The Bankruptreport Blog

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:

A report on consumer website Ripoffreport.com lists the contact information for Bankruptreport.com as follows:

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:

1. If Bankruptreport.com used PACER, and
2. 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.