Steps to take if you have been ripped-off by a copy-cat government website

hpuse

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

Correct, but bearing no relevance whatsoever to the post of mine that you were commenting on.

My comment, which as usual you totally failed to address, preferring instead to attempt to change the subject which was that your comparing offences committed in the USA to the activities of copycat websites in the UK is meaningless
especially when the actions being carried out by the companies in the link that you provided are totally different to the actions being carried out by the copycat services here in the UK.

I will ask again. Why do you think that the FBI investigating companies who set up websites with the sole intention of harvesting personal information for ID theft purposes and who do not provide the service being advertised is in any way similar to service providing companies in the UK?

Let me emphasise my assertion again.
A criminal is a person who has committed a crime. And needless to say police or any law enforcement authority would have pressed charges before someone is branded a criminal (for e.g possession of drugs)

The fact and point I wanted to make here is, the notice by FBI calls someone who fakes government website criminals (the very subject matter of this 110 page discussion thread).

That itself shows the 'contempt' a law enforcement organisation takes towards the people who fake government services unlike the group of people who call them 'service providers'. Hope that clarifies.

shaun_from_Africa

hpuse wrote: »

The fact and point I wanted to make here is, the notice by FBI calls someone who fakes government website criminals (the very subject matter of this 110 page discussion thread).

You can incorrectly call it a fact if it makes you feel happy but the real fact is that the website that you linked to does not call anyone a criminal for simply setting up a website.
They are called criminals by the FBI for setting up a website with the intention of collecting personal information for use in identity fraud.

Why bother posting links if you are going to ignore or twist what is actually written in those links?

has received complaints regarding criminals hosting fraudulent government services websites in order to acquire Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and to collect fraudulent fees from consumers.

Pollycat

I can't see the point in saying what the FBI does in the US.

We are in the UK and our laws apply, not theirs.

And as George Michael pointed out:

George_Michael wrote: »

They call them criminals because what is being referred to on the FBI alert is not the same thing as is being carried out by the sites in the UK.
Here, you are unknowingly paying a third party to complete a service for you (hence the reason for calling them service providers), but in the US, the people operating the websites in question are not actually providing what was paid for and are engaging in identity theft, hence them being called criminals.

you are not comparing like for like.

Everyone else appears to understand the difference between what these US companies are doing compared to those in the UK.

George_Michael

hpuse wrote: »

That itself shows the 'contempt' a law enforcement organisation takes towards the people who fake government services unlike the group of people who call them 'service providers'. Hope that clarifies.

A bit like the 'contempt' you seem to show towards people who recognise that the majority of businesses running copycat websites in the UK are called 'service providers' for a logical reason, and this reason is that they are providing a paid for service.
Most people don't agree with what they are doing or the way that they are doing it, but the fact remains that in the main, the majority of these companies are now operating within the law of the UK and as such, are not criminals.
Hope that clarifies. (although I very much doubt it will clarify anything for you).

hpuse

George_Michael wrote: »

A bit like the 'contempt' you seem to show towards people who recognise that the majority of businesses running copycat websites in the UK are called 'service providers' for a logical reason, and this reason is that they are providing a paid for service.
Most people don't agree with what they are doing or the way that they are doing it, but the fact remains that in the main, the majority of these companies are now operating within the law of the UK and as such, are not criminals.
Hope that clarifies. (although I very much doubt it will clarify anything for you).

It is not a question of me getting clarified.
AND, It is NOT a question of few MSE folks think they are still legal, it is a question for Government, Google and Trading standards, Cabinet Office and GDS getting convinced that these 'service providers' are delivering a genuine service to lift the copycat adverts ban.
Hope that clarifies?

bod1467

Yep, that clarifies things for me.

Exile_geordie

Steps to take if you do not understand the difference between laws in the USA and laws of the UK.....




Read up on it before you comment.




*This is one post that will not need to be amended time after time.

Pollycat

hpuse wrote: »

It is not a question of me getting clarified.
AND, It is NOT a question of few MSE folks think they are still legal, it is a question for Government, Google and Trading standards, Cabinet Office and GDS getting convinced that these 'service providers' are delivering a genuine service to lift the copycat adverts ban.
Hope that clarifies?

Well, I'm not sure it clarifies things for me.

I thought the whole point of this thread was to inform people of what:

Steps to take if you have been ripped-off by a copycat government website

not to try to convince various bodies (that I'm sure do not read threads on MSE) that these 'service providers' are delivering a genuine service.

bod1467

I deliberately did not elaborate on what clarity hpuse's post provided for me.

hpuse

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

They are called criminals by the FBI for setting up a website with the intention of collecting personal information for use in identity fraud.

Why bother posting links if you are going to ignore or twist what is actually written in those links?

LOL!
May be it is worth another read fully this time -..or, let me offer my help..

They are called criminals by the FBI for setting up a website with the intention of collecting personal information for use in identity fraud AND to collect FRAUDULENT fees.