TOKYO (MacHouse) – We found a couple of free satellite TV websites more than 12 hours. And it took us just several minutes to find another one at onlineplayer.tv. We don’t know if the website of onlineplayer.tv is a fake one like online-tvnetwork.com and internettvaccess.com. In the meantime, thanks to Sibername.com‘s prompt action, the fake operation of online-tvnetwork.com is now closed. Who is behind these free satellite TV scam websites? As we investigate this online scam operation, our focus is on Market Engines, Inc (marketengines.com) and Rack Engines (rackengines.com).
 Screenshot 01 – Source: onlineplayer.tv |
 Screenshot 02 – Source: interactivebrands.com |
 Screenshot 03 – Source: interactivebrands.com |
So how did we find another free satellite TV website at onlineplayer.tv? We just asked Google about “Get instant access to over 3000 channels! Fill out the form below.” It’s just that simple.
There is something odd about this website. The initial domain is onlineplayer.tv. But if you click on the JOIN button at the top (See Screenshot 01.), you will be not just forwarded to the next page but also to a different domain. It’s now interactivebrands.com. (See Screenshot 02.) If you move on to the next Membership Options page, you will see the HACKER SAFE label again. (See Screenshot 03.) And it appears that this label belongs to marketengines.com. (See Screenshot 04.) The same story…
More than 12 hours ago, we asked both ScanAlert, Inc. and Market Engines Inc. by e-mail about this HACKER SAFE label being used at internettvaccess.com and online-tvnetwork.com. But we were not able to get their comments before publishing this report.
 Screenshot 04 – Source: scanalert.com |
 Screenshot 05 – Source: marketengines.com |
 Screenshot 06 – Source: interactivebrands.com |
We want to find out where the website of onlineplayer.tv is hosted. We used Apple’s Network Utility to find its nameservers, which are ns1.hsprovider.net and ns2.hsprovider.net. (See Screenshot 07.) Tracing these nameservers has eventually led us to Rack Engines. Right, again…
 Screenshot 07 |
 Screenshot 08 – Source: rackengines.com |
 Screenshot 09 – Source: marketengines.com |
I can tell you from the beginning that there are many odd things going on here. At the bottom of the window on the main page, I clicked on Customer’s Login. (See Screenshot 08.) But I got an error page, which said “hsp01.marketengines.com could not be found.” (See Screenshot 09.) marketengines.com? Hmm… That’s interesting. So this website is actually run by Market Engines? Anyway, I also clicked on Email Accounts on the index page. Then I got “The page cannot be found.” (See Screenshot 10.) Let’s click on SIGN UP next to Shared Windows Hosting. (See Screenshot 11.) Umm… I tried a few times. But I ended up reaching an error page again. (See Screenshot 12.)
 Screenshot 10 – Source: rackengines.com |
 Screenshot 11 – Source: rackengines.com |
 Screenshot 12 – Source: rackengines.com |
Is it possible that they are closing their web hosting business? That’s a little bit unlikely. We already know they offer a few shared server plans. And Screenshot 13 shows that their shared nameservers are ns1.rackengines.com and ns2.rackengines.com. Let’s ask Google about these nameservers. Screenshot 14 and 15 show that there is only one search result for each nameserver. That’s odd, right?
 Screenshot 13 – Source: rackengines.com |
 Screenshot 14 – Source: google.com |
 Screenshot 15 – Source: google.com |
How could that be possible? They offer shared server plans, but nobody uses those nameservers? Rack Engines says there are 10 reasons why you would choose to host your website there. No. 1. It’s trusted by 50,000 customers. (See Screenshot 16.)
 Screenshot 16 – Source: rackengines.com |
 Screenshot 17 – Source: rackengines.com |
Let’s see another odd feature on this website. At the very front page, you see Online Live Chat. (See Screenshot 17.) It doesn’t exist. Online Live Chat, Help Desk, Knowledgebase are all in one package. If you click on any of them, you will reach the support page as shown in Screenshot 13. They don’t have Help Desk. They don’t have e-mail addresses you can use to contact them. If you really want to contact them, you have to call them up, I suppose. By the way, do you find a single address stated on this website?
In conclusion, Rack Engines (rackengines.com) is apparently used as a base for fake business. They claim to have 50,000 customers, some of which must be using Rack Engines’ shared server hosting plans. Having shared servers means that information on the nameservers is publicly available. But we found no search results on Google indicating that Rack Engines’ shared nameservers are used by anyone.
Furthermore, we don’t know what kind of business relationship exists between Rack Engines and Market Engines Inc. Unfortunately, Market Engines Inc. is not available for comments.
References:
Another Free Satellite TV Scam Website Found at INTERNETTVACCESS.COM
Free Satellite TV Scam Website Hosted at SIBERNAME.COM Again
Security Bulletins (Members only)
 |
 |
