pin It button download that is located in the “Goodies” section of Pinterest. That download is of course, legit!
I have reported the blogspot blog that linked to this scam site but I am sure there are hundreds more. Please be aware and report any of these scams that you come across! If you are able to track the scam link back to a blogspot blog, like I was, then you can report it using the “Report Abuse” link in the NavBar.
Now, I have the joy of trying to figure out how to find the scam pin on pinterest to try and get it removed! Do not fall for this Pinterest Scam! Be careful and mindful of what you are repinning! Always check the source of pins before you repin! I hate scammers that ruin a good thing… grrr!
Here are several articles that detail how this scam works.
- Pinterest Scam Aimed At Foodies
- Beware of Spammers, Scammers, and Malicious Links on Pinterest
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Oh my gosh, that is so not cool. I hate scammers. They’re always messing up everything.
Don’t people have better things to do. I hope they shut this site down and you can find the scam link. How frustrating. Thanks for the heads up
Thanks so much for sharing this! But this Download would not be the same as the Pin It Button download, right?
No,not at all! I forgot about that! There is an Official Pin It button download that is located in the “Goodies” section of Pinterest. I’ll update my post with that info! thanks so much :)
Whew!! But oh my goodness it looks so real if you are not paying attention. I just started clicking on my Pins from other people to see if there were any and already found 2 Pinrerets!!!
oh wow! You’re right though, it’s so easy to accidentally repin a scam link! I am definitely going to be on the lookout for this from now on and try to report any that I find!
Good to know. I am sharing this with my friends.
Thanks for sharing this info! We bloggers can never let our guard down, can we? It’s despicable that the spammers have latched on to Pinterest too. I usually only pin from the source but will be extra careful from now on to check that repins are going to legitimate links.
i noticed something weird on pinterest last night, I was trying to pin something and it asked me for a capctha code. I closed the window and started over and it was fine.
Oh, I’ve never heard of that one! It’s crazy to think about the amount of scams there are out there! thanks for sharing the one you ran across!
thanks for sharing this with every one. I’ve seen a couple of these scams lately. With pinterest becoming more popular this is bound to happen more often. Just be careful with all scammers online.
Dang, that sucks. Thank you for the heads up. I’ll definitely try to be more aware of what I’m repinning.
That’s horrible! I only thought it would target heavy pinners. I’m sorry to hear they used a pin from your site. People really have too much time on their hands!
That’s what I thought as well TerriAnn! I never thought that my blog would be targeted! It just goes to show that even the small blogs like mine should be alert!
Thanks for helping to get the word out about this. And thanks for linking to my blog because now I’ve found yours and I really like it!
Aww thanks Beth! I like yours too, you have some amazing recipes!
oh man :(
sooooo not cool!!
How annoying. What on earth is wrong with people that they do this? Thanks for the heads up – I don’t have a Pinterest account anymore, but I am sharing this on FB and Twitter to let others know as well.
Thanks Jen! I get so angry when scammers try to ruin a good thing! I love Pinterest but things like this make me second guess using it at all!
that is crazy! I just don’t understand why people have to be so awful and trick innocent people. Thanks for alerting us to this I will spread the word.
Hi Henrietta! I’ll be more aware of what i’m pinning now and thanks for sharing this with us.
Thank you for posting this! These kinds of scams are exactly why I no longer repin anything on Pinterest–I only pin new things. It takes away some of the fun, but at least I don’t have to worry about spyware or viruses or whatever else!
Thanks for this info Hen! It is good to be more aware of the things posted in the net..They are sometimes more scam than info you can get out of it.
I have heard of this one, but have not yet come across it – I have though had a bunch of scammers tag me in a pin where they link to a spam site. I hate that too.
I have has that scam happen to me as well Tammy! Besides reporting, it seems like there isn’t much else we can do about it :(.
I’ve run across this scam twice today. I noticed the misspelling of Pinterest in the URL right away and I immediately became suspicious about the instructions to install the Pinterest tool. The second time it happened I googled both the misspelled word and the correct spelling and I came across this blog post. I’m glad to see my suspicions are correct! I reported the first one as spam to Pinterest and will continue to do that every time I run across this. Pinterest used to be so much fun until the spammers made a nuisance of themselves.
I’m so glad that you didn’t fall for it Judy! And thank you for reporting those scammers! I report any I run across as well, hopefully they’ll get shut down! I agree, scammers always have to ruin the fun stuff!
I don’t use Pinterest but am glad you let others know of this scam. It’s horrible that no social network is free from being scammed and people have to be super duper careful.
Thanks for the warning. Sheesh, you’d think people could find a better use for their time.