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Spokeo Scam
Posted by Admin on Wednesday, April 7th, 2010 at 12:07 pm
I first heard about this Spokeo Scam on Google Trends. This new people search engine not only has basic public information, but also all of your social network profiles, photos and income information.
Consumers may check the information that is publicly available on them here.
From Facebook: “FYI EVERYONE – There’s a site called spokeo.com and it’s an online phonebook that has a picture of your house, credit score, profession, age, how many people live in the house. Remove yourself AND ANY AKA OR SPOUSE by the Privacy button on the bottom right. (passing along, scary stuff!) I have personally checked it out …. and it is really there! CUT PASTE AND REPOST!!!”
I was poking around on the Internet and found a site called Spokeo, this site is able to find information in just about anything! I did a search on myself and BAM there it was, every social networking site I belong to, pictures I have posted, blogs I wrote, addresses, and even the company I work for. Of course you have to pay to get a majority of the information, however they give you a taste by showing you 3 or so and a lot more once you have paid the measly fee of 3 bucks!
Personally I think this is taking it many steps n the wrong direction in acquiring information on others. Of course the government should have access but should civilians, I vote no! Spokeo.com touts itself as ‘not your grandma’s phone book, and it is nothing like it! There should be some type of laws in place that protect out personal information, whether they are put in place by the existing social networks and then enforced by the government!
You can have them remove your personal information by going to the website, spokeo.com, and clicking on the privacy section in tiny letters at the bottom of the main page, then follow the instructions. After this post is published I’m heading over immediately to just that, have my personal information taken off this site!
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My name is Kim and I am a freelance writer. I have over 30 years of experience in office management and administrative expertise. I specialize in handling customer service, training and writing for online businesses.
Writing has always been my passion. I am an avid animal lover who is combining my love of writing and animals together in the children’s books I am writing.
The Internet has opened up a whole new world for people of all ages. While most of us agree it’s changed our lives for the better, there are still precautions that you need to take. I want to help you navigate the Internet safely. However, being security conscious doesn’t stop with the Internet. This blog will be your source of information and education to keep you and your family safe online and offline.
While I wish the cost of maintaining a blog was free, it is not. The providers of some—though not all—of the sites mentioned are generous enough to provide compensation for my honest opinions about their products or services. I do not write about any product that I have not personally tried. Feel free to check out my full compensation disclosure.
Kim
Problem is that they never respond to consumer requests to be removed. Have tried for 3 months. “Next step” email never arrives. And LOVE this: CEO Harrison Tang is not even listed on his own site! Well, hello, I wonder what the problem might be???
Call your congressman and ask for hearing an investigation of Spokeo’s failure to respect private opt-outs.
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