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Youtube has a new scam for you

14 May 2024

Yet again, Youtube is allowing scammers to hawk their wares on its platform.

This time it's apparently a "dual arc torch lighter" that "runs entirely on pre-charged electricity".

Yep, apparently "You won’t have to worry about running out of gas with this electric technology that will last you a lifetime!"

Sounds almost too good to be true... right?

The pre-roll video ad has popped up regularly over the past few days and despite people complaining that it's a scam, continues to appear once or twice a day.

After seeing the ridiculous claims made on the video ad (such as it was developed by the New Zealand military's "special forces" and was powered solely by electricity) I went to the website that the ad points at and found these pages:

Take a moment and compare the claims made on those two "almost" identical pages.

Clearly the scammers are far more worried about upsetting US consumer protection agencies than they are about upsetting those in New Zealand.

Whereas the NZ-centric page clearly states:

"100% Electric and Rechargeable Runs only on tesla coil technology and it’s rechargeable through an USB charge"

the US-centric page instead claims:

"Adjustable and Refillable Refill with any sort of butane gas and adjust its flame size to your liking."

Huh?

For gullible Kiwis, this thing is being pitched as a fuel-free 100 percent electric-powered device that creates a flame solely from electrical arcs but in the USA it suddenly becomes a regular good old butane gas-fueled torch.

WTF?

Now we know that scammers will always be scammers, seeking to separate fools from their money but why does YouTube always seem to turn a blind eye to such scams. I've lost count of the number of these rip-off ads I've reported, only to see them continue to run for weeks or months -- probably until the advertiser's pre-paid account has been exhausted of funds.

This video, posted over a month ago, also highlights this scam so here's the proof that YouTube is now seemingly 100 percent complicit in this fraud. They can't say they didn't know.

Greed is a terrible thing and it seems to know no bounds within the halls of Alphabet and its entities :-(

Carpe Diem folks!

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