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Re:Many temptations of an open-source Chrome extension devel... by mschuster91 on Wednesday August 09, 2023 @03:37PM (#37067430)
> My site also has some Windows software downloads on it, and I occasionally get emails for bundling dodgy installers. Most of these tend to be "residential proxy" services looking to sell access to users' internet connections.

I wonder what these people are thinking? Like, TOR operators know the risks with connection sharing - most particularly: pedos using their service to share CSAM. But everyday people?! They have no idea until one day they get v&.

Re:Many temptations of an open-source Chrome extension devel... by kccqzy on Wednesday August 09, 2023 @03:59PM (#37067624)
Prey on users who don't know the difference. Sell the residential proxy service to scammers who use high-reputation residential IPs to commit crime or fraud or other shady things.
Re:Many temptations of an open-source Chrome extension devel... by bornfreddy on Wednesday August 09, 2023 @04:08PM (#37067709)
I think these services are used mainly for scraping sites which try to hide their data (think LinkedIn). They don't offer any protection to those that are breaking the law, afaik. So I would expect that there isn't much risk of putting their victims ("endpoints") in trouble with the law.

Not condoning it of course, it is still an ugly practice.

Re:Many temptations of an open-source Chrome extension devel... by sdflhasjd on Wednesday August 09, 2023 @04:17PM (#37067805)
I've read through some of Brian Krebs' articles on some of these proxies, the ones I get these email offers from seem a little less slimy than that and more above board like you say. It's still not an acceptible thing to be seeling your users out to though.