The Wake

Any college student who loves to play videogames wants an Xbox 360. They also want a Nintendo Wii. Some of the more affluent students just might want a Playstation 3. Myself, I want all three. When I heard about this website RadioFreeXbox.com, I thought it was too good to be true. I was driving to school when an ad for it came on the radio, complete with the standard testimonials from people who I can only assume are paid actors. A website that promises a free Xbox 360?! Score! Upon further investigation my hopes melted away like ice cream in the sun when I discovered the truth.

Beware of RadioFreeXbox.com. Or any website on the Internet that tries to promise free things. Oh sure, they seem to offer so many good things to you. But the reality is they will take your information and spam you like there’s no tomorrow.

As long as there’s been an Internet, there’s been spamming. Even before the Internet, companies would telegraph multiple people with investment offers before the Great Depression. The term for junk e-mail is believed to have originated from a Monty Python skit, where a group of Vikings would sing “SPAM!” loudly, drowning out anyone who was near. RadioFreeXbox.com is even more annoying, especially since it’s not a TV show. According to the website, if you fill out your information, then look at a few ads, the website’s sponsors will pay to ship a free Xbox 360 unit to you, based on your responses to the ads. This sounds really good at face value, right?

I tried several times to get a free Xbox 360. I even sat down with my dad, so he could try to win an Xbox 360. It didn’t work any of the times I tried. In fact, I couldn’t find anyone online or off that did get an Xbox 360 from this website. All I found was a myriad of forums dedicated to complaining about this and other websites that try to sucker in people for ad revenue.

There were eight steps to complete before I could get a free Xbox 360. The first step was filling out my information. Normally, there would be no good reason to do this. Anyone who submits their own information to a website like this is just asking to get their identity stolen. The website didn’t ask for credit card information, but all the same it was a little risky to me. It did ask for such things as my address, my cell phone number, and my e-mail address however. I put in a web address I didn’t normally use and truthfully gave the rest of my information in case the impossible came true and I actually got an Xbox 360.

The third step is the tricky one, because I never got past it during any of the times I tried. This is the step where you look at advertisements. “Look” might not be a strong enough word to describe how torturous and malignant this step is. I looked at hundreds of different ads for all sorts of different things. I didn’t want to get a degree from an online college. I didn’t want to refinance my home. I didn’t want to switch health insurance. I really didn’t want to quit smoking, because I don’t smoke to begin with. It should also be noted that I have no intentions of subscribing to the Home and Garden newsletter in the foreseeable future.

Every ad I saw wanted me to fill out information about myself, including my address, phone number, and other things, like my hobbies and occupation. Needless to say, I wasn’t too thrilled to sign up for any of these. I was surprised that I didn’t see an ad for a product that would enhance my manhood, so to speak. I’m sure there was one; I just never got far enough to see it. The website bombarded me with too many ads, and I didn’t feel like spending more than an hour trying to answer them.

Even my old man was enraged after spending time on the website. He used his actual information, and didn’t sign up for a whole lot. However, an ad for a gaming website appeared that looked pretty interesting. They held contests for free prizes, too. He had the chance to win a plasma TV, a PS3, an ipod, and all sorts of other techno-gadgets I could have fun with. All they required was his cell phone number, so they could text him with a pin number that he could enter to see if he won. People smarter than us would have refused to continue this stupidity by now.

Dad typed in his cell phone number and entered it. His cell phone rang almost two seconds afterwards with a five-digit number. He got five more texts in quick succession with different numbers. It soon became ten after a minute. Needless to say, He became enraged with the computer and shut it off. He now wants me to pay him $11 because it cost $10.95 to activate the text message service on his phone.

Scamming and spamming is a common thing on the web. Identity theft runs rampant because unsuspecting people give their personal information to companies and con artists in the hopes of getting something for themselves. It’s unfortunate that websites like RadioFreeXbox.com can subject people who simply want to get something cool for free. Therefore, if you don’t want your father to take money from your kneecaps, don’t try to get free stuff from websites. It just isn’t worth your personal information.

Quote: Oh sure, they seem to offer so many good things to you. But the reality is they will take your information and spam you like there’s no tomorrow.