Update: 02/02/2020:

I recently posted a "Part 2" of this Website Quote Request Phishing Scam Alert to the Internet Safety blog.  The scam continues and has evolved.  This time it's a new business, new sender, and a new tactic.  Read the blog post here for more details.

Update: 10/05/2017:

I received a call today from another service provider who has been contacted by this scammer.  Be aware that this scam is still ongoing.  Feel free to share your similar experience or story in the comments section below (as well as if the scammer uses a different name, email address, or changes some of the information).

Since starting Computer Science, I have been very unsure about what direction I wanted to take it in so I’ve been exploring every avenue in the field to try and find the path that is right for me; this internship being my first out of classroom programming experience.

How Did I Get an Internship Anyway?

Thanks to a recommendation from a friend, I learned of this awesome company and that they offer internships. I decided to apply for one since I had made a decision last year that the field I wanted to go into was, in fact, web design/development. The biggest reason I took the internship was in order to gain experience in a job field. In computing, experience is sometimes even more important than a degree. I also took the internship to find out for sure that web design and development were what I really wanted my career to be.

With more and more "social networking" websites emerging every day comes more and more scams and compromised security.  It is becoming more difficult for the average Internet user to tell whether or not certain websites are legitimate, and even legitimate websites get hacked.

With 750 million active users (as of July 2011 - source), Facebook has become a must for businesses to establish a presence.

In addition to being able to target specific demographics through Facebook advertising, more and more businesses are taking advantage of Facebook Pages.

Update: September 16th, 2013:

We have received a great deal of feedback on this post.  I am thankful that this information has helped a lot of people and protected people from being taken advantage of by these scammers.  

Christopher Laursen with European Domain Centre sent me this link and asked me to share it.  It has additional information about this particular scam, including a list of senders.

Please feel free to continue to leave comments with your updates on this post.  We have the comments set to be approved before they show up because of the high volume of spam this particular post receives (most of it originating from the People's Republic of China...coincidence?)

Why is it important to retain traffic?  Simple:  The more users you have returning to your website, the more likely they are to utilize your products or services.

Sure, marketing your business is important, but don’t forget about the most important part of your business: your customers.  In a world where there is less and less human interaction with your customers sometimes it can be hard to remember that your customers are your business.  

Whether you are a business owner or executive or a salesperson or customer service representative you may find some benefit from these ideas.  I believe that the success of our great nation depends on the success of small business.  Without successful small business and entrepreneurs we will lose innovation and drive.  In order for small business to survive in the new global economy we must adapt and act quickly, but not hastily. 

In 30 years of working in the Information Technology field, I have seen technology move from punch cards to the use of the World Wide Web. As companies and businesses utilized more and more information technologies, they have had to justify each project.