PatrickPretty.com

Tag: harassment by communication

  • THE BIG CHILL: PP Blog Gets ‘Dear Rat Bastard’ Email With Repeated ‘Doomsday’ References; Blog Considers Note A Threat And Will Share It With Law-Enforcement Agencies

    EDITOR’S NOTE: This post quotes content from an email received early this evening by the PP Blog. Some readers may find the language objectionable.

    UPDATED 11:16A.M. ET (U.S.A., Nov. 22) In what it views as part of a continuing pattern of harassment and a bid to chill its reporting on online fraud schemes and Internet crime, the PP Blog apparently was fraudulently registered as a new member of an online “opportunity” and has received an email that apparently “confirms” the registration. The email, which was received at 6:01 p.m. (ET) today, was sent to the Blog’s support address — specifically to the attention of “RatBastard Fucktard.”

    “Dear Rat Bastard,” the “registration” email began.

    It is possible that the email originated off a server in Michigan that is associated with a cash-gifting program.

    The person who used the Blog’s address fraudulently appears to have caused a fraudulent “affiliate” site for the “opportunity” to be created with the Blog’s address, while causing the word “Doomsday” to appear in the body of the “registration” email to further hector the Blog.

    In late October and early November, the PP Blog was subjected to sustained DDoS attacks. The Blog shared specific details of the attacks with law enforcement.  At 8:29 p.m. today, the Blog forwarded the “header” information from the “registration” email to law enforcement.

    After the “Dear Rat Bastard” greeting, the “registration” email continued:

    “Everyone in our community welcomes you as a valuable and productive member. You will now be able to share the message and mission of ‘Winners 2011’ which is spreading like a wildfire across the globe. We are grateful of your decision and assure you that the entire community will support you at all times as well as those you help by inviting them to also become members of ‘Winners 2011’.”

    The PP Blog made no decision to register for a program known as Winners 2011 and has no knowledge about a program by that name, except for cursory knowledge it gained this evening after being registered fraudulently for the program. Moreover, the Blog never agreed to receive email from Winners 2011 or subscribe to a list controlled by the program. The “registration” email received by the Blog this evening did not include an unsubscribe link.

    The Blog’s address appears to have been entered into a form by a criminal who made a calculation that the “Rat Bastard” and “Doomsday” references would chill the Blog’s reporting while at once creating maintenance chores for the Blog.

    “WE urge you to login to your back office and become very familiar with all the information it offers so you will be able to speak to potential new members intelligently and knowledgably,” the  “registration” email continued. “Stay in close contact with your inviter and their inviter as well as teach your people to do the same, this is a team effort.

    “Remember: Winners have simply formed the habit of doing things losers don’t like to do,” the email concluded.

    The Winners 2011 program may be associated with a gifting program known as 14Eagles, which is being pitched from websites, social-media sites and forums.

    Today’s false registration of the PP Blog as a member of Winners 2011 follows a pattern of strange events that have occurred on Sundays. Read earlier story based on events that occurred on Sunday, Oct. 3.

  • Cyberstalker ‘joe’ Sent Repeated Harassing Communications From Network Registered To City Government In California; Threatened To Sue PP Blog

    EDITOR’S NOTE: Is it any wonder so many people believe the Internet is just one giant cesspool? This is the latest news on “joe,” who graduated from Ponzi advocacy to cyberstalking in September.

    stalkingUPDATED 4:28 P.M. ET (U.S.A.) Saying he wants to give the PatrickPretty.com Blog something else to “chew on” after it announced Saturday that it would share information about cyberstalkers with law enforcement, cyberstalker “joe” now has threatened to file a lawsuit against the Blog.

    The lawsuit threat followed on the heels of ceaseless nuisance communications from “joe” and a previous threat by “joe” to start “fires” at the Blog by leeching off insecure computer networks to frustrate attempts to track him. On Dec. 7 between 8:24 p.m. and 8:42 p.m. (ET), “joe” sent six harassing communications from a computer network whose IP resolves to a city government in California.

    joecitygovernmentip575

    It is not believed that “joe” is an employee of the city. Rather, it is believed that he used the city’s resources to mask his identity. In September, “joe” claimed he had the ability to access insecure networks near his home and “was able to get online in a few places.” He also claimed there were “a few internet cafes around me” and that the Blog had better “get ready for the return of “joe.”

