WATCH OUT: Predatorswatch.com

I really hate assholes. And when I heard about this it really pissed me off. It was brought to my attention recently through a clip of the David Pakman show on Youtube.com, that there exists a website called Predatorswatch.com. Pretty interesting name, but don’t let it fool you folks. At first glimpse you would think this is some type of organization that protects children from real predators like Preverted-Justice.com. But it’s something completely different and completely unethical.

David Pakman brought it up on his show when a viewer sent him an email stating that he was a victim of a Craigslist.com personals ad scam, which involved Predatorswatch.com. The viewer said he decided to respond to some personal ads on Craigslist.com to try to score a date (or a lay, who cares) and that after responding to them he received an email stating that he had been placed on the Predatorswatch.com list of known sexual predators. He was given the URL to where he can find his newly created profile, so he followed it and found his name, phone number, email address, and the picture that he sent to the personal ads of himself on the website. 

A Profile on PredatorsWatch.com

Now here the real kicker which pissed me off, he noticed at the bottom of his profile there is a large red button which says “Delete This Profile Now”. He clicked it and it lead him to a page where he could submit his credit card information to have the profile removed.

I checked out the website myself and clicked on the button and it redirected me to a page which does in fact ask for credit card information. The price to have a profile deleted is $99.95, and they accept all major credit cards. The funny thing is that you don’t even have to be the person who listed on the god damned website to have it removed; anyone can remove a profile of anyone if they can pay the price. Of course making the profile is completely free and anonymous, but removal is what will cost you.

Payment info screen to remove profile

I did in fact try to create a profile of myself on the website for fun, see if you can find me by looking up my email address turkreno44@gmail.com. I’m not sure if I was able to get away with it though, because I’m not sure if these posts are reviewed by anyone before they get added to the website and I added a picture of Reno from Final Fantasy VII and their TOS page states that they will not allow anyone to post copyrighted material, so that may have set me back.

With a name like Predators Watch you would think the website would be a legitimate organization that catches sexual predators. But what type of legitimate organization would troll online personals ads by posting personals themselves and then posting those who respond to them on a website which labels those people as potential sexual predators? It doesn’t make any sense to call yourself a legitimate organization when your website allows ANYONE to post information about other people indiscriminately and without any proof what-so-ever and then charge them a fee to have it removed

Me adding myself on PredatorsWatch.com

I did read their TOS and their FAQ and I found out that these assholes really did a good job of covering their scumbag asses. They know about and are using to their advantage a federal law called the Communications Decency Act or "CDA" (47 U.S.C. § 230). This law basically states that someone can post something on a website like Predatorswatch.com which is defamatory and false and that the website itself cannot be held responsible for the posted material.

FROM THE FAQ:

Specifically, 47 U.S.C. § 230(c)(1) states, "No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider." Because the submitted profiles on PredatorsWatch.com are authored by users of the site, we cannot be legally regarded as the "publisher or speaker" of the reports contained here, and hence we are not liable for reports even if they contain false or inaccurate information (NOTE: we occasionally create editorial comments and other material, but when we do, this is clearly marked as such).

I understand this law as this law actually protects assholes like me who have blogs and the people who provide the blogging service to me. This way all the crazy shit that I write up on this blog doesn’t affect Blogger.com. They are not held responsible for the things I say just in the same way I’m not held responsible for the things other people comment about on my blog.

Here’s the big difference though! Blogger.com is a legitimate website which provides a free service allowing users to post their thoughts. They do not take any liability for how you use their services, but they also do not charge you a fee to have your content removed. Predatorswatch.com will allow people to post information on their website anonymously about anyone and they are not held liable for it, yet they will charge you a fee of $99.95 to have it removed. And why the fee, you ask?

FROM THE FAQ:

Removal is a paid service due to the costs associated with altering the content of the site on an individual basis.  

You know, Preverted-Justice.com is a real organization that actually helps to protect children from real sexual predators on the internet by helping to catch them and get them registered as sex offenders. They post information about the people that they know to be sexual predators because they provide proof and they actually get them caught by authorities. If for any reason though they just happened to implicate or somehow otherwise falsely accuse an innocent individual of being a sexual predator I’m pretty sure they would remove that information and begin writing retractions and apologies. For free, too!

Now here’s the crazy thing. So you’ve been added to Predatorswatch.com because someone on the internet made a false claim about you. Even if you can proof that this is a false claim ( I.E. police statements, court papers, etc) they will not remove the information about you. You will still have to pay a fee to have your information removed. Once again they are using the Communications Decency Act to get around that one.

Granted, many people who have fallen victim to this scam did their research and found out that this website is bogus, as I found on certain websites like Ripoffreport.com, TheDatingJudge.com, and even Wikipedia has an article on these dipshits.

But the idea that these fuckers are posing as an organization that exists to help the community (the word ‘community’ is used a lot on their website) when all they’re really out for is to help the community lighten their wallets.

Here’s Predatorswatch.com’s ‘mission’:

We've been saying it for a long time and proving it even longer, our operations are professional, effective and one of a kind. Thanks to our brave visitors for stepping forward to tell the world what it should already know, that exposing online sex predators discourages other potential offenders from doing the very same thing.

Thankfully, these fuckers have actually been caught doing this before under different names such as PotentialPredators.com, which were shut down. Predatorswatch.com is their new effort at blackmailing and extorting innocent people.

And now with this proof from a David Pakman viewer, who responded to a Craigslist.com personals ad and was placed on the website, we know these assholes are not just data miners but predators themselves. They are people who post false personal ads on free websites and wait for some poor lonely guy who’s looking for a date or a lay to respond to them with some pictures and an email address, then post it all on a website that accuses him of being a ‘potential predator’. Thinking that the next response he gets will be from someone looking for a date he gets a friendly email letting him know that he is currently being blackmailed by some pissant group of punks on the internet looking to make a quick buck. (PS. I know the stupidity of looking for a date on Craigslist.com, like…I mean, why would you go there for a date or sex? But still, people do it and I don’t think they should be blackmailed for it.)

Of course, being the smart ass that I am, I sent an email to them asking them if they had any comment on those who claim their website is fraudulent. I’m still waiting for a reply.

This type of shit really pisses me off, and I won’t stop hounding these assholes until their website is taken off the internet and their little organization is dissolved. 

SOURCES:

The Rip Off Report

Wikipedia

The Online Watch

David Pakman Video