*“As a successful businessman and philanthropist, for over 30 years, I will not sit quietly and allow a website, like the Rip Off Report, try to, not only extort $26,000 from me, but try to threaten my reputation and cyber bully me, by using a post, that they offered to submerge, with information posted by a fictitious government agency, “ explains Steven Marcano.
“When it gets this far and goes this low, their audacity can only then be responded to by taking legal action and getting sites, like this, taken down and it’s handlers prosecuted, to the fullest extent of the law. This will serve as a cautionary tale for those who commit crimes, by impersonating a government
agency that doesn’t even exist, and by trying to hide their despicable actions, behind the First Amendment.“
This statement from Marcano, stems from a recent and unfortunate phone call, from an alleged member of the staff of the Rip Off Report, alerting him of a report that was posted on their site, regarding a civil lawsuit, by an alleged government agency, called the Connecticut Justice Task Force.
The Rip Off Report is a for-profit and privately owned website, founded by Ed Magedson, whose popularity grew from allowing reports of scams, fraud, complaints, or reviews to be placed on the site. It has now become, according to Marcano, “ a cyber bully” that posts alleged, unverified information by alleged, made up agencies and then allegedly, tries to exhort money from the victims, in order to have the information ‘ submerged, ‘ (not removed), from the site.”
After, Marcano received the very disturbing call, where the caller referenced the CJTF- the Connecticut Justice Task Force, Marcano did a little research , on his own, with the help of his legal team. At the end of the search, Marcano and his team could not find any trace of an agency called the Connecticut Justice Task
Force. It did not exist. It was then, that Marcano and his team decided to take a stand.
“Being a successful producer with a roster of successful television shows and movies; being an entrepreneur and creating several successful businesses; and being a philanthropist and literally, donating millions of dollars to different causes and charities , puts me on the radar for scammers and predators. Of course, there is always something- issues, lawsuits, etc. More money, more problems, as they say, but that is all a part of the journey and the risks that you take.
Every misstep has either been due to either poor representation , on the management end , or
decisions that have, simply, missed the mark. It happens, but you recover and you move on. From this situation , I can afford to put my team on it and fix this problem, but what about someone just starting out? What about someone who cannot, yet, afford an attorney, and they become prey, to sites like this, that feed off of naïve and defenseless businesses, by making up stories and posting items that have been presented by fictitious agencies and then be asked to pay exorbitant amounts of money to have the information removed? It is a criminal
offense, to impersonate a government agency, so how does this website and others like it, get away with the things that they do? “asks Marcano.
Even after Marcano reached out to the Rip Off Report site, to inquire about the fraudulent agency, the CJTF, members of the staff, would not even acknowledge that the agency , was in fact non- existent.
Rip
“How is it lawful and allowed for businesses to be attacked with unverified , unsubstantiated and flat out fraudulent information and there be no recourse ?” asks Marcano. “You have no choice but to fight back, but in this fight, I am not only fighting for me, I am fighting for every other past victim and current victim,
in hope that the future will be victimless and no one else will have to experience such vile and ridiculous absurdity and a violation of their professional space and, most importantly, an unsubstantiated hinderance to their livelihood.”
At the present time, this claim is under legal investigation, so there are no further commentary, regarding any specific details, on the case. More updates will be made available in the upcoming weeks, so please stay tuned for further developments, as we research how many lives, relationships, businesses and livelihoods have been affected by the , alleged, unethical and the, alleged criminal practices of the Rip Off Report.
Steven Marcano Photos
source:
Sabrina Lott
[email protected]
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