CHEATING HEARTS CAUGHT ONLINE

Cheating Hearts Caught Online
By Walaika K. Haskins
(excerpted)

Internet dating sites have never been more popular. They have been a romantic oasis for people with busy lifestyles, allowing them to pursue a relationship at their own pace. Many women are comfortable with the sites because they can become well acquainted with a prospective partner before even going on a date.

However, for every online testimonial that greets the lovelorn masses, there is a story of bitterness and spite. A growing number of Web sites now traffic in the business of warning women (and sometimes men) about prospective mates who have a very loose relationship with the truth.

Welcome to the online antidote for a broken heart. Web sites such as StopTheAct and TrueDater have taken up the call to expose liars and cheats before they have a chance to make a fool of you. Call it the online version of the popular reality show "Cheaters."

Rewarding the Faithful
On one site, jilted or cheated-on lovers, girlfriends, and wives can post a picture of their significant offender and list all the gory details of the philandering for the entire world to see. Think you might have a cheater on your hands? The site also has a search engine through which you can seek a scoundrel by name, city, or keyword.

Those who need or want to learn more about a questionable prospect can submit an e-mail message or go to the site's blog. In an attempt at some degree of fairness, if people feel they know a man who has been maligned unjustly, they can post a rebuttal that will be included with the other comments under his name.

"It's like a dating credit report," one site's creator, said in an interview with The New York Times.

One site's creator said that roughly 170,000 women have registered to use it and that the site's members have posted the lowdown on some 3,000 men.

While many women say the sites perform a valuable service, some men, not surprisingly, have taken a dim view of the trend.

The sites have been criticized for being biased and harmful. Detractors have said there is little to stop a woman from posting a man's picture along with a completely fictitious account of a relationship gone awry. (not really... this site, such as others - require posters to affirm their statements as true and we ask for backup. On many of these sites including ours, the information is the property & responsibility of the poster. Plus, we do some checking ourselves)

An Alternate View
Seeking to serve all sides of the online dating community, TrueDater gives both sexes the chance to reveal the lies and deceit behind an unscrupulous online profile.

Using the nickname of the person they found at their dating site, men and women can uncover the truth behind that perfect physique -- a balding head, missing teeth, or ever-expanding waistline -- and post a warning with a link to the credulity-stretching profile.

The site is not focused exclusively on liars. If a posted profile turns out to be from an honest Joe, it will be flagged as a "true dater." The rules stipulate, however, that negative feedback relates only to information posted in the profile.

If, for instance, someone reveals during the date that he lives with his parents, and if the profile does not mention that living situation or if the appropriate field is left blank, then the site simply will edit out remarks about living arrangements.

But focusing on such technical limitations might be missing the larger point. For increasing numbers of women, what matters is that these Web watchdogs are helping to separate the studs from the duds.

"With the advent of the Internet, some can be what they want instead of what they are," one site owner told the Times. "You think this guy sounds great. Turns out, he's married, and he's got five kids."

(using the links in our far right margin - you can post information about your cheater or loser on a number of different sites. Be SURE you are being truthful! EXPOSING THEM can be the first step in healing.

Also, see the links on the left margin to obtain our criteria for submitting your online predator - EOPC)

Texas Man Arrested for "Spoofing"

Missouri City Police Department’s arrest of a Stafford man for Internet harassment and “spoofing” was the first of its kind in Texas using a new law that went into effect Sept. 1 of last year. The crime is so new that police had to call Austin to figure out how to get the charge entered into computers because a number had yet to be assigned.

Years ago, Missouri City police were also the first to charge someone with failure to register as a sex offender.

All of the benefits of technology also come with a price – for every new and innovative way discovered to communicate and do business, criminals will find new and innovative ways to use the technology for malicious purposes.

The Texas Legislature passed House Bill 2003 as an effort to keep up with how the Internet and electronic communication have changed the ways people can harass and possibly harm one another.

The new section in the penal code makes “Online Harassment” a crime, and deals with two separate issues.

The first makes it a third degree felony to use someone else’s identity to create a web page or message on a commercial social networking site without that person’s consent and with malicious intent. “Commercial Networking” includes Internet sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.

The second section deals with what is called “spoofing,” now a Class A Misdemeanor. Spoofing is when someone sends an electronic message, such as an e-mail or an instant message, pretending to be someone else. If the intent of the message was to solicit a response from emergency personnel, it is a third degree felony.

Wesley Wittig, an assistant district attorney with the Fort Bend County District Attorney’s Office, said that prosecuting new crimes does not necessarily present any difficulties, as the law is clear on what constitutes each crime. The difference with new charges is that there is no history of rulings that attorneys can use for research when preparing.

