Wow! You just answered all my questions! I got an email from them a few days ago, and was wondering what the deal was. Figured it was a spam scam of some sort.

Why does it have to be hatched in the Philippines? Not to politicize ANYTHING but argh! Another blow to Philippine reputations.

Here is the background on these people. They now operate under www.word-of-mouth-connection.com. It is a scam and below is a copy of the email I sent to their website host (abuse@ev1.net).

Tracing the website IP shows that you are hosting the domain of word-of-mouth-connection.com which seems to be a fraudulant site.

After having received numerous unsolicited daily emails from them, I visited the site in these emails and have done some investigating through the Internet. This website seems to be a scam judging by complaints made by victims. This website purports to have users who have posted "reports" on you or conducted searches on you. The only way to retrieve the so-called info is to correspond with the original poster (who remains anonymous) using the website's "anonymous" email system which you have to pay a membership fee for. Those persons who have paid the fee, have stated that the "reports" have conveniently been lost or misplaced and that no info was made available to them and no refund was made. Many of these victims are currently seeking legal advice and have also made reports to the FTC and other agencies. I know that you are most likely not aware that this site is conducting questionable business which at the very least is in violation of your usage policy, and most likely in violation of numerous laws, and feel it is only common courtesy to inform you of it so that you can investigate on your own and take the appropriate action. If you do not host this domain name, please let me know so that further research can be made.

This website has operated under many prior domain names, all of which have been removed at one time or another. It appears you are the latest recipient of these people. The registrant info also shows that they claim to be an L.L.C. in California. I researched that information and found that the status is cancelled. Notice the name and address on the website registration doesn't match the L.L.C. records. (Another fraud indicator) See below:


LP/LLC
WORD OF MOUTH MARKETING LLC
Number: 199903410111
Date Filed: 2/3/1999
Status: canceled
Jurisdiction: CALIFORNIA
Principal Address
1930 SOUTH COAST HIGHWAY, SUITE 250
OCEANSIDE, CA 92054

Trying whois -h whois.arin.net 64.246.15.52
OrgName: Everyones Internet, Inc.
OrgID: EVRY
Address: 2600 Southwest Frwy., Suite 500
City: Houston
StateProv: TX
PostalCode: 77098
Country: US
NetRange: 64.246.0.0 - 64.246.63.255
CIDR: 64.246.0.0/18
NetName: EVRY-BLK-9
NetHandle: NET-64-246-0-0-1
Parent: NET-64-0-0-0-0
NetType: Direct Allocation
NameServer: NS1.EV1.NET
NameServer: NS2.EV1.NET
Comment: ADDRESSES WITHIN THIS BLOCK ARE NON-PORTABLE
RegDate: 2001-10-05
Updated: 2003-03-31
TechHandle: RW172-ARIN
TechName: Williams, Randy
TechPhone: +1-713-400-5400
TechEmail: admin@ev1.net
OrgTechHandle: RW172-ARIN
OrgTechName: Williams, Randy
OrgTechPhone: +1-713-400-5400
OrgTechEmail: admin@ev1.net