    PatrickPretty.com announced today that it has shared information on seven IPs used by joe, including the IP of the city government in California. The Blog also shared 14 email addresses used by “joe,” one of which used the word “boo,” another of which used the word “eerie” and yet another of which used the word “greatone.”

    Some of the email addresses included nonsensical words. At the same time, the Blog since Saturday has shared information on six additional user identities employed by “joe.” The Blog previously reported that “joe” repeatedly used sexual references in his communications, referring to himself in some communications as “Joseph the phallicly gifted.” He also has employed the username “Mr. Wonderful” and “joe the magnificent (and good looking”), among others.

    “joe,” an advocate for autosurf Ponzi schemes who says he does not care if they are legal or not as long as they pay, has repeatedly shifted IPs, usernames and email addresses in what the Blog views as a bid to probe it for security vulnerabilities and defeat its ability to prevent his nuisance communications from being published.

    In September, “joe” demanded that the Blog publish his unwelcome communications, defining himself as a “bad penny” who would not go away until the Blog agreed to his terms. He has sent dozens and dozens of harassing communications over the Internet to the Blog since then.

    Despite announcing his intent to harass the Blog and his plan to leech off insecure computer networks, start “fires,” frustrate efforts to track him and create maintenance problems, “joe” now says he intends to sue.

    “You just can’t tell anyone who I am because i would sue you for invasion of Privacy among other things,”  joe said Saturday, after the Blog published its announcement it was sharing cyberstalking information with law enforcement. In a separate harassing communication after the Blog published its announcement, “joe” insisted he had a right to send the Blog “behind the scenes comments” and again suggested he may begin to employ YouTube to nuisance the Blog like the cyberstalker “unclefesta26.”

    It was the second time “joe” raised the suggestion that he would escalate his cyberstalking mission by employing YouTube. Previously he expressed pleasure in harassing the Blog, saying he feels “some satisfaction that you seem to be intimidated by me.”

    Both “joe” and “unclefesta26” have been blocked from the PatrickPretty.com for spamming, derailing conversations and posing chronic maintenance problems. Other websites have banned them as well.

    “joe’s” apparent theory behind the threatened lawsuit is that the use of aliases insulate him from criminal or civil prosecution and give him a lawful platform from which he can send repeated harassing communications.

    Under “joe’s” apparent theory, a person is permitted to stalk and harass individuals and businesses on the Internet  — and create labor-intensive and time-consuming maintenance work — simply by creating aliases. “joe” appears to believe that it is impossible to commit a crime or subject individuals or businesses to harassment if one does not use his actual name.

    At the same time, “joe” seems to believe that those he would nuisance have a duty to permit him to nuisance them because his rights to free speech and privacy trumps the rights of those he would nuisance. Court case after court case demonstrates the fallacy of that thinking.

    In 1998, for instance, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court tackled the Constitutional issues of free speech and privacy in a case in which a man was convicted of 36 counts of harassment by communication or address after sending repeated anonymous, harassing communications via wire — in this case, over telephone lines and a fax machine.

    A lower court had ruled (emphasis added below) “the right to free speech is not absolute and that certain classes of speech, such as obscenity and fighting words, may be restricted.

    “It found that Appellant’s . . .  faxes, which were sent repeatedly and anonymously, had no legitimate purpose. The court concluded that the faxes were intended to harass and were not a form of communication safeguarded by the Constitution.”

    The Supreme Court also rejected the man’s privacy argument, ruling that the mere fact a communication is sent anonymously does not insulate the sender from prosecution under harassment laws.

    In upholding rulings by lower courts and sustaining the conviction of a man who sent repeated anonymous communications by wire, the Supreme Court rejected the man’s argument that “he cannot be punished because his communications were anonymous.”