Missouri City police charged 54-year-old Stafford resident John Johnson with Internet Harassment and spoofing earlier this month, after they say he set up a fake dating site account and posed as the victim while instant messaging.

Missouri City police were called by a nervous and scared 35-year-old Missouri City woman who told police she received a phone call from a strange man who told her he had just been to her house, and no one answered the door. He told her he even tried the front door, but it was locked.

She asked the stranger where she lived, and he gave her the correct address. She told him she didn’t know who he was, and he said he had been having Instant Messaging conversations with her on the computer after having met her on the Internet dating site Plenty of Fish. He told her she invited him over.

The victim knew nothing about the man, the site or the alleged conversations.

After investigating, police say Johnson set up a fake account on the dating site, complete with photos of the victim and her correct home address, cell phone number and location of her work. Johnson is the boyfriend of the victim’s boyfriend’s mother, who apparently wanted to end the relationship between her son and the victim.

It is still unclear who was pretending to be the victim during the online conversations.

original article here

Man Held in Indiana Cyberstalking Case

A former youth pastor from Clarksville appeared in court Tuesday afternoon accused of stalking and threatening harm to two teenage girls if they did not perform sexual acts for him online.

An automatic plea of not guilty was entered on behalf of 47-year-old Ronald Wayne Williams. Clark County Magistrate Kenneth Abbott set bond at $100,000 cash-only, and appointed a public defender to represent Williams.

According to a probable-cause affidavit, detectives literally caught Williams with his pants down.

Acting on a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the Greenwood Police Department learned that a man was attempting to coerce a 15-year-old girl into performing sex acts on her webcam as he watched.

Detectives took over the girl’s e-mail account and reportedly used evidence from their conversations to trace the suspect to the 2800 block of Blackiston Mill Road and Williams’ computer.

With search warrant in hand, detectives from the Indiana State Police, Greewood Police Department and Clark County Sheriff’s Department knocked on the door to Williams’ residence. Court records state that officer saw Williams pulling up his pants as he walked to answer the door.

Once inside, detectives found Williams’ laptop computer with a live video feed of a partially nude 16-year-old girl performing sex acts. There were also beer bottles and empty food containers, along with about 20 2-liter plastic bottles filled with urine, indicating he may have not wanted to leave his computer to use the restroom.

A detective took over the chat and asked the girl to call the police department. She called and agreed to speak with detectives at the Clark County Sheriff’s Department.

The 16-year-old alleged victim said Williams added her as a friend on MySpace.com in April. She added him because he said he was old friend of her parents. He then allegedly began sending her messages asking her to go on her Webcam and get naked, saying he had embarrassing pictures of her he would spread all over the school if she did not comply.

When she refused, he allegedly threatened to rape her.

In May, she heard the sound of a car honking behind her house. She said Williams messaged her that night, asking if she had heard him honking. She said she feared for her safety and began complying with his demands.

She told police that she began ignoring his messages in July until one day when she went to a swimming pool in Corydon. She said Williams messaged her that night, describing what she and others at the pool were wearing that day. Another day, he said he had seen her at the mall.

The 16-year-old alleged victim saw Williams’ picture for the first time when detectives showed it to her. She said she knew him from church when she was in elementary school and that she had played with his daughters as a child.

Clark County Sheriff’s Department Detective Rachael Lee, who investigated the case, said it is a reminder for parents to watch what their children are doing online.

“I do recommend parents get on their kids’ computers periodically,” she said.

Lee said many laptop computer now come with built-in Webcams, but parents are often unaware of that.

“Some don’t even know their computers have that capability,” she said.

Lee said Williams had been a youth pastor at Georgetown Community Church and more recently Henryville Community Church. Lee said she spoke with church officials in Henryville, who said Williams was removed from his position about a year ago, although she did not say why he was removed.

A message left at the Henryville church late Tuesday afternoon was not returned, while the number listed in a phone director for the Georgetown church had been disconnected.

Williams is charged with 12 felony counts — class C felony child exploitation; three counts of class C felony child solicitation; three counts of class D felony vicarious sexual gratification; three counts of class D felony intimidation; and two counts of class D felony stalking.

He faces 12 to 56 years in prison if convicted on all counts.

original article here

CYBERPATHS DO THIS TO OTHER ADULTS, TOO!

Dark Market

To the casual observer, there was little to distinguish the Java Bean internet cafe in Wembley from the hundreds of others dotted around the capital. But to surveillance officers staking it out month after month, this unremarkable venue was the key to busting a remarkable and sophisticated network of cyber criminals.

