Why is this Blog Being Written?
I started this blog after noticing that
many online “businesses” are engaging in so-called reputation
management, which is really nothing more than legalized
cyber-extortion. I decided to call one of them out on it,
Bankruptreport.com. Bankruptrepotr.com is one such “business”
that engages in using and abusing public records to try to earn a
buck. They have developed a process for culling Bankruptcy records
and putting the names and addresses of those who have filed for
Bankruptcy online. For a fee, one of their “agent” companies
will remove the information from their database. Bankruptreport.com
is hoping to embarrass people who have filed bankruptcy into paying
clear their name.
About Bankruptreport.com:
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A report on consumer website
Ripoffreport.com lists the contact information for
Bankruptreport.com as follows:
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C/O BANKRUPTREPORT.COM
PMB 368, 14150 NE 20th St - F1
Bellevue, Florida USA
Phone: (425) 274-0657
Web: bankruptreport.com
Category: Credit Services
Source:
http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/co-bankruptreportcom/bellevue-florida-98007/co-bankruptreportcom-scam-company-takes-advantage-of-people-bellevue-florida-1055045
How is Bankruptreport.com Obtaining and
Posting Bankruptcy Data:
My guess is they have developed a
process for scraping Public Access to Court Electronic Records
(PACER) data. (pacer.gov). PACER accounts are available to
individuals and firms. It should be noted that bankruptcy records
are public.
After obtaining bankruptcy records,
Bankruptreport.com uses names found to create robot files, special
files that search engines like Google use to catalog web content.
The robot files list names and two letter state codes. When you
Google someone’s name, voila, they can be found on
Bankruptreport.com.
What to do if your name appears on
Bankruptreport.com:
What you SHOULD NOT DO under any
circumstances is pay these people! Like some of you, I have a
bankruptcy on my record, I am not proud of it, but I am not
embarrassed either. It happened. If you played fair with your
creditors, were honest with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, did not
attempt to hide assets, and you truly needed a fresh start, then you
have no reason to be embarrassed. Do not allow online trolls like
Bankruptreport.com to profit from your financial troubles.
Bankruptcy petitions and cases are public record. They will appear
on a credit report. No amount of money can “clear” a bankruptcy
filing. The best you can do is rebuild your credit and petition to
have them removed after a period of time as specified in the
bankruptcy code. Check with your attorney for specifics.
Will Bankruptreport.com be Removed?
In all likelihood, there is not much
any individual can do until someone from our government, particularly
someone charged with the task of managing PACER, can determine:
- If Bankruptreport.com used PACER, and
- If their use of PACER violated PACER’s terms of service
Another option would be for the powers
that be to review mail fraud laws. While it may be a stretch, there
me be some applicable legal code to shutdown Bankruptreport.com,
however, my guess is that if challenged legally, Bankruptreport.com
will hide behind the guise of “credit repair”. But, one only
needs to pay attention to the wording on their site to figure out
what this “business” is really up to. While they claim to run a
tool for the banking industry, they will gladly remove your data for
a fee.
Other Bankruptreport.com Tidbits:
Bankruptreport.com represents the
ultimate in web trolling! One of the more amusing aspects of their
site is their copyright notice: “Content is the property of
bankruptreport.com. Downloading of files is not permitted. Scraping
files will result in immediate legal action. These files are laced
with theft-proof mine-files.” I actually got a good laugh. The
files are public record. Bankruptreport.com is quick to remind us of
that fact. Not sure how immediate “legal action” can be given
that the website owners have taken significant steps to hide their
online registration data. And after many years in the IT security
industry, I have no clue what the heck “theft-proof-mine-files”
are, but they sound ominous….well not really.
What’s Next:
Stay tuned as I peel back the layers on
bankruptreport.com and their “agents”. An old adage says “follow
the money” and that’s just what we will do. It is my hope that
this information helps those of you who have found your names listed
on Bankruptreport.com. Again, DO NOT PAY a red cent to
Bankruptreport.com. Consult with your attorney about how best to
rebuild from a bankruptcy and beware of those who prey on misfortune;
the Internet is full of people looking to take advantage of you.
