Is BadGirlReports a legitimate website? How can you protect your online privacy when your personal information is leaked to sites like these? Learn how with our guide.
It could possibly cost individuals thousands of dollars to take away unverified and slanderous content material about them that has been posted on complaint websites, which exist in a shadowy network with the same individuals promoting companies to remove the content material, based on a report by The New York Times.
While these websites publish unverified rumors and carry domains most people have never heard of, like “BadGirlReports.date,” and “WorstHomeWrecker.com,” outcomes for these websites can appear on the top page of Google search results alongside Facebook and LinkedIn profiles, based on the Times investigation.
The reporters downloaded every published post from the “most active” of those websites, which resulted in about 150,000 posts about 47,000 individuals. When the names of those people have been searched on Google and Bing, posts from these uncredible websites appeared on the first page of the results for one-third of the individuals.
Lots of the posts appeared alongside ads for companies in the reputation management industry that claim to clean away the content material for a price. The Times investigation discovered that many of those ads have been intentionally coded into the website, and the people behind these reputation management companies have been often closely linked to the individuals behind the unverified complaint websites.
To remove the false posts the reporter made about himself on these websites would cost about $20,000 primarily based on estimations from the removal companies, in accordance with the report. Clients who had used one removal company, RepZe, informed The New York Times that the company threatened to re-post the content material if it didn’t receive instant payment for its services.
These removal services companies can charge around $750 to take away every published post from these complaint websites. That may add up to thousands in charges because of the way in which the content material is copied and reposted across various websites.
The company RepZe claims on its website to have an address in Denver however wasn’t registered for business in Colorado, in accordance with the report. Staff listed online didn’t appear to really exist, people featured labeled as staff in ads on YouTube have been actors, and the signature of the company’s chief executive “M. Moore” shown on the website was actually the signature of Marilyn Monroe, registrant postal code and registrant phone are fake also.
What NOT To Do With Cheater Websites
Listed below are a couple of tips for what not to do in dealing with cheaters’ websites.
- Don’t Google it. In case you Google your name and the name of the website, many times, you run the chance of having it appear as a suggestion in Google Autocomplete search engines result. For example, in case your name is John Smith, don’t Google “John Smith Chesterville” in any other case Chesterland can turn into a permanent suggestion after your name. We have a client like that, we’ve pushed out the damaging suggestion in 2016 and he continues to invest with us to ensure it doesn’t come back.
- Don’t Click on it. In case you’re Googling yourself and also you see a negative cheater link (or any damaging link), don’t click on it! This may also help the link grow to be stronger and move it up in search results. That’s because the click-through rate is a crucial signal in Google’s ranking algorithm. The more a link will get clicked for a certain keyword search, the more related it appears to the algorithm, and thus, it moves up in search results. In case you must search and click on it, ensure to do it in Google incognito mode as searches done there are private and aren’t figured into the algorithm.
- Act Quick. Lots of the liars/cheaters’ websites copy and aggregate to one another, so in case you’re on one, you would possibly wind up on several of them before you realize it. It’s best to act quickly when you see yourself on one of these websites before it spreads to other websites.
Facts About Bad Girl Reports
This website publishes posts from at least two other websites – cheaters.news and thewrongdoer.com – without their permission or knowledge.
Because similar sites are likely owned by the same group of people, and probably are on the same server, it’s very likely that they’re intentionally trying to cause pain for their visitors.
Bad Girl Reports publishes anonymous complaints about all kinds of products, ranging from cosmetics to electronics. This fact makes it seem like the site will publish any unverified claims, without regard for their validity.
badgirlreports.date Has an Average to Good Trust Score. Why?
We believe that badgirlreports.date is a legitimate and safe website, as opposed to being a scam. The badgirlreports.date website has a positive rating on the internet, which is based on an automated analysis of over 40 different data sources that are checked online. These data sources include the technology used, the location of the company, other sites found hosted on the same web server, etcetera.
Websites that have scores of 80% or higher are generally safe to use. A score of 100% means the website is very safe. However, we strongly recommend doing your own vetting of each new website where you plan to shop or leave your contact details. There have been cases where criminals have bought highly reliable websites in order to commit identity theft and other crimes.