    “Appellant’s argument, and the cases he cites in support, are misplaced because the statute at issue is directed at the harassing nature of the communications, which the legislature has a legitimate interest in proscribing,” the Supreme Court ruled.

  • ATTACK UNDERWAY: Ponzi Advocate ‘joe’ Says ‘joe Leaves When joe Wants To Leave’ And That Blog Will Be ‘Scrambling To Put Out Fires’

    UPDATED 8:44 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) The attack described below abated for a short time, and then started anew, with “joe” back posting from his usual IP. He has posted from two IP’s today, using the identities “Mr. Wonderful”; “Quicjk”; and “Almighty Joseph (the risen),” along with multiple email addresses, including one that uses the word “boo.”

    This behavior, which we believe is designed to intimidate and to extract a result through harassment, is extreme. The behavior has not ceased — not even after the “fair warning” described in the post below.

    “joe” says he will continue his course of conduct until we permit him to post on his terms. His most recent nonpublic posts include another vulgarity directed at a reader and more vulgarity directed this Blog. “joe” insists it’s OK to do what he’s doing.

    “I feel some satisfaction that you seem to be intimidated by me,” joe says. “You can deny all you want but it’s true even though [sexual reference/poster’s name deleted] is right, I’m harmless. Now if you’re a good boy and post this unedited we can consider this my final retirement. I don’t really want to keep coming on here but I just wasn’t going to be unceremoniously tossed like a bad penny and you know what they say about bad pennies.”

    What follows below is our earlier post, bringing this matter to the attention of readers.

    Dear Readers,

    The PatrickPretty.com Blog is under attack.

    We find it necessary to make a record and to inform you about what is taking place behind the scenes. In the past, we have made similar posts to inform you about matters that we cannot dismiss as garden-variety harassment directed at this Blog and perceive as threats to our ability to publish.

    As many of you know, a poster who advocates for Ponzi schemes and calls himself “joe” was blocked from posting here Sept. 1. We made this decision based on “joe’s” inability to exercise even minimal restraint when posting.

    “joe” had previously announced two separate “retirements” from posting here, dismissing this Blog’s coverage of autosurfs and Ponzi schemes as meaningless. “joe” subsequently came out of retirement twice and began to post anew, and then went into what he described as semiretirement, saying he’d post anew as the situation warranted.

    While “joe” was in his semiretirement phase, he continued to post abusively before his access to public posting was blocked. “joe” did not react favorably to our decision to block him from posting here. In fact, “joe,” who says he was a POW in Vietnam, began to direct anger and hostility to this Blog outside the view of readers, and directed short, vulgarity-laced rants at specific readers who post here.

    In one of his blocked posts, he explained that he had directed the vulgarities only to test the system. So, in plain fact, what we were left with was a person who licenses himself to rant against this Blog and its readers, claiming his most recent submissions were tests, not communications to be taken seriously.

    “Testing 1-2-3” would have worked, if any testing was necessary at all. It was not, of course. This Blog has a right to conduct operations free from harassment by “joe” after he has been asked to leave.

    “joe” ramped it up yesterday, suggesting he would get the result he seeks — reinstatement of his posting privileges — or else.

    “joe leaves when joe wants to leave,” he said.”You’ll be scrambling to put out fires. I suggest you let ME retire . . .”

    He also noted that, “It’s amazing how many people in a short distance from my house haven’t got security on their computers. I drove around with my laptop and was able to get online in a few places. There are also a few internet cafes around me. What I’m saying is get ready for the return of joe and then you can block all of these people from your site.”

    The “fires” joe referenced now have started. He is attacking from a separate location, calling himself “Almighty Joseph (the risen).”

    “joe” is attempting to post a link for TradingGold4Cash, the purported program associated with the AdVentures4U autosurf, and has attempted nine additional posts in rapid succession, creating new identities for some of the posts.

    We will take appropriate action to prevent “joe” from interfering with the operation of this Blog.