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How to Undo this Extraordinary Case of Negative Reputation?

by MariahSutton
10 replies
Hiya,

I've been a lurker for some time, and I decided to register yesterday and post as I really like the vibe of this forum. I'm a website designer, but I'm learning on SEO too. Currently, I have an issue that I'd like to seek help for in this forum.

As it goes, one of my friends (for whom I've designed her blog) found out that someone some time ago did a strong case of negative reputation: a person (whom we think we know who it is) impersonated my friend, posting in websites with her pictures and making it look like it was her. Nothing too crazy, but enough to build a bad reputation and be of worry. The impersonation was done in other blogs via comments and in forums via fictitious accounts and trolling to the point of banning.

My friend is very computer illiterate, and she just uses Wordpress to blog, so I have done the whole designing of the blog etc. She asked me to help her with this, but I told her that I have no idea how to manage this but that I will give it a try. So far this is what I've done:

- Contacted websites explaining the case politely asking to remove comments from articles. So far, all websites have been helpful especially because they knew something was up.

- Asked for IP addresses to see a pattern: this is where it gets interesting as its the same IP.

- Pictures were stolen from my friend's Facebook account and posted too, websites agreed to take them down too.

The response has been great as everyone in that blogging fields knows each other, and it was one of the websites were the impersonation took place that told my friend what was going on. However, pictures and impersonation has taken place in forums too, and the impersonation got so severe that "this person" managed to troll everyone and get the accounts banned, further aggravating this impersonation case.

Pics and details of her life have been posted, and the person who did this did it maliciously, to the point that my friend is considering taking legal action since we have the IP and have taken screenshots of everything. This is what I'd like to ask:

- I'm not sure how to approach forum owners to remove the pictures as, from my understanding, forums are a different beast to websites. How to ask them to remove the pictures and even comments even when the accounts were troll accounts and banned?

- Is it possible to take legal action in the case of impersonation? My friend is willing to contact a lawyer but not until we have unveiled this whole mess. We have the IP address, and my friend is almost certain she knows who it is. This act is severe enough for her to consider taking it further.

Can anyone help on how to approach this?

Thanks!
#case #extraordinary #negative #reputation #undo
  • Profile picture of the author imfusa
    You just need to contact the admin of the forum, you can check this info on the whois.
    Yes it is possible, make a complaint at the local police station and they should be able to guide you further.
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  • Profile picture of the author Resale Rights Ninja
    Sounds like you are doing a great job so far. The internet is like the wild west and I would imagine trying to charge someone with this sort of thing would be very difficult. Would be interesting to hear how a case like this would turn out.
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  • Profile picture of the author contentwriting360
    Banned
    I think it's better to continue contacting forum admins and file a case against the culprit. The suggestion to use whois is correct. Gather as many information as you can before filing a case against that malicious person.
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  • Profile picture of the author Lloyd Buchinski
    Sad story to hear.

    Originally Posted by MariahSutton View Post

    How to ask them to remove the pictures and even comments even when the accounts were troll accounts and banned?

    - Is it possible to take legal action in the case of impersonation? My friend is willing to contact a lawyer but not until we have unveiled this whole mess. We have the IP address, and my friend is almost certain she knows who it is. This act is severe enough for her to consider taking it further.
    For the forums part, just try contacting them. "More communication' is a watchword for me and it keeps producing better than expected results. Sometimes people are way more helpful than I would expect them to be.

    The pictures obviously belong to the person, so if the communication doesn't work, a dmca notice should get them taken down. If the forum isn't being cooperative, it might be worth mentioning that. If they still aren't cooperative, the notice is easy to send. See sbucciarel's page at What You Can Do About “Paypal Dispute Ripoff Artists” | Domaining Diva for an example. (The dmca part starts a fold or 2 down the page. She's a member here.)

    The legal action part might be a mess. Most lawyers give you a free first interview about any situation. That can sum up your situation and your options very nicely. The one time I used it, I didn't even need them after that.

    But it might be cheaper, quicker and simpler to just buy a gun... (I'm not serious.)
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  • Profile picture of the author John Romaine
    Create positive properties and push them over the top.

    Ask James at Online Reputation Management Services :: Effective Public Relations SEO | Online Reputation Management Services
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  • Profile picture of the author rosetrees
    Has your friend been to the Police? It's possible this person may have committed a criminal offence. (Not certain about that)
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    • Profile picture of the author MariahSutton
      First of all, thank you all. I'm new to the IM/Online Social Media side, and I'm seeing this as more of a learning experience together with helping out my friend.

