Screenshot of predatorexposed.com.Sugar Dating Site SeekingArrangement.com Goes After Alleged 'Extortion' of Exposed Users
The suit claims that users of the site have had their photos and identities posted on PredatorExposed.com and PredatorAlerts.com, alongside allegations that they had attempted to pay for sex or made sexual advances to minors.
August 17, 2018 at 05:34 PM
3 minute read
Sugar dating site SeekingArrangement.com has taken a sour turn for some users, according to a complaint filed by parent company Reflex Media Inc.
The suit, filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, alleges Arman Ali and his Bangladesh-based business D4 Solutions posed as women seeking sugar relationships (wherein one partner provides the other with gifts in exchange for a relationship) to get personal information and photographs from men on SeekingArrangement.com.
Men's photos, names, addresses and other identifying information were then allegedly sold to and posted on U.S.-based PredatorExposed.com and PredatorAlerts.com, alongside allegations that they had attempted to pay for sex with an adult or had made sexual advances to minors.
The men were then ”referred to the removal sites where they are told that the posting can be removed for a fee, which generally ranges from a few hundred to even thousands of dollars,” the complaint states.
PredatorExposed.com, which the suit claims is hosted in Manassas, Virginia, lists a number of removal services, the major of which charge over $1,000, and claim removing a post can take up to a month.
The lawsuit claims that many of the men allegedly caught up in the scheme received texts from the defendant's websites that said their information had been posted and included links to removal services. The suit claims men also received texts threatening the involvement of law enforcement or their employer.
Reflex Media said PredatorExposed.com and San Francisco-hosted PredatorAlerts.com are “extortion sites” that have “caused harm to Reflex Media and the SA members,” alongside co-defendants, the named removal services and D4 Solutions BD. Many impacted users ended their subscription to SeekingArrangement.com.
The Las Vegas-based company also alleged certain defendants violated sections of the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act as well as California's Unauthorized Access to Computers and Unfair Competition laws.
Reflex Media has asked for the defendants to cease their “extortion” of SeekingArrangement.com users, to stay off of any company sites, to remove any user data already posted on the “extortion websites” and to pay the company for related financial losses and legal fees.
According to an email from a Reflex Media representative, recouping financial damages is less important to the company than preventing similar cases going forward.
“That said, we'll be seeking substantial damages as part of holding fraudsters accountable for their bad acts,” the representative said.
The full complaint can be read here:
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