received the following:
"Congratulations! You have been chosen to receive a free iPad2. Please tgo to http:??ow.ly/alQxu and enter code 4812"
If this isn't sucker bait, I don't know what is.
.ly is libya.
I found the following articles from 2009 about ow.ly. There are no relevant articles about this particular redirection, because it is new.
Is Ow.ly Framejacking?
July 31st, 2009 by Matt
The popular URL shortening service Ow.ly has recently come under fire on Twitter, and is being criticized for “framejacking.” (Framejacking is an unpleasant trick that was employed quite a lot in the late nineties, where someone would load others’ web pages into a frameset along with their own branding and ads.)
Ow.ly: What’s You’re Take?
June 26th, 2009 by Matt
Ow.ly is a URL shortener that has gained a measure of popularity of late. It ties in with the HootSuite service, which allows you to schedule tweets, manage multiple Twitter profiles, and track link statistics. Ow.ly and HootSuite together are sort of like an amalgam of Tweetable, Bit.ly, and TwitterFeed.
So, what does this mean? it means that you aren't seeing the actual url which you are going to. It is hidden. I doubt like hell that it is a nice website to visit; it is likely to, in addition to the ow.ly ribbon, download all sorts of nasty crap to your machine. think drive-by.
6177846821 NOW says you've won a free Ipad3, how can they keep scamming people and the phone company does nothing? Reported to police and donotcall.gov Don't dial the number or click on a iink, reported to police.