Mugshots.com

windedtruth
Contributor
Contributor

Hello,

 

I'm just curious what actions, if any, Paypal is taking in regards to this website? The website does use their service to charge non-convicted arrestees $400 or more to remove photos from their site, which they originally steal from law enforcement websites.  The Internet Crime & Complaint Center (IC3, online branch of the FBI) issued a scam / fraud alert on 06/19/2013 about this.  Several states are in the process of creating new legislation regarding their (and similar site) activities.  Illinois for example, SB0115.

 

The media has also been closing in on this - there was an AP article from Adam Geller this week.  Is Paypal aware of this, or should we be contacting them?

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3 REPLIES 3

snowshoe
Frequent Advisor
Frequent Advisor

You may want to consider starting at the coporate level.  Most folks here are volunteer advisors, not PayPal employees.  Many are online business owners who have used PayPal for years.  (There are forum monitors who are PayPal employees.)

 

Paypal USA Corporate Office Headquarters HQ Address
2211 North First Street
San Jose, CA 95131

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profdata
Frequent Contributor
Frequent Contributor

I don't agree with what they are doing, but they arn't stealing the mug shots from LE. 

 

 

They are public information, the media uses them all the time, even before the person is convicted in a court of law.

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windedtruth
Contributor
Contributor

Snowshoe - Thank you for the information. We'll follow up with Paypal.

 

Profdata - This isn't why the scam / fraud alert was issued.  I'll quote the alert below.  Government accountability is tied to public records.  Private dissemination which converts the perception of public information out of context, is an issue on its own.    In regards to what you're getting at, here's a good video that's going around about it.  It's pretty long, but thorough, so if you can stomach it with a cup of coffee you'll find some good information in it.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3Us9pCK7v0

 

 

------ From IC3 --- http://www.ic3.gov/media/2013/130619.aspx

 

WEBSITES POSTING MUG SHOTS AND EXTORTION

The IC3 has received hundreds of complaints from individuals claiming they located their mug shots on 20 different websites, all of which allegedly use similar business practices. Some victims reported they were juveniles at the time of the arrests and their records were sealed. Therefore, their information should not be available to the public. Others stated the information posted on the sites was either incorrect or blatantly false.

Complainants who requested to have their mug shot removed, had to provide a copy of their driver’s license, court record and other personal identifying information. However, providing such information puts those at risk for identify theft.

Complainants were also subject to paying a fee to have their mug shot removed. Although they paid the fee, some of the mug shots were not removed. If they were removed, the mug shots appeared on similar websites.

If the victim threatened to report the websites for unlawful practice, the websites’ owners threatened to escalate the damaging information against the victim.

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