From the bank of computers inside, a former pizza bar worker ran an international cyber "supermarket" selling stolen credit card and account details costing the banking industry tens of millions.

Renukanth Subramaniam, 33, was revealed today as the founder and a major "orchestrator" of the secret ­DarkMarket website, where elite fraudsters bought and sold personal data, after it was infiltrated by the FBI and the US Secret Service.

Membership was strictly by invitation. But once vetted, its 2,000 vendors and buyers traded everything from card details, obtained through hacking, phishing and ATM skimming devices, to viruses with which buyers could extort money by threatening company websites.

The top English language cybercrime site in the world, it offered online tutorials in account takeovers, credit card deception and money laundering. Equipment – including false ATM and pin machines and everything needed to set up a credit card factory – was available.

It even featured breaking-news-style updates on the latest compromised material available, while criminals could buy banner adverts to promote their wares.

So vast was its reach, with members in the UK, Canada, US, Russia, Turkey, Germany and France, the UK's Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca), which helped bust it, said it was "impossible" to put a figure on how much it cost banks worldwide.

Subramaniam, who used the online soubriquet JiLsi, was remanded in custody at his own request at Blackfriars crown court today after pleading guilty to conspiracy to defraud and five counts of furnishing false information. Judge John Hillen warned it was "inevitable" he faced a "substantial custodial sentence".

A Sri Lankan-born British citizen, Subramaniam was a former member of ShadowCrew, DarkMarket's forerunner, which was uncovered by the US Secret Service in 2004. "JiLsi was one of the highest in cybercrime in this country with what he managed to achieve setting up a forum globally. No JiLsi, no DarkMarket," said one Soca investigator.

Its 2,000 members never met in real life. Quality, not quantity, was the key. DarkMarket was fastidious in banning "rippers" who would cheat other criminals. Honour among thieves was paramount.

It operated an "escrow" service, with payments and goods exchanged through a third party – "like a PayPal for criminals", the judge observed, and an arbitration service resolved disputes. To keep off the radar, the rules were strict: no firearms, drugs or counterfeit currency.

Built on a pyramid structure, administrators decided who joined, moderators ran specific site sections, and reviewers vetted wannabes – each demanding 5% or £250 per transaction as a fixer's fee.

To get on, criminals had to present details of 100 compromised cards free of charge - 50 to one reviewer, 50 to another. Reviewers would test the cards and write an online review of customer satisfaction – just like eBay customers. "If the cards did what they were supposed to … they would be recommended. If not they weren't allowed in," said the investigator.

Payment was via accounts on WebMoney, or E-Gold. "It was the QuickTime method of sending money anywhere."

Subramaniam was one of the top administrators. He kept his operating system on memory sticks. But when one was stolen, costing him £100,000 in losses and compromising the site's security, he was downgraded to reviewer. Surveillance officers caught him logging on to the website as JiLsi unaware the fellow criminal MasterSplyntr he was talking to was, in fact, an FBI agent called Keith Mularski.

Considerable money was exchanged, though actual transactions took place away from the site for security reasons. One buyer spent £250,000 on stolen personal information in just six weeks.

Described as "a very quiet man", Subramaniam worked at Pizza Hut and as a dispatch courier. "He owned three houses but was largely itinerant," said Sharon Lemon, Soca deputy director. "The key to investigations of this sort is finding the evidence to connect the online persona with a living, breathing person."

Harendra de Silva QC, defending Subramaniam, said the "evidence was unchallenged" but said the "question of interpretation does arise in certain areas" and there would be submissions on "nuance" of the fraud in so far as it applied to his client. He is charged alongside John McHugh, 66, known as Devilman, also a site reviewer who has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud and at whose Doncaster home officers found a credit card-making factory. The two will be sentenced later.

But the battle against cybercrime continues. "This was one of the top 10 sites in the world, but there are more than 100 we know of globally, and another 100 we don't yet know of," said the investigators.
In the DarkMarket

DarkMarket price list

Trusted vendors on DarkMarket offered a smorgasbord of personal data, viruses, and card-cloning kits at knockdown prices. Going rates were:

Dumps Data from magnetic stripes on batches of 10 cards. Standard cards: $50. Gold/platinum: $80. Corporate: $180.

Card verification values Information needed for online transactions. $3-$10 depending on quality.

Full information/change of billing Information needed for opening or taking over account details. $150 for account with $10,000 balance. $300 for one with $20,000 balance.

Skimmer Device to read card data. Up to $7,000.

Bank logins 2% of available balance.

