HJC Exchange / Ordefoco / ZSXLXH sending false takedowns

[theymos]

A group of highly-suspect companies is apparently attempting to silence anyone critical of them by sending false DMCA takedowns:

Reported URLs:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5575889.0

Original Work Description:
Original Work Owner: HJC Exchange
Website: https://hjc-exchange.com/

Type of Work:

Website content including all text, product and service descriptions

Branding elements, logos, and images

Whitepapers, guides, or proprietary documents

Visual design, graphics, and icons used on the website

Copyright Status:

All content on https://hjc-exchange.com/
 is original and protected under copyright law.

No part of the content may be copied, reproduced, or used without authorization.

Original URLs:

https://hjc-exchange.com/
 (main site)

https://hjc-exchange.com/about

https://hjc-exchange.com/services

https://hjc-exchange.com/whitepaperSummary Description:

The copyrighted work consists of HJC Exchange’s official website content, including original text, images, graphics, logos, branding, and proprietary documents such as whitepapers. All materials are owned by HJC Exchange and protected under copyright law. Any unauthorized reproduction, copying, or distribution of these materials constitutes copyright infringement.
PK

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5574425.0

These images and videos are copyrighted and belong to the content creator using the stage names Mibadbitch, Bri naranjo, or Brianna naranjo. This content creator only publishes their content on the official platform (onlyfans.com) and distribution in any form outside of these platforms is strictly prohibited.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5574219.0
Estas imagens e vídeos são protegidos por direitos autorais e pertencem à criadora de conteúdo conhecida pelos nomes artísticos Mibadbitch, Bri Naranjo ou Brianna Naranjo. Essa criadora publica seu conteúdo exclusivamente na plataforma oficial (onlyfans.com) e é estritamente proibida qualquer forma de distribuição fora dessa plataforma.

Dear Administrator,

I am writing to formally request the immediate removal of the forum thread published at the following URL:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5575860.0

The content contained in this thread about NeoSter Global is false, defamatory, and materially misleading. It presents unverified allegations as fact, causing significant reputational damage to our company, its partners, and its stakeholders.

The statements made in this post:

Contain unsubstantiated accusations

Present misleading and harmful claims

Damage our business reputation and commercial relationships

Create unnecessary confusion among clients and the public

We take reputational harm very seriously.

Publishing or continuing to host defamatory content exposes all parties involved to potential legal liability under applicable defamation and libel laws.

We respectfully request that you:

Immediately remove the thread in its entirety

Prevent further republication of the same defamatory material

Confirm in writing once the content has been removed

NeoSter Global is prepared to pursue all available legal remedies should this matter not be resolved promptly. However, we prefer to resolve this amicably and without escalation.

We appreciate your immediate attention to this matter and look forward to your confirmation of removal within 48 hours.

Sincerely,
Steven Thomas

That latter reported post says that NeoSter Global, Stovex Global, HJC Exchange, and Casder Institute of Wealth may all be the same thing.

The DMCA takedowns have zero legal basis; the URLs obviously contain no copyrighted content. (And under section 230, bitcointalk.org can't be held liable for defamation by users.) Needless to say, this behavior makes all of these companies extremely suspect.

[TokenTikas]

That latter reported post says that NeoSter Global, Stovex Global, HJC Exchange, and Casder Institute of Wealth may all be the same thing.

From what can mainly be seen here, the scammers are working very carefully and doing everything that looks necessary to appear authentic, just so they can continue their activities without drawing much attention. All the actions they are taking seem mainly aimed at gaining trust. The cases we are seeing here could all be of the same type and there is little doubt about that because their activities clearly give that impression.

The DMCA takedowns have zero legal basis; the URLs obviously contain no copyrighted content. (And under section 230, bitcointalk.org can't be held liable for defamation by users.) Needless to say, this behavior makes all of these companies extremely suspect.

From a legal point of view, the URLs are clear and there is no direct copyrighted content found, but there are clear signs of deceptive behaviour. It looks like they are focusing on improving their Google ranking by working properly on SEO. At the same time, they are also trying to build trust on the forum by posting in a more unique way instead of copying content directly, this is already becoming quite obvious. Because of these kinds of deceptive activities, we need to stay alert, otherwise, they will do anything possible to disrupt the balance of the forum.

[DireWolfM14]

Lol, haven't they ever heard the term "any exposure is good exposure?"

All kidding aside, isn't DMCA takedown specifically for copyright infringement?  All I see is the exchange/services domain name mentioned in the post.  There's nothing there that could be construed as copyright infringement.

Anyway, thanks for bringing this to our attentions.  It only confirms the shady nature of these services.

[Zwei]

Lol, haven't they ever heard the term "any exposure is good exposure?"

they for sure have never heard of the streisand effect either, lol

besides a few people who saw those threads, no one even knows about them or what they were trying to do. now more eyes will be on them, you got to love dumb scammers.

All kidding aside, isn't DMCA takedown specifically for copyright infringement?  All I see is the exchange/services domain name mentioned in the post.  There's nothing there that could be construed as copyright infringement.

exactly, but DMCA can be abuse for stuff like this. i bet they thought the forum would just take those posts down to avoid potential problems, whether the takedown is legit or not.

[theymos]

i bet they thought the forum would just take those posts down to avoid potential problems, whether the takedown is legit or not.

And Google actually did deindex the links for which they received DMCA takedowns, until we disputed them and had the links reinstated.

[albon]

And Google actually did deindex the links for which they received DMCA takedowns, until we disputed them and had the links reinstated.

This is good news. I was confident that the links would be reinstated in the search results because they had already abused the DMCA law on topics that have nothing to do with copyright, and the forum threads themselves expose their false claims about these new and illegitimate platforms.

Those behind these suspicious platforms want to erase the Google search results any forum content that exposes their fraudulent schemes, but thanks to you, they will not succeed.

In response to these false takedowns they submitted, I will file complaints with the domain registrars and providing the necessary evidence to have them taken down.

As long as there is a vigilant community, no scammer can succeed here.  

[Bitcoin_Arena]

I noticed so many threads popping up regarding the fake services in this forum.

I was thinking of creating a thread where all of them are reported so that the accounts are flagged or even the posts deleted because they are spamming and posting a lot of false information.
With the way they hijacked a certain thread in some subreddit, I just knew that they were going to have a rampant operation in this forum. I clearly did not know that they would go that far.

[TokenTikas]

In response to these false takedowns they submitted, I will file complaints with the domain registrars and providing the necessary evidence to have them taken down.

At the moment, this domain was purchased from the Gname.com Pte. Ltd. platform. In many cases, scammers do not buy domain hosting from well-known platforms like Namecheap, Hostinger or GoDaddy, they often use random or less reliable platforms to purchase their domains and hosting.
However, it is usually clear that platforms used for buying domains for exchanges are normally of a higher standard. Still, making a complaint without stronger and more reliable proof may not bring any good result, so for now it is better to stay cautious and take steps carefully against them.

[nutildah]

I opened a flag on "US News Reporter" (LOL) so that way if people actually bother to click and read his SEO bombs, they'll see the yellow warning message at the top. The flag links to this thread. Oh, and here is a flag for the other account, "U.S. News Journalist".

What's weird is there is hardly any information out there about these projects... Either they got caught early or just have no idea what they're doing. Hard to believe anybody capable of reading could fall for it.