The way to Recognize a Scam
Because the influence of the internet rises, so does the prevalence of online scams. There are fraudsters making every kind of claim to trap victims online – from fake investment opportunities to online shops – and the internet allows them to function from any part of the world with anonymity. The ability to identify online scams is a crucial skill to have because the virtual world is more and more turning into a part of every aspect of our lives. The below suggestions will assist you to identify the indicators which might point out that the website might be a scam website.
Common Sense: Too Good To Be True
When searching for goods online, an awesome deal could be very attractive. A Gucci bag or a brand new iPhone for half the price? Who wouldn’t wish to grab such a deal? Scammers know this too and try to benefit from the fact.
If an online deal seems too good to be true, think twice and double-check things. The simplest way to do that is to easily check out the same product at competing websites (that you simply trust). If the difference in prices is big, it is likely to be better to double-check the rest of the website.
Check Out the Social Media Links
Social media is a core part of eCommerce companies nowadays and customers usually expect online shops to have a social media presence. Scammers know this and often insert logos of social media websites on their websites. Scratching beneath the surface often reveals this functionality isn’t even working.
The social buttons would possibly result in the homepage of the website, an empty profile, or nowhere at all. Scammers are sometimes too lazy to actually implement a dedicated Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram for their fake website (or don’t need a place for bad publicity to spread). If there are functioning social media accounts, take a fast look to see if there are any posts. Oftentimes, if the website is a scam, offended customers will let you know!
Check the Domain Names
Certain websites will try to trick you into thinking they’re official websites of known brands, even though they don’t have any relation to the actual company. Be sure that the domain name is as expected, especially if clicking a link. For example, the real registry domain id name of the brand could also be brand.com, whereas the fake website domain status would possibly use registrar URL variations like brand.net, brand.org, brand.xyz, brand.biz, brand.online, and more.
Still undecided? A simple solution is to search for the actual website through your favorite search engine. Fake websites generally rely on you clicking a direct link and generally won’t be high up in the rankings. In case you get an e-mail asking you to click on a link, it’s always safer to manually navigate to the website to ensure that you aren’t on a fake one.
You can check them also in the WHOIS database for information like registrar abuse contact phone, registry tech id, registry admin id, check their IP, and find out if websites are on the same server
Does It Have A Working Trustmark?
Trustmarks are a technique for third-party verification for an online store. They point out security or consumer rights protection, for example. However, scam websites additionally use them without permission. For example, they may have an image of Trustmark on the website without truly being verified, which means they’re misusing the verified logo and misleading you!
One example of a Trustmark is the eCommerce Foundation’s Safe. Shop Trustmark. In case you see the Safe Shop logo on a website you might be worried about, try clicking on it! In case you discover that this functionality just isn’t working, head over to Safe.Shop and check that they’re, in reality, a certified trust seal user.
Check the Small Print (Terms & Policies)
Scammers usually use placeholder or rushed textual content in pages like About Us, Terms & Conditions Shipping Policy, and Returns Policy to offer the air of professionality. In case you discover that these pages don’t exist or are of poor quality (they include typos, for example) think twice about buying on the site! Do you really think a business would put up incomplete or sloppy textual content if it was legit?
Is Communication Secured?
Do you see ‘HTTPS’ in front of the website address and is there a ‘lock’ symbol available? In this case, communication between the website and your browser is encrypted, making the website just a little bit safer to use. It doesn’t guarantee that the website will not be fake as the cost of adding an SSL certificate is minimal (beginning at €4.99 per year).
Are Safe Payment Methods Offered?
There are lots of kinds of payment methods. Generally, credit cards, PayPay, and Alipay offer consumer protection by allowing shoppers to get their money back in case the product isn’t delivered. Check if the website supports and uses these payment methods. By no means transfer money to a bank account in case you have doubts concerning the reliability of a website.
Payment methods like Western Union, Moneygram, Skrill, and Bitcoin are sometimes untraceable and it’s virtually impossible to get a refund that has been transferred using these methods. Because of this, they’re favored by scammers.
Need more help getting your information off the web? Contact us now!