Hire of botnet Software robots used in spam attacks. $50 a day.

Credit card images Both sides of card. $30 each.

Embossed card blanks $50 each.

Holograms $5 per 100.

original article here

Sexual Arrangements

by Aidan Maconachy

(excerpts)
Are you in a loveless marriage? Has the thrill gone out of it? Sex once a month if you're lucky?

If you live in a small community, cheating is often more of a risk than it's worth with neighborhood gossips on the prowl.

In the UK there is a burgeoning internet business that focuses on putting married people in touch with one another for discreet affairs.

A number of these services go out of their way to ensure the comfort levels of clients who don't want their extramarital affairs to interfere with the routine of family life. Some even offer tips on how best to avoid being caught and provide counseling on how to handle emotional fall-out such as guilt. Stress is laid on confidentiality, and there is an undertaking to safeguard clients' identities. Often sexual partners meet and make-out while using pseudonyms. That could get a little weird. Saying her name at the crucial moment wouldn't have the same resonance.

Services that help the married with discreet encounters are becoming quite popular in the UK. Not all of these clients are cheaters, some have the permission of their spouse. There are many people trapped in loveless marriages with partners who aren't putting out. This can effect personal worth and self-esteem. In one story I reviewed, a spouse came second to her hubby's porno habit . Just to rub it in, he would occasionally compare her unfavorably to the lookers on the web. She stayed in the marriage for the sake of her kids. When she finally worked up the courage to date someone she met through an online service, it gave a huge boost to her flagging sense of worth.
It is legitimate to argue that the refusal of intimacy is potentially damaging to the health and well being of the rejected partner. Fact is, sex is good for you. Provided it's safe and legal it should be a source pleasure and empowerment. It has a therapeutic aspect that is often overlooked. According to some medical opinion a healthy sex life boosts the immune system, increases blood flow, lowers cholesterol, promotes prostate and genital health, boosts testosterone and estrogen counts, improves sleep and relaxation ... and even according to some ... is a life extension factor.

Dating services offer interpersonal connections, unlike pornography which is in high demand these days. There are some 40 million users in the US annually. Porn revenue for 2005 topped 12 billion, exceeding the profits of pro baseball, basketball and football franchises combined. Despite its popularity, a sex life that makes masturbation the primary outlet is rather sad and in the end, isolating.

Real sex of the therapeutic type involves a polarity between partners - the give-and-take of love, emotion and all the other human energies that help to make us whole people. At root the healing power of sex is about intimacy and sharing.
EXCERPTED FROM THIS INTERESTING ARTICLE (CLICK HERE TO READ)

Snow in U.K. Boosts Website for Adultery!

Britons snowed in by the wintry weather have been flocking to an extra-marital dating site in the last 24 hours.

IllicitEncounters, which provides a platform for married people to conduct affairs, said on Wednesday it has seen an unexpected increase in visitors over the past 24 hours, and received a record number of new profiles on Wednesday morning.

The website said most new members are registering from areas worst hit by this week's extreme weather, including Hampshire, Berkshire, and the West Country, and the site has taken on several temporary staff members to cope with the rush.

"In light of these figures, I'd be interested to see how much work those 'working from home' have actually done," IlicitEncounters.com spokeswoman Sara Hartley said in a statement.

"Perhaps these wives and husbands have just been waiting for a time when they could join, away from the eyes of their work colleagues and, most importantly, their partners..."

The website said it has gained 2,567 new members in the last six days, suggesting that January will be its busiest month ever.

It says it has more than 350,000 members in Britain and that its aim is to create a safe and nonjudgmental environment where married men and women can meet each other.

original article here

Stalking Laws Need to be Tougher

by Kim Archer

He seemed to be around every corner. Standing near her. Watching her.

"It's unsettling," said Tulsan Stephanie Lewis, who met the man through her work in coordinating a local arm of a national political group.

The man started calling constantly and sent hundreds of e-mails, she said. Every public meeting she led, he was there. He argued with her and tried to take over. Then he copied everything from her political group's Facebook page and put them on his.

"First, what you notice about him is he doesn't respect social boundaries. He gets real close to you when he talks," Lewis said.

On Christmas Eve, things took a scary turn. He called her again that evening. When she asked why he was calling on a holiday, he went off.

"He got abusive and threatening. He said he was going to teach me a lesson," Lewis said. She spent last Christmas Eve filing a report at a police station.

From there, things escalated. It got so bad, she filed for a protective order against him I in Rogers County where she then lived. But the judge only admonished the man to stay away from Lewis.

He didn't. One time, he even pushed her down and spit on her. But it was just the two of them, her word against his.