      Originally Posted by imfusa View Post

      You just need to contact the admin of the forum, you can check this info on the whois.
      Yes it is possible, make a complaint at the local police station and they should be able to guide you further.
      For the forums, shall I contact the owner of the forum from the WHOIS information? Or shall I contact a moderator? We've seen 7 forums so far (it's that bad), 2 of them are actually owned by enterprises. Normally they have a community manager, right? Just unsure as to who to contact as with the websites I simply sent the email to the "contact" us email.


      Originally Posted by Resale Rights Ninja View Post

      Sounds like you are doing a great job so far. The internet is like the wild west and I would imagine trying to charge someone with this sort of thing would be very difficult. Would be interesting to hear how a case like this would turn out.
      I can update if you guys want. I'm actually impressed as to how someone can use the internet in such evil manner. I know my friend well, she is a laid back and nice person, but she apparently got into a heated argument with another fashion blogger, and my friend thinks it's been this person causing all this stuff. Bloggers in the fashion niche apparently are very fierce and catty, the top bloggers not only make good money but also get invited to fashion shows/red carpet stuff. You can imagine the competition, but I'm still impressed as to the extent people can go to try and undermine someone.



      Originally Posted by Lloyd Buchinski View Post

      Sad story to hear.

      For the forums part, just try contacting them. "More communication' is a watchword for me and it keeps producing better than expected results. Sometimes people are way more helpful than I would expect them to be.

      The pictures obviously belong to the person, so if the communication doesn't work, a dmca notice should get them taken down. If the forum isn't being cooperative, it might be worth mentioning that. If they still aren't cooperative, the notice is easy to send. (The dmca part starts a fold or 2 down the page. She's a member here.)

      The legal action part might be a mess. Most lawyers give you a free first interview about any situation. That can sum up your situation and your options very nicely. The one time I used it, I didn't even need them after that.

      But it might be cheaper, quicker and simpler to just buy a gun... (I'm not serious.)

      LOL at the gun thing!

      So what if the forum owner/admin doesn't want to remove the pictures for whatever reason? So far everyone has been helpful, but I actually sent an email to one forum admin and haven't heard from them (over 2 weeks ago). Like I said, we've spotted 7 forums so far with confidential information and stolen pictures posted.

      I've heard that forum admins need to moderate forums for illegally posted stuff such as stolen pictures. Do they have to remove pictures or personal information posted that is proven to have been impersonated?


      Originally Posted by John Romaine View Post

      Create positive properties and push them over the top.

      Thanks but she is only interested in having all her personal information removed. This impersonator stole pictures of my friend's FB account and posted very personal pictures of her (she has a baby), then managed to troll and get banned, creating a bad name for her. She was in tears when she saw that, and I can say that I was too. Disgusting.

      She doesn't need to have the negative stuff pushed down the search rank, she just wants her personal information and pictures removed.


      Originally Posted by rosetrees View Post

      Has your friend been to the Police? It's possible this person may have committed a criminal offence. (Not certain about that)
      She's thinking of reporting this to the police. I know impersonation is illegal, but not sure if the way it was done is or not. For the time being, I/we are saving everything and taking screen captures.

      Thank you all again. I've sent a link to my friend so she too can read the responses.
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  • Profile picture of the author Randall Magwood
    Take legal action for sure. Get on your grind to rectify the situation immediately. Get your proof ready.
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  • Profile picture of the author multimastery
    This sounds like it would be a long meticulous drawn out legal case that may cost more money than your client is willing to spend. I think it would be best to keep doing what you're doing by contacting site owners and forum admins directly. And don't be put off by the first attempt; be sure to followup because eventually they would realize that you're serious and genuine about the whole situation.

    Alternatively, you and your client can just turn this into free publicity which could go viral and earn her more recognition, traffic and respect

    A thought is that you could make some YouTube videos - or series of blog posts - or even start with some free press releases to serve as a public alert to how open the web is and how peoples' identities can easily get exploited and stolen. Your client could share their story, alert the public to this nonsense, and publicly clear their name all at the same time!
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  • Profile picture of the author queenbuzzy
    The local police may not be much help, unless you have a cybercrime division. I'm not sure if it's a case of impersonation, fraud, or slander/libel. You could also contact the friendly folks at Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) | Home (Internet Crime Complaint Center) and see if they have any guidance.

    I second the thought that it would be a very long, drawn out legal process to sue, and to be awarded money, you'd have to prove that your friend lost money somehow.

    However, once you get your evidence, get a lawyer and call her in for a meeting. Present her with an official "cease and desist," along with all of the evidence, screenshots, IP address, etc...that should scare the crap enough out of her to make her stop.

    I'm not an attorney, but I have had to deal with my fair share of people trying to screw me over (copyright infringement, impersonation, etc) and have actually spent time in a courtroom trying to get it all sorted out. It's not fun, but it's her reputation that's on the line. (Plus, you get the smug satisfaction of seeing her squirm when all the evidence is laid out in front of her)
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