Domain Name: WORD-OF-MOUTH-CONNECTION.COM
Registrar: TUCOWS, INC.
Whois Server: whois.opensrs.net
Referral URL: http://www.opensrs.org
Name Server: NS1.WORDOFMOUTHREPORTS.COM
Name Server: NS2.WORDOFMOUTHREPORTS.COM
Status: ACTIVE
Updated Date: 25-aug-2003
Creation Date: 25-aug-2003
Expiration Date: 25-aug-2004
Domain ID:D2767522-LRMS
Domain Name:WORDOFMOUTHCONNECTIONS.INFO
Created On:03-Aug-2003 02:36:37 UTC
Last Updated On:31-Aug-2003 06:18:08 UTC
Expiration Date:03-Aug-2004 02:36:37 UTC
Sponsoring Registrar:R139-LRMS
Status:ACTIVE
Status:OK
Registrant ID:C3477157-LRMS
Registrant Name:KRISTIAN PADBORG
Registrant Organization:WORD-OF-MOUTH LLP
Registrant Street1:1231 40TH ST
Registrant Street2:SUITE 329
Registrant City:EMERYVILLE
Registrant State/Province:CA
Registrant Postal Code:94608
Registrant Country:US
Registrant Phone:+1.5103931276
Registrant Email:KPADBORG@ATTGLOBAL.NET
Admin ID:C3477158-LRMS
Admin Name:PETER KESTLER
Admin Organization:WORD-OF-MOUTH LLP
Admin Street1:SIVERANO MIRABUENO
Admin Street2:STO NINO VILLLAGE
Admin Street3:UPPER PEIDAD, TORIL
Admin City:DAVAO CITY
Admin State/Province:DAVAO DEL NORTE
Admin Postal Code:8000
Admin Country:PH
Admin Phone:+6.39185653118
Admin Email:WORD-OF-MOUTH.ORG@ATTGLOBAL.NET
Billing ID:C3477159-LRMS
Billing Name:PETER KESTLER
Billing Organization:WORD-OF-MOUTH LLP
Billing Street1:SIVERANO MIRABUENO
Billing Street2:STO NINO VILLLAGE
Billing Street3:UPPER PEIDAD, TORIL
Billing City:DAVAO CITY
Billing State/Province:DAVAO DEL NORTE
Billing Postal Code:8000
Billing Country:PH
Billing Phone:+6.39185653118
Billing Email:WORD-OF-MOUTH.ORG@ATTGLOBAL.NET
Tech ID:C3477160-LRMS
Tech Name:PETER KESTLER
Tech Organization:WORD-OF-MOUTH LLP
Tech Street1:SIVERANO MIRABUENO
Tech Street2:STO NINO VILLLAGE
Tech Street3:UPPER PEIDAD, TORIL
Tech City:DAVAO CITY
Tech State/Province:DAVAO DEL NORTE
Tech Postal Code:8000
Tech Country:PH
Tech Phone:+6.39185653118
Tech Email:WORD-OF-MOUTH.ORG@ATTGLOBAL.NET
Name Server:NS2.WORDOFMOUTHREPORTS.COM
Name Server:NS1.WORDOFMOUTHREPORTS.COM

Yeah they bugged me too. Then the "automated" emails stopped a while back, but someone just left a comment on my blog that they changed URL's. I'm just glad the e-mails stopped finally. Going to the original URL tries to force a certificate to load now.

I suppose I should be flattered they felt I was important enough to try to scam *laughs*

Don't you think they probably email people based on what people are searching for? I bet that every address you typed into that site received an email soon after...

I got one of these SCAM emails too. Any reputable site would have the decency to allow a 'connectee' to review posted comments for accuracy and either affirm or rebut them. If you read through their 'legal' stuff, you'll see these disclaimers.......
=======================
What laws regulate your database?

There are numerous federal and state laws that regulate databases of government agencies, financial and credit institutions, educational institutions, and health care providers. WordofMouthConnection.com, however, is not covered by any of these laws.

What information must you disclose to me?

WordofMouthConnection.com is not covered by consumer credit laws (we maintain no financial information) and has no legal obligation to inform the subject of a report whether anyone has inquired about them
=============================

......and their testimonials sound MADE UP !

A lawyer I know says this is obviously fraud and suggests everyone write their Attorneys General (my state lets me file complaints online). If we get the Attorneys General of all 50 states after this guy, it will make running his business a bit more difficult.

You guys got it all wrong - you don't PAY for information - there IS no information. You PAY for the "privilege" of contacting someone who supposedly posted something about you (from what I gathered checking around, then they simply don't reply - most likely because they never really existed!).

What's stopping them from simply getting a huge email database and creating all these initial "connections" then, through fear (what are they saying about me?), sucker people into paying the $20? Nothing, that's what

Thanks so much for posting this information about the Word-of-Mouth scam! I was concerned enough to consider coughing up the dough they asked for, and didn't find any helpful info at the Better Business Bureau.

Either remove my email address from your searchable system, or provide me with your real world address where I can send my written complaint and subsequent legal correspondence.

Connection ID: XXXXXXXXX

Thank you for your cooperation.

I understand your explination of an 'automated system' as well as the principal that only the report author may remove the connection, however as an administrator of the site, you are also respondsible for it's content, which includes posting of information you do not intellectually own, nor that you have the ability to delagate ownership to. This means that you do not release yourself from liablity by simply stating that you have no control.