Again, Lewis filed for a protective order. Only this time, it was in Tulsa County, where she moved. The judge indicated it wouldn't be granted, but Lewis pleaded.

"He said it didn't meet the requirement because there was no relationship between us," she said.

Lewis argued her case and got a 60-day order.

"If a judge does not interpret the law to protect people out in the public, that's where the problem lies," Lewis said.

Lewis is not the first person to have filed for a protective order against a particular stalker. She just appears to be the first successful one.

Tulsa County records show at least two other individuals have done so without success.

Stalking is a crime
Stalking is considered a crime in all 50 states, although legal definitions vary.

Oklahoma law is relatively strong on stalking, but courts and law enforcement are reluctant to enforce it, said Tim Gray, attorney advocate with Domestic Violence Intervention Services in Tulsa and vice president of the board for Family and Community Empowered for Safety.

"It isn't taken seriously enough. That's pretty much because society doesn't take it seriously enough," he said.

Judges, district attorneys and law enforcement officers have some discretion in dealing with stalkers. Often, they are hesitant to take action against them, Gray said.

"It is time-intensive for law enforcement and district attorneys to make a case," he said.

Sheree Huckill, an anti-stalking advocate with T.K. Wolf, a counseling and wellness group in Skiatook, said the majority of stalkers go on to commit physical violence against their victims.

"If we look at recent homicides, chances are the victims were being stalked first," she said.
Stalking is pervasive and can be done in person or on the Internet.

An estimated 3.4 million people age 18 or older reported being victims during a one-year period, according to a report released by the U.S. Justice Department in January. The report came after the most comprehensive study of stalking ever done.

The study confirmed that women are at higher risk of being stalked, and that stalking is a gateway to more violent crimes.

"Stalking can absolutely lead to death," Gray said. "Like domestic violence or sexual assault, it all boils down to power and control. The stalker gets a high from doing the stalking. They enjoy putting that person in fear."

Perhaps the state law's only weakness is it does not recognize emotional damage, Gray said.

"Our society and our courts want to see physical damage done," he said.

By the time it gets to that point, it can be too late.

Reprieve
The relative peace Lewis has had since the protective order soon will be replaced with worry. The order expires in early May. And she will have to spend nearly another entire day to get the order approved for another period.

Her stalker has mostly stayed away, but has inched near her at public political events, testing his boundaries. "It's just creepy," she said.

Lewis said when she got the first protective order, the man came to court and argued the law like a pro. "He knows the stalking law like he's a lawyer," she said.

Lewis says she is not about to allow someone else to run her life.

She believes the stalking law should be strengthened so judges and district attorneys can't ignore the pleas of those who are victims.

"I will do whatever it takes to get this message heard."
(NOTE: Many Cyberpaths will ACCUSE THEIR VICTIMS of Stalking them. This is PROJECTION! Take your proof to the police, victims - and demand they file a report and GIVE YOU A COPY. - EOPC)

Eighty-seven percent of stalkers are men. One in 12 women and one in 45 men will be stalked in their lifetime, federal data show.

• Seventy-seven percent of female and 64 percent of male victims know their stalker.
• Fifty-nine percent of female victims and 30 percent of male victims are stalked by an intimate partner.
• Fifty-five percent of female victims report their stalking to the police.
• Nearly a third of stalkers have stalked previously.
• Seventy-six percent of women murdered by an intimate partner and 85 percent of women who are victims of attempted murder by their intimate partner had experienced at least one incident of stalking by the perpetrator within a year of the crime.

Source: National Center for Victims of Crime

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Harassing Texts Lead to Cyberstalking Charges

Last week, police arrested Devar L. Hurd for cyberstalking the mother of R&B singer Ashanti Douglas. Prosecutors report that Hurd sent Ms. Douglas over 30 explicit text messages. Some of the messages qualified as “sext” messages, including several photos of his genitals and messages about performing graphic sexual acts.

California’s cyberstalking laws are codified in Penal Code 646.9 PC. Simply put, Penal Code 646.9 PC cyberstalking prohibits using any “electronic communication device” (including a cell phone) to threaten or harass another person with the intention of placing that person in fear for his/her safety or for the safety of his/her family.

While cyberstalking may seem less harmful or intrusive than “traditional” stalking, the offenses are prosecuted and punished in much the same way. In fact, cyberstalking can actually be just as dangerous as traditional stalking, due in large part to the fact that blog postings, chat room conversations, and even e-mails can be sent anonymously. Because of this fact, law enforcement agencies have formed specialized units to aggressively investigate cyberstalking claims.