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The gift that is the scammy internet ad just keeps on giving.

Yesterday I spied yet another scam ad on YouTube, this time for a device that promises (at least in the video ad) free internet access... anywhere, any time, even if there's no cellular or Wifi coverage.

What's more, you get 300GB a month of data -- forever!

Who wouldn't jump at such a fantastic device, especiall when it costs just NZ$79 and that's a one-time payment -- no ongoing fees or charges. Apparently it doesn't even need a SIM card or anything.

I didn't get a chance to record the video ad when it popped up during a YouTube video but I did hear mention of Xtra's name so, as you'll see in a moment, I suspect it comes with a cheap pre-pay Xtra SIM card built-in, perhaps with a couple of hundred MB of data.

Here is a link to the product page that the ad ultimately directs you to.

See the claims on the left of the page which include:

• No contract, no SIM card required
• Monthly fee 0
• 1500 Mbit/s
• Monthly data of 300GB

The video also states:

Yeah... right!

It's interesting to note that the video ad makes claims that are carefully not repeated on the product page itself -- for obvious reasons.

If you're stupid enough to plonk down $80 for one of these devices you'll get nothing more than a pretty crappy 4G cellular modem with Wifi. This connects to the cellular network and creates a local Wifi hotspot.

It says "no SIM card required" because it comes with its own SIM card that will require you to pay a chunk of change to use... and there may not be a monthly fee but there will be a data charge -- there is no free internet or lunch here.

So this is just another fraud, willingly assisted by Google/YouTube who are more than happy to take the money of anyone that wants to perpetrate such scams through Alphabet's ad network.

However, what got my blood boiling this morning was this story in which Google claims that its AI systems have suspended over 39 million ad accounts suspected of fraud.

WTF Google? You are happy to believe your AI when it detects scams (or halucinates and bans innocent accounts, something that happens far too often) but you ignore genuine fraud reports by regular people?

The train-wreck that is Google and YouTube continues its relentless enshittification towards total uselessness.

Carpe Diem folks!

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