That being said, either comply with the removal of my information or provide to me contact information for the party who must remove it.

Also sending unsolicited email from your server to my email address is spam. Under applicable NY state laws this is unlawful. I would also request that you cease these communications.

There are numrous fraud reports available about you online. If you pay me $20 I'll tell you who is filing them.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for this information!!! As a very small business owner, I was concerned about the e-mail which arrived out of the blue. The thought that kept recurring the most was that, how on EARTH is it possible that I would have to PAY to find out what "someone" said about me in the amorphous ether of this web site.... and then, how could the person who did this say that they knew me "well"??? If they knew me well, they would have known that this would bug me a lot, to say the least... This site is the kind of site that gives a bad name to the wonderful free sites and communities on the internet. I would be more than happy to participate in any effort to shut them down. BTW, I had trouble accessing them in IE 5 for OSX but not in Safari... maybe they are already on their way out? I hope so!

This guy is still out there plying his scam. I got one of his emails today. Googled the site name and found this post. Grrr.... Between blog spam and now this "rumor scam" it is amazing how much time these idiots waste on people who do not want to be bothered.

Thanks Guys. A relief to know that this seems to be a scam and not something more sinister.

Don't bother e-mailing the abuse address at hopone.net. They wrote back to say that the Word of Mouth site has been gone months and months now.

Well... I was a fool and paid... thought I could catch my boyfriend when I saw it on his email and paid for service.. now worried they will steal my credit card #... Does anyone know if they have used more than the 20.00 on a credit card, unauthorized?

This was halfway a surprise to me, I did not even expect it to be a scam, untill I looked up the legalities of it myself....

Frailin scam artists should be burried up to their heads in cement in the middle of the mojave desert.

Thanks for the information! As someone in the middle of a hairy divorce procedding, I was hysterical that my ex may be behind it when I got the first email, but I was skeptical. I searched them on the internet and found your information, which gave me all the answers I needed and saved me $20!

Thanks for having this site. I got the info from word of mouth too and it worried me. Not enough to pay, I didn't even click on anything to know it would charge me, instead I looked up the info and found this. I'm not surprised it is a scam but I wish there was some way to stop people from working these types of scams.

Stephanie L. Watson

I successfully used this site and then communicated (eventually by telephone) with someone who shared some very interesting information regarding a business associate of mine. It seems that the rest of the posters at this blog are just paranoid as there does not seem to be any real evidence that this website is not legit.

Why do you people find it so hard to believe? We all know that people love to talk about other people behind their backs.

FRK

Fred --

It's not that it's hard to believe.

It's that it *is*, in fact, a scam.

It's been documented (see above, and the Snopes writeup) that the site owner makes all these "information submissions" and "background checks" up -- that in the initial trail of "added information" and "background checks", none of it can actually be retrieved, nor the providers contacted. That's documented.

Now, it wouldn't be difficult to create a system that actually *did* permit that kind of communication. But you'd have to fork over $20 to find out whether they do. And you say you have. So if I choose to believe you (and for the moment, for the sake of argument, I will stipulate that you are not just shilling on behalf of the site), it's not surprising that you were actually able to retrieve information.

Now, that having been said: Even if this weren't a scam, and even if it doesn't violate fraud or extortion laws, it would be a monumentally Bad Thing. Think about this: It creates an economy of secrets, where everyone has to either pay up or fly blind with regard to the "secrets" or "information" -- all unsubstantiated, mind you -- that's being traded about them.

This MUST be a SCAM. Anyone who knows me, and knows my email address would have no hesitation in communicating directly with me no matter what information they had.

Thank god!!! I have been looking for a new job and I thought my current boss found out about it and was saying things about me. But, before I handed out the $20...I looked for some info about the site. Whew. Am I relieved to find out that this is not going to ruin my professional life!!!

