Guy Gets Two Years in Prison For Fake Profiles

ShadeDream said:

I didn't bother reading the article but according to the first sentence it appears that the guy created a fake website. That's fraud and not blackhat.

Click to expand...

I agree that this is fraud, but technicly every fake FB or dating profile is fraud, too, when it is used to let people sign up on a specific site to talk to a specific girl which never existed. Of course a whole fake website is a much bigger case, but nonetheless every fake content / communication which is used to gain profit and damages the victim financially is also fraud. It would be interesting to know though, if surveys in fake niches can also be considered "damage" and therefore making it a fraud case, because the people are not wasting their money but just their time.

OnlineA said:

So the amount he charged is an issue then? AFF is better because they charged less for fake profiles? Whats the limit when a good business becomes an illegal business? $20 per month? $30 per month?

Click to expand...

No, the way he played the game was the issue.

I understand that a large portion of the BHW population are involved in dating site schemes of one sort or another, but I personally feel this guy got exactly what he deserved. There are so many sites like this, I hope that court cases like these become common.

Didn't see anyone post this yet, but I think this is the site: http://www.ukswingers.co.uk/

Some more thoughts on the matter -- I am willing to bet an affiliate could get in trouble as well if they create a fake profile on the site in order to get signups/leads. The site will get sued and they'll look into who sent the lead and it'll come back to the affiliate. Or even if the affiliate creates a fake profile on a social network and says they are on the dating site. Being an affiliate of the dating site and lying to get someone to sign up is fraud, technically. Unless there is no money involved in the signup, of course, I think that is your loophole.

Tensegrity said:

I understand that a large portion of the BHW population are involved in dating site schemes of one sort or another, but I personally feel this guy got exactly what he deserved. There are so many sites like this, I hope that court cases like these become common.

Click to expand...

I'm not saying he is not guilty, but then everyone doing the same has to be treated the same. Unfortunately, the big companies get away with this kind of stuff, but the "small" guy doesn't.

I think the sentence is right, you just can't steal peoples money.