“Ben Young” Iplanetpro – Another Internet Marketing Leech

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I don’t mind exposing people for what they are, and truly invite anyone who wants to “expose” me, to do so as well. We’ve exposed some other internet scams including emails from so called SEO “experts” to unsuspecting businesses, that make wild claims and this evening, we’re going to expose another one.  There truly are some leeches out there that have absolutely no morals, no true concerns, and use methods that are simply quite disgusting.

Recently, we registered a domain name on behalf of a client; it’s basically “brand new” and development is going on as I write this. Most of the work has been done,  When I register domain names on behalf of clients, I always put the registrant information such that it shows legally that the client owns it, but I also include my own email address as a contact so that I can deal with any issues on behalf of the client, quickly.

This means that I often get spam. Tonight was no exception. Earlier this evening, while checking my inbox, I received an email from a “Ben Young” with the subject line of: “We found a problem with xxxxx.org.” (The “xxxxx” represent the actual domain name).

Inside the body of the email, I read:

We found some major issues while running our Speed Test report on xxxxxx.org

Please click here to view the results:

http://quote.gamedayassist.com/xxxxxxx

Thanks,
Ben Young

Site Speed Rankings, LLC
Account Manager
EMT Group, LLC | 3846 Herbert Road, Mogadore OH 44260

To someone who is naive, this may appear “scary.” Indeed, there is a site speed component to Google’s and other search engine’s algorithm; how much of an influence it has is not really known. Regardless of that fact, it is important to ensure a site is optimized as much as possible for speed issues. One of the biggest things we find are images that are far to large in file size.  We’ve managed to help clients that have images that are over 200 kb each, to reduce this substantially, which affects site speed positively. As well, there are occasions when a site might be hosted on a very slow server, but today, that’s not the norm.

Let’s get back to the site in question that I received the email about. It’s simple, it’s not meant to be a site that is marketed all over, and it has nothing fancy on it. Indeed, it contains all of one single image, that weighs in at a whopping 3.4 Kb. (I’m being sarcastic.. 3.4 Kb is very small).

It’s hosted on a very fast server. The CSS is optimized. In summary, there is zero speed issues with the website. If you’re on a dial up ISP, this site is going to be as quick as any other. Yet Ben Young would send out some alarming email about “speed issues” that are “major.”

Ben Young’s full email address, by the way is:

[email protected]

I haven’t bothered to look at his website, or clicked on his link that leads to some supposed “speed test results”; I have no need to do so. All I know is that Ben Young and his ilk are mongering upon fears that many have, and as a result, likely can’t actually do anything to really help you; Ben Young probably did not even look at the website in question before sending what is probably an automated email sent to many registrants of new domain names.

Ben Young is the type of Internet Marketer that attempts to feed off fears of others, and make a quick buck, even if nothing is wrong.

And yes, people like Ben Young need to be called out for what they are. Leeches. It’s quite possible that Ben Young will now change his email address, or even his name (as other illegitimate jerks often do), but please be aware of these types of emails. Quite often, there ARE legitimate issues with websites and speed; you’re better off talking to someone that has been around for awhile and that can sift through the wheat from the chaff.

Be careful out there. Don’t trust the Ben Youngs of this world.

11 thoughts on ““Ben Young” Iplanetpro – Another Internet Marketing Leech”

  1. I want to know how this dude managed to find out the address to my unpublished website?!

    The guy must have spy cookies or somthing. what else does he know?

    1. All he needs to do is scan the internet registry for websites and scoop up all the email addresses that he finds in there. If you have your email address in there, you will be a target.

    2. Did you get your domains through go daddy if so… ask them why they are handing out our personal information to this douce bag Ben Young

  2. I handle domain name acquisitions in the same fashion, sparing clients a lot of SPAM & myself phone calls asking whether something is legit. The email I got today was:

    We found a problem with XYZ.com
    Ben Young ([email protected])
    We found some major issues while running our Speed Test Report on XYZ.com
    Please click here to view the results.
    Thanks,

    Ben Young
    Site Speed Rankings, LLC Account Manager
    EMT Group, LLC | 3846 Herbert Road, Mogadore OH 44260

    Ironically, there is no website for this domain yet! But what is really odd is that it’s the latest of a series of emails since the name was purchased. I also got [email protected] seeking to design the site, and [email protected] wanting me to look at a “valuation” report!!

    The common denominator is that this domain was purchased thru Godaddy, and since there’s no website here, these spammers are either trolling the WHOIS database – or Godaddy is selling them my info.

  3. I just had a client of mine forward me the interactions with Ben Young. What a loser! Thank you for putting his practices on blast.

    On Wednesday, February 12, 2014 4:51 AM, Ben Young wrote:

    We found some major issues while running our Speed Test Report on
    zzzzzzz.com
    Please click here to view the results
    Thanks,
    Ben Young
    Site Speed Rankings, LLC
    Account Manager

    My guess is a script that runs the whois of newly registered domains giving the time the email was sent.

  4. I have received the same spam for website design and “Ben Young” when I registered a domain for my client on hostgator. Thank god I entered my email and not his as he probably would have taken it seriously. I’m suspecting malware…. this crap tactic must work for people to use it. What it works for is the question.

  5. Hello Ian, I hope you’re well. I am really happy you are doing this and angry at myself that I didn’t google Ben Young before I paid him. He took my money and never did anything he promised. I am going to take the matter forward. Would you mind emailing me, please? I’m looking forward to hearing from you!

  6. Hi, so my small start up business was also scammed by this cockroach. He seemed v helpful at first and I played right into his hands, stupidly. This time he was advertising on linked in as SEO specialist. I ended up paying about £600 before I realised we were being had.
    On Company House he has registered multiple businesses and uses a different address every time. Is there anything that can be done to stop him- sounds like a big operation and could be more than one individual?

    1. I am so sorry you have been scammed, Helen 🙁 I took a look at your site, and it could use some basic SEO optimization – it’s horrible that you spent so much and got nothing.

      As far as what to do, there’s probably not much you can do to go after the scammer. Might want to talk to the local police, but I doubt they’d be able to offer any assurances as to legal action they could take.

      Again, so sorry you had that experience.

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