by Structured Settlement Watchdog®
4structures.com, LLC discovered this afternoon that the rogue “fly trap” search results we have been covering in stories here for last 3 months and for the last 3 months have been pointing to Sovereign Funding Group’s webuypayments.net have been redirected by the perps to our company website.
- Rest assured we have nothing to do with this and our current and previous actions should underscore that.
- The domains that these results come from are not owned or controlled by 4structures.com, LLC
- The domains are registered using Godaddy anonymous registration through Domains by Proxy.
Call it coincidental if you wish, but we find it odd that this has happened since we amped up the heat on Sovereign Funding Group, the company who the URLs previously pointed to.
Here’s what we’re doing about it:
1. On Friday night I contacted Godaddy which is the registrar of the rogue domains through Domains by Proxy, Inc. I am in touch with its Abuse Department. I have reached out to a friend whose spouse works for GoDaddy as well.
The only way that you can point the domains one way or another is by instructing GoDaddy to do so through software that is in control of the domain owner.Thus the ONLY way that these domain pointing could have been changed from webuypayments.net to 4structures.com, or so we thought, is if someone who owned these URLs, or someone who has access to the account that controls the URLs went into the GoDaddy account to make the change. Again, we do not own or control the subject URLs.
2.The next call is to Google to see about banning the URLs
In the meantime we discourage any one searching for any structured settlement subject from clicking on any search result where the title of the Google search result says something that looks like:
Read more about (Name of individual or company) (Name of State)…
Find out More about (Name of individual or company) (Name of State)…
More details about… or something similar, followed by a company name , person’s name and the name of a state or city.
Most of these search results appear on the lower part of the first page and in some case on second pages of Google search results.
Some of the rogue URLS
- annuitypaymentssource.org
- settlement6183.info
- colback.net
- investrac.com
- topp-job.com
- settlementfundingcenter.net
- myoldbridge.net
- traditionsandbeyond.com
- saibmug.com
- inetservers.net
- nobuphoto.com
- sellingannuitiesplace.org
- b2b-bg.net
- lumpsumannuityinfo.net
- ineedcashnowsource.com
- right-decisions.com
- star-incomes.com
- heroicdesign.com
- aboutusquotezat.info
- bambv.com
Will post here with any updates.
Finally for those affected, thank you for your patience while we are taking affirmative steps to attempt to resolve this problem. Again we do not own or control the subject domains, which have been registered anonymously through Domains by Proxy at GoDaddy. We are a victim as well.
Update 10/08/2011 12:37AM Arizona Time. There are hundreds of these rogue URL, mostly all registered with GoDaddy, but hosted elsewhere, where we have learned that the villains have run what is called a “301 redirect” script to direct the landing page to our IP address. So let me repeat they are not being controlled by GoDaddy or us, although Godaddy has knowledge of the owners of the domains (but the onwers have paid for privacy). Our hosting company says that they cannot do anything to stop a redirect, much like someone linking to your site. Seems like it’s time to get the FBI involved.
Update 10/12/2011 11:11am EDT More rogue URLs. Don’t click on any long URLs which include these in them
- poboxsearch.com
- starsinc.net
- boomincomes.com
- mojoworld.net
- quibika.com
We’ve observed that one of the things the perps are doing using AddThis in some circumstances, a social bookmarking program to redirect traffic.
Update 10/20/2011 10 GMT All the redirects now appear to point to a Wikpedia search page.
Postscript February 13, 2013
On November 28, 2011 Woodbridge Structured Funding LLC filed suit against Sovereign Funding and David Springer of Mount Airy , Maryland in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland.
Accompanying the complaint was a copy of an October 5, 2011 take down demand letter from Woodbridge counsel Joseph Fortner of Halloran & Sage addressed to Mt Airy MD resident David Springer, giving him until October 7, 2011 to remove alleged infringing links and meta data. That suit alleges fraudulent, deceptive and defamatory practices, is ongoing and in the middle of discovery.
Among the allegations, Sovereign
- “registering Internet domains which have been used to redirect consumers to Sovereign Funding. Woodbridge alleges that “in particular, and upon information and belief.
- with the assistance of a outside search engine optimization vendor has used a fraudulent and deceptive search engine optimization (“SEO”) technique, under which Sovereign Funding, either directly or working with various vendors under its control and direction, have created landing sites and search results which misdirect customers when a search is made using the term “Woodbridge” both alone or in combination with other words.”
Prior to the Woodbridge complaint, a lawsuit against David Springer and Sovereign Funding, was filed by J.G. Wentworth in October 2011 in state court. That matter was settled in early March 2012.
- Shortly after my discovery of the existence of the two lawsuits and blogging about them on February 15, 2012. the domains JohnDarer.com, JohnDarer.net and JohnDarer.org were registered and commencing on or about February 29, 2012 they were used in combination to present false , defamatory and vile content directed at me.
Postscript 2014
The Woodbridge lawsuit went to trial August 19-22 2014 and following due deliberation Judge Marvin Garbis found David Springer liable. Springer filed for bankruptcy shortly thereafter. Springer notably wept while acting as his own lawyer cross examined me on the stand as a witness.
Ot took almost 4 years, but finally David Springer’s alleged misdeeds were put under the spotlight.amd the judge came down against Springer.
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