Two Degreed Legal Professionals in trouble for porn scam

[47of74]

 

Two former or soon to be former Degreed Legal Professionals[emoji769] are in trouble for a porn scam.

http://www.kare11.com/mb/news/crime/lawyers-indicted-in-porn-scam/371847944

Quote

Luger announced that an 18-count indictment has been filed against two attorneys and U of M grads involving fraud, money laundering and supporting perjury. The indictment details how authorities say Paul Hansmeier and John Steele used courts across the country to extort money from individuals who had downloaded porn videos, threatening to sue them for $150,000 and publicly identify them as users of porn.

But the U.S. Attorney's office maintains the lawsuits were simply an empty threat to get the victims to pay a $3,000 settlement fee -- and it reportedly worked. Luger says the men extorted more than $6 million over a period of several years.

Once people took the bait and downloaded films, Hansmeier and Steele brought copyright infringement lawsuits in both state and federal courts all over the country against so-called John Does who downloaded the movies. They captured internet addresses of the porn downloaders, which allowed them to subpoena courts and obtain the names of those who controlled or used the internet addresses.

The indictment says Hansmeier and Steele then engaged in aggressive tactics to extort money from their victims. While never intending to take them to court, the two would send a menacing letter threatening a $150,000 lawsuit and public identification as a user of pornography. The good news? A small payment of $3,000 could make the entire matter go away.

 

[unsafetydancer]

So hang on, were these guys trying to get people for illegally downloading films, in this case porn films, and threatening to publicise their names so they paid up? How are people falling for this? It's such an obvious scam like those irritating ransomware viruses that do basically the same thing by freezing your computer and claiming to be the police.

[Howl]

Hoo, boy, $6,000,000 divided by $3,000 =  2,000 people who paid up.  There's karmic justice in there somehow, like a snake eating its own tail.  

[LadyCrow1313]

On ‎12‎/‎17‎/‎2016 at 9:09 AM, Howl said:

Hoo, boy, $6,000,000 divided by $3,000 =  2,000 people who paid up.  There's karmic justice in there somehow, like a snake eating its own tail.  

"A fool and his money are soon parted."

I've done stupid things w/money, sure (& who hasn't?), but not to that extent.

[47of74]

On 12/17/2016 at 8:09 AM, Howl said:

Hoo, boy, $6,000,000 divided by $3,000 =  2,000 people who paid up.  There's karmic justice in there somehow, like a snake eating its own tail.  

I have a lawyer friend who represented about 100 people who had been targeted by Prenda Law, and two who Prenda sued for hurting their fee fees.  So I wonder how many people got targeted who told Prenda to go fornicate itself in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ when Prenda tried to extort money from them.

If this had happened while law school was in session I would have asked the my crim law professor what his thoughts were on Prenda Law.

2 hours ago, LadyCrow1313 said:

"A fool and his money are soon parted."

I've done stupid things w/money, sure (& who hasn't?), but not to that extent.

Yeah, me too.  If I could go back there are some stupid things with money that I'd tell myself not to do.

[47of74]

Update - one of the former Degreed Legal Professionals™ has pled guilty.

arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/03/prenda-laws-john-steele-pleads-guilty-to-fraud-money-laundering/

Quote

One of the attorneys behind the Prenda Law "copyright trolling" scheme has pleaded guilty to federal charges of fraud and money laundering.

After years of denial, John Steele admitted Monday that he and co-defendant Paul Hansmeier made more than $6 million by threatening Internet users with copyright lawsuits.

The guilty plea brings to a close a long and bizarre saga of profiting from copyright lawsuits, in which Steele came into conflict with his former housekeeper and even his own mother-in-law. It all began unwinding in the spring of 2013, when US District Judge Otis Wright sanctioned the duo for having "defrauded the court" and submitted their case to the FBI.

Steele will be sentenced by US District Judge Joan Ericksen of the District of Minnesota. The sentencing hasn't been scheduled yet.

 

[Jug Band Baby]

People download porn?  You don't need to download porn to watch it.  A lot of websites stream it for free.  A fun Saturday night is to get your girlfriends together, get some wine, and laugh your asses off trying to test the limits of Rule 34 on those free-to-stream sites.  Who downloads porn anymore?

[47of74]

On 3/12/2017 at 10:05 PM, Jug Band Baby said:

People download porn?  You don't need to download porn to watch it.  A lot of websites stream it for free.  A fun Saturday night is to get your girlfriends together, get some wine, and laugh your asses off trying to test the limits of Rule 34 on those free-to-stream sites.  Who downloads porn anymore?

War is good for business?