We Are Being Blackmailed

News
Author: Julia Forte

We receive hundreds of post removal requests daily, and we do remove many posts due to their language and TOS violations. I am sure there are many of you who can testify that their removal request have been successful.

However, we refuse to remove posts when they do not violate the TOS and are clearly opinions of the users. We are not a mediator.

I know that many scam artists have been put out of 'job' because of the website content. They send us all kinds of threats, and until now we have been very discreet about the content of those emails.

Well, I think we have to start publishing some of the threats because it's not fair that we keep all of them to ourselves. 

Michelle Lablanc at michellehowley6383@g​mail.com has sent us the following message on 03/01/2011:

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"please remove your slander of 310 359 3220 and John Zakharia or we will make sure everyone who types in Julia Forte will be made aware of your tactics such as 28 Dec 2010. Julia Forte calls to extort money to take down negative.

Everyday I will spend 5 minutes a day for 6 months."
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Yesterday one of the users sent us an email alerting me about a post on the web published on March 2, in which I am being accussed of  blackmailing and extortion.

Now, Ms. Lablanc, I hope you understand that what you are doing is called slandering and blackmailing, both are punishable by law.

We have NEVER accepted money for post removal, (not that we did not receive offers because we did). We also NEVER discuss post removal over the phone for our own protection, and every single removal request is documented along with our written response.

So, Ms. Lablanc, and everyone who is involved in this smear campaign, your false stories do not hold water. And before you get creative with your threats and blackmailing efforts, know that from now on we will publish them for everyone to see!

 

Comments

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  • 0
    Regul8tr
    | 2 replies
    I don't know or particularly care who Ms Lablanc is, nor do I care for her tone. The simple fact is that your site allows the public a way to identify these rude, threatening calls. If the "collectors" would simply make the changes requested by the persons who post here, they wouldn't have a problem.

    I understand that there are some who will skip out on a legitimate debt, etc. However if that person doesn't contact the "collector" that's not the fault of another person who has that number. These cell companies have a database to check who the number is assigned to. (I used to support a major Cell provider in the USA) all the Collectors would have to do is run a check with the providers. If John Smith doesn't have phone number 123-456-7890 then STOP Calling it! .

    Again, don't let these thug tactics deter you from this noble goal of empowering the public to the tactics the callers are using. Molon Labe!
  • +1
    rbs_cee
    Thank you Julia, your efforts have given me a way to find out what this robo-call thing really is, and how to deal with it.  I found your website a few months ago.  Your efforts are quite noble.  Again, thanx !!
  • +1
    toby
    | 2 replies
    I've been poking around and similar stories are posted on consumer complaint boards all over the place.   They basically involve either someone claiming that 800notes tried to blackmail them or a supposed "former employee" (Does 800notes even have employees?)  exposing the whole sordid blackmail conspiracy.   (If interested, google "800notes blackmail" to find them.)   Interestingly, most seem to have been posted on 3/3/2011.   Amazing coincidence.  

    Julia Forte and 800Notes has been hell on crooked telemarketers and con artists, not to mention sleazy debt collectors with no particular respect for the law, for a number of years and they are all desperate to put her out of business.    Some have tried baseless SLAPP suits, others have even tried to use foreign courts to silence her.   Public Citizen has successfully defended her and 800notes every time.  Judging by the above, some are now resorting to out-and-out, and legally quite actionable,  lies to slander her in the hope of silencing 800Notes.  (That former employee story is so transparently bogus it's almost funny: "I was hired as a fresher and right on the very first day I was told how the whole scam works."  She told you the "whole scam" on the first day?  How careless of her and convenient for you.)    What Julia Forte has done is give the ordinary person, the target and potential victim of these creeps,  the information necessary to recognize their bogus schemes and sleazy tactics and avoid being taken advantage.    That's the real complaint of those posting these transparently false accusations:  she's helping their intended victims escape exploitation.
  • +1
    Ivor
    | 3 replies
    God bless Julia Forte and 800Notes!  I am forever in your debt!  I can't thank you enough!
  • +1
    4Q2
    Three cheers for those sites that expose scammers and help take them down!  800notes, Ripoff Report, ComplaintsBoard, and Flakelist.org are godsends!
  • 0
    TX Gal
    I luv, luv 800notes, many times i have discovered who the true caller was that was calling me or spoofing their number.  Also, i like the fact that i can find out I am not the only one the scammers call on a daily basis.  This site is very informational.  This site is a tool I use while I am at work to play an even BIGGER gatekeeper role. Keep up the good work, Julia!!
  • -1
    JasLA
    | 1 reply
    Looks like it's getting ugly on this website:
    xcomplaints.com/complaint/extortion-of-money-c156.html
  • +1
    toby replies to JasLA
    Something funny going on there.   I tried to post a message and it refused to accept it, saying I had to include an Email address, which I did repeatedly.    Apparently a positive post abut 800notes  won't be accepted.
  • +1
    Tom Overflow
    Websites like this one should and must stay alive. People are calling me sometimes and this is the best website I always resort to.

    Thanks.
  • +1
    not Michael
    This site has done me a great service.  It gave me the information I needed to stop the collection calls I was getting for Michael the Deadbeat.  

    Now a scammer wants to shut you down.  I can't blame him.  You have exposed his scam, kept him from scamming more people.  Keep up the good work.
  • +1
    Jeff in MD
    Keep up the good work!  If the blackmail and threats are coming from these fools then that must mean this site is actually working.  I am a long time user/poster to 800notes who is impossible to scam or intimidate.  What the site does personally for me is allow my comments to hopefully inform and show people that none of these schemes, telemarketing, bill collecting (real or perceived), payday loan scams or any other type of game will ever work if YOU don't let them.

    Nothing you say to these people (for the most part) will have any effect on getting the calls to stop but you do have the power right there at your telephone by simply hanging-up. At the same time, nothing they say should affect you.  No matter how pressured or scared they are making you feel, you can terminate the conversation at any moment by either putting them on permanent hold or by simply hanging-up.  Then, let it go.  Spend the rest of your day not giving the call another thought.  Rest easy and think this is just a voice on the phone that has no power or control over me whatsoever.
  • +1
    Anna
    I love this site. I went to that "other" site and all those "complaints" are written exactly the same way....and the site looks fishy too. Looks like it's just a place for her to vent her frustration. There will always be unhappy employees who look to slander their employer if fired (that's a given). Those kinds of people need to wise up and realize the world doesn't revolve around them.

    Kudos to your work Julie! =D
  • +1
    getoffdaphone
    | 1 reply
    Yes,  this informative & responsible website provides a worthwhile public service..  Is is any wonder that some of the mentioned Scammers,  and outright Criminals,  have a problem with being Exposed...    

    Thank You,  800notes..  Power to the People.. and to Our rights to freedom of the press & free speech
  • +1
    Gert
    | 1 reply
    Thank for all you do! You have helped me identify callers several times who were either plain old rude telemarketers or downright crooks. Please keep up the good work.
    God Bless You!!!!!
  • +1
    Alfalfa replies to Gert
    Seconded. And the continued existence of 800Notes is crucial, if anything is ever to be done about those who are knowingly (and willfully) using the telephone to commit extortion and violate consumer protection and TCPA laws.
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