Thanks for your advice, I got three messages from WordofMouthConnection between November 26th and december 1.
At the beginning I was interested to know if somebody was looking on my background and what the answers will say. Later, after I try to understand the scheme, I went to google and found your site that it warns from a scam.
I didn´t spent the money.
Thanks
George

decent - its funny how they state something about "you can google someone, but not find any info about them." SO - I did a google search and found this site -seems the tool they mention was the key to answering my question.

f'in scammer should all up and die. Try working for your mon-ay! prick

21stcdb

Unfortuantely I did not take the time to look up this website when I received an email this morning. The way the email was worded scared me and I wondered "who is looking into me and why?" I paid the 20.00 on my credit card. I tried to get into the site and retrieve information & it was impossible. I even sent an email to "customer support" for help. Of course, no answer was given.

I did a search and came up with this site and I feel so very stupid that I gave these people my credit card information after reading what has been posted here and that I fell for this scam.

I sent an email to the site and told them how disgusted I was with this whole situation and that I wondered how people such as themselves could possibly close their eyes at night and have a peaceful sleep knowing how evil they truly are.

I sent an email to the abuse address given on this site. I also have sent an email to everyone in my address book to advise them of this scam and asked them to send the message to everyone in their address book.

I then sent an email to my credit card asking them to not allow any additional charges on my card from this site and I gave them the site owners name. I also explained to them thoroughly what happened. I will pay the 20.00...I have no choice but nothing more.

I have never done anything like this over the net but due to the nature of the email I got suckered in. Sad that these people have to ruin it for good people that honestly try to run decent online businesses.

I am contacting the Attorney General of my State. I plan on pursuing this. It is only 20.00 but it goes way beyond that in the principle of the matter. Yes, shame on me for being so stupid and not checking this out but shame on these people for taking advantage of the public. I hope this jerk ends up in prison.

Thanks for all your postings. I am so glad I found this site and appreciate the advise given.

Interesting bits of info here....thankfully you've saved me the $20 (not that I'd be likely to spend it anyway)...I, like one of the other posters here, was involved in a nasty divorce a couple of years ago and wondered if my ex- was involved in the "information submission", knowing it's all Bovine Scatology makes me a little more relaxed.

The 'Its not a scam I got useful information' post above comes from someone claiming to be called Fred Kruse. Now, months later, the latest spam I have received of this type comes from a range of Pac Bell addresses subregistered to Adam Kruse, 268 Bush St. #5000, San Francisco, CA 94014. Kruse hardly seems like a common surname ... perhaps this guy is running out of alias ideas.

Thanks for the info on these BIG Time Scammers who want your money and nothing else!!!!

i got one of these emails today with the rest of the junk mail i get. i do scan the junk mail folder before emptying it since i have had a few messages that are not jusk sent there. so (although i do not usually open emails that i do not specifically recognize as not belonging with the rest of the junk mail) i got intrigued by the subject and opened and read it. well, being very guarded about such emails/claims, i set out to research this word-of-mouth website before using the links provided in the email (as most of you probably know, some sites use the fact that you opened a link from their email just as a confirmation that this is a valid email address and could/should be used/spammed/sold,etc.) and thats how i came accross your site and my suspicions that this is just another scam were confirmed. i was wondering if anyone has tried to unsubscribe from their website with success (sould be pretty simple and effective given the new spam law passed last week, but i still don't trust those people one bit).

I almost was taken by them. I played it out and caught them at their own tricks. I even emailed them and let them know I reported them to the Federal Trade Commission. Now someone is doing research on them. Hee hee hee. :) Makes me feel so good.

Damn it all to hell!! normally I just delete stuff like that or I do my research before I leap. Current situations in my life made me paranoid, which caused for that site to have another lucky day.

I didn't do my research and well.. we all know what happens to people who don't look shit up.. they get suckered...

thanks for the website and the info.. hopefully people will look before they leap and this site will definelty help them.

Thanks for this info. I was very concerned and even wrote Bill O'Reilly because more people aught to be alerted.

This guy should consider that some of us are single women and it worried me that it could possibly be some creep looking up information on me - very disconcerting.

The information you have all entered is going to help me relax. Happy New Year!

Oh man!

I almost got suckered into this too! I got an e-mail this morning from the site saying that someone was researching me and I immediately freaked out. I e-mailed all my close friends to find out if any of them were behind it. A good friend of mine e-mailed me this site. Thank god! I was starting to calculate whether or not I could spend 20$ to find out!