I got played by a mugshot removal client.

[networkpal]

So about a week ago, a guy hit my DM saying he was referred by someone. Nothing unusual there... I got that pretty often

He explained that he was in the middle of a contract process and was worried he might get disqualified because he’d been arrested a couple of times in the past. Some of his mugshots were still showing up on major sites, and he needed help getting them removed.

I told him it was something I handle regularly. I explained the process, what I’d need, how long it usually takes, and my normal payment structure... which is part upfront and balance after delivery.

Well... that’s when the story changed.

He started pleading and talking about how he’d already been scammed by people who promised the same service and took his money without doing anything. He kept saying he didn’t trust anyone anymore and asked if I could just start first. He promised that once he saw the results, he’d pay immediately.

I was hesitant, but based on everything he said, I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and move forward.

A few days later, the work was done.

I reached out to let him know and asked him to check. He replied pretty quickly, happy and thankful, saying he could see the changes and that everything looked good.

After that, I brought up payment...Then He just went quiet.

At first I thought maybe he was busy. Then my messages started going unread. A couple of days later, I realized he had blocked me.

Honestly, I was shocked... because the same person who kept talking about being scammed ended up doing EXACTLY that to me; How weird can we humans be.

I literally have no idea of what to do with him.

 

[kboxer7]

You have two options.

Move on, with a lesson learned the hard way. Or...
Re-publish and rank his mugshot (as long as its a legitimate mug shot/factual public information).

You can't offer to remove it at that point (don't want to break any extortion laws), but if he reaches back out and asks for removal you can charge a fee. A hefty fee. And this time fully upfront.

 

[networkpal]

You have two options.

Move on, with a lesson learned the hard way. Or...
Re-publish and rank his mugshot (as long as its a legitimate mug shot/factual public information).

You can't offer to remove it at that point (don't want to break any extortion laws), but if he reaches back out and asks for removal you can charge a fee. A hefty fee. And this time fully upfront.

That's a freaking great idea... Move on? Hell nah. I'm taking about the second idea.

Although I really hate undoing what I fix but yet I inevitably need to make the point pretty clear in order to prevent others... Thanks man

 

[BassTrackerBoats]

That's kind of on you a little bit as you varied from your business model.

I'm not saying what they did was right, as it was not, but you have a business model in place that works and should stick with it unless you are interested in doing pro bono work for one reason or another.

 

[sky798]

What I'm more curious about is how this kind of service even exists. Perhaps I'm just inexperienced, but I don't believe photos from this administrative system can be deleted. Is it through hacking? I'm just curious; please forgive any offense.

 

[networkpal]

That's kind of on you a little bit as you varied from your business model.

I'm not saying what they did was right, as it was not, but you have a business model in place that works and should stick with it unless you are interested in doing pro bono work for one reason or another.

Honestly man that's freaking correct... I just can't believe I was dumb enough to fall for stuff like that

 

[BassTrackerBoats]

Honestly man that's freaking correct... I just can't believe I was dumb enough to fall for stuff like that

We've all done it in different ways.

Whether it is an online opportunity that you are making money from, an offline one where you are making money from, a loan that you made that never got repaid... we have all done it.

Chalk at least part of the experience up to education.

 

[spmgd]

Is it true a lot of these reputation management services actually own a lot of the mugshot sites? We’re all marketers here. You can be honest. Just wondering.

 

[BassTrackerBoats]

Is it true a lot of these reputation management services actually own a lot of the mugshot sites? We’re all marketers here. You can be honest. Just wondering.

That is in part true.

You can buy them to take down things like that.

I don't do ORM anymore, and when I did, I called it Online Public Relations as I got started in that aspect of IM, doing work for professional lady golfers in the USA, but I did get the occasional request, as the one shared here, and money does talk when you contact the site owners.