Extortion has shifted from a 1930s racket to a new face and place, the Internet.

Released on = August 4, 2005, 10:08 am

Press Release Author = Jesse James

Industry = Consumer Services

Press Release Summary = Companies are targets as much as an individual is used for identity theft and yet most judicial agencies have consistently looked the other way.

Press Release Body = A 3 part investigation - Part 1 - The Ripoff Report

Companies are targets as much as an individual is used for identity theft and yet most judicial agencies have consistently looked the other way. Is this the “new” style of doing business, internet scams? When will they start to realize our businesses are susceptible to cons and scams of a variety of sorts? Have they or when will they open their eyes?

We live by example, so much that you unleash an abuse or technique you are bound to repeat its context 1000 times over once it is shown to be successful, or say profitable. If you, yourself were to build a “consumer advocate” website today how
would it play out?

1. Allow consumers to post “reports” against a company online. Those “reports” are a used as a tool for the consumer to fight back against bad business.
2. Allow the company and consumer to post rebuttals and updates valid to their disagreement.
3. Allow for the “report” to be removed if it is proven fraudulent or removed once it is satisfied.

Granted we all have been unjustly “taken” at one time or another by a company or business and a consumer site like the Rip off Report is justified and most decidedly started out as such. But that is not what the site has become. A site with the qualities above would be an adversary for better business in that exposure of a problem could be easily rectified and say posted as a “report satisfied” for other consumers to see.

The extortion part of the scam is rather simple and unique using these techniques:

1. None of the “reports” are ever removed from the Ripoff Report website. Even if they are found to be satisfied, misleading or fraudulent (posted by a competitor).
2. The editor of the site has retained full editorial control and “adds to” chosen reports or “creates” reports himself.
3. Individuals post “reports” that are never checked or verified as to their validity.
4. Individuals post “reports” using unverified and misspelled company names.

The criteria above have allowed the Ripoff Report to create its own ramifications of staggering proportions and by taking these precise directions it has allowed the site to become one of the largest continual cons the internet has known to this day.

As a business with competition it allows me to anonymously;

1. Slander, mislead, defame and submit false information about my competition. And these comments will stay on the site forever as the site states.
2. Systematically erode consumer confidence in any company I choose.
3. Place personal opinions without justification about any company I choose.

A Business has this recourse to justify a “report”

1. If a “report” is legitimate the company has the chance to rectify its possible mistake, and/or post a rebuttal. Giving the consumer the chance to post his or her rebuttal or notation of satisfaction.
2. If the “report” is invalid the company has little recourse but to post a rebuttal or…..
3. Ask the editor to remove the report in it’s entirety which is met with this type of response: The Ripoff Report can post positive comments on a companies “reports” for a considerable deposit and monthly retainer.

This is where it just got interesting… This is a classic extortion scheme. Become a world renowned advocate website where people honor your integrity. Then say; we will make sure to conceal any degrading comments posted on our site about your company, for a fee. This takes the art of being a consumer advocate to nothing less than extorting money to a whole new level, world wide on the internet. It’s similar to extortion in the 1930 in which men broke your store window and told you to pay them so the windows would not continue to be broken. It is nothing less.

What makes this event so interesting is it has been going on for years and there is no “internet police” to stop it. What is happening is this site is single-handedly hurting businesses across our nation. No checks and balances are in place to help “targeted” businesses who don’t deserve to be defamed and as it goes to figure since there are few checks and balances across the internet as a whole. How many requests do you get for your ebay id and password to be verified on a daily basis? When will this fraud stop?

As you might have gathered I meet with one of these “targeted companies” and they have rectified each and every verifiable “report”, but have a dozen “reports” that are unverified on the site in question that were posted by their competition or by persons who only heard about their services and some were undeniably posted by the editor of the “Rip off Report” himself. These “reports” have cost this company over 4 million in business and are ever apparent on the site. To this day if the “reports” were removed if unverified or resolved this company would not have one “report” on the site and that is the way it should be.

To top it off the site’s long term goals are to join together people who post on the site into class action lawsuits. They have attorneys who will file these suits on behalf of these people on the pretense that huge sums of money will be won and the site’s owners and lawyers will be the bigger winners in these suits.

It has to be said the site is beneficial for people who might get “taken” by a con and should rightly stay that way. Case in note: The writer of this article, during its investigation was contacted by a TV production company who wanted to do a TV “special” on one of his up-and-coming businesses. Their pitch included a $19,000 fee. (This is another story) The only real information found to be of any integrity
to help make a decision on sending them the money was found on the Rip off Report, which was a godsend, but you can’t have it both ways. Fight for the consumer and take extortion money from the companies themselves. The effort is clouded not
knowing who the real winner is.

Web Site = http://

Contact Details = Jesse James
bushconnection@yahoo.com