Freelance Site Fiverr Offers Illegal Private Spying Services (vice.com) 29
Freelancer site Fiverr is where a company can hire a short term app developer, a logo designer, or someone to help with their social media accounts. Fiverr is also a site where you can buy malware to illegally spy on your spouse, pay someone to place a GPS tracker on a car, or hire an unlicensed private investigator, Motherboard reported Monday, citing public listings on Fiverr. From the report: The news highlights how the struggle to moderate content is not limited to large social networks and platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Other sites, like Fiverr, also have trouble policing their platforms. Motherboard has covered extensively the harm that malware used in abusive relationships, sometimes known as spouseware, or how technology can enable stalking. "I have undetectable spyware to monitor your cheating spouse, staffs [sic] and kids gadgets," one listing on Fiverr found by Motherboard reads. For $5, customers can apparently buy malware that will record keystrokes and websites visited, and for $400 can buy software that will allegedly steal a target's passwords and email contents. The quality of the malware on offer is unclear. Another listing offers to "covertly deploy [a] tracking device to a vehicle."
Fiverr removed the listings offering malware and GPS tracking after Motherboard contacted the company for comment. "Any gigs that fall under our 'Illegal or fraudulent services' violate our terms of service by doing so. Two of the gigs you shared did violate our terms of service in this way and have been taken down, as a result," a Fiverr spokesperson told Motherboard in an email. It appears Fiverr also deleted the user accounts offering those two services.
Fiverr removed the listings offering malware and GPS tracking after Motherboard contacted the company for comment. "Any gigs that fall under our 'Illegal or fraudulent services' violate our terms of service by doing so. Two of the gigs you shared did violate our terms of service in this way and have been taken down, as a result," a Fiverr spokesperson told Motherboard in an email. It appears Fiverr also deleted the user accounts offering those two services.
Watership down (Score:3)
...had the better Fiver.
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Uh (Score:2)
In the US it is usually legal to place GPS trackers on people's cars.
You don't have to like it, but it is true.
It is also only illegal to "spy" on your spouse under very narrow circumstances where you already have restricted access to their devices. Most people that would buy that sort of thing are already the person doing technical maintenance of the device, and so they do have access permissions. The spying itself is legal, again, unless there is something like a "separation" that makes that it not a real
and if you are an bailbonds / Bounty hunter (Score:2)
and if you are an bailbonds / Bounty hunter you can get away with it.
Re:Uh (Score:5, Informative)
In the US it is usually legal to place GPS trackers on people's cars.
Only if you own it.
https://www.brickhousesecurity.com/gps-trackers/gps-tracking-laws/
But it varies by state.
https://privateinvestigator360.com/gps-tracking-laws-50-states/
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Yeah but that is police, private citizens aren't bound by the restrictions on police and in practice those restrictions only impact direct admissibility in court. The police can still use it without a warrant to determine your guilt or gather intelligence and then by the book methods to find admissible evidence. For instance, maybe they use the gps tracker to pinpoint your meth lab and then they surveil the lab and use foot traffic, purchase history, or garbage scavenging to justify a warrant to raid the la
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Well in talking about a spouse you do own it, along with their phone, their clothes, etc. After all, you are still married and while still married all property and funds are shared. A marriage is a financial merger and there is no expectation of privacy with regard to your spouse. With odd notions like this so prevalent it is no surprise that divorce is so common.
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"In the US it is usually legal to place GPS trackers on people's cars."
You can always 'forget' a phone in their car though.
No. See Penal Code S 16.06 Unlawful Installation o (Score:4, Informative)
You are mistaken. See for example Texas Penal Code S 16.06. Unlawful Installation of Tracking Device
Also
Texas Penal Code S 16.02. Unlawful Interception, Use, or Disclosure of Wire, Oral, or Electronic Communications
Other states have similar laws.
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Did you think that Texas was the whole US?
Because only if you believed that would this information imply that I was mistaken.
Would you like the law for another state? (Score:2)
https://www.dictionary.com/bro... [dictionary.com]
Would you like the law for another state?
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Most people that would buy that sort of thing are already the person doing technical maintenance of the device, and so they do have access permissions.
You'd think so but really at that point they'll also know how to get their own malware and test it for free. I had a few friends who had me go through their browser caches back in the day. They weren't particularly tech savvy. All of them were getting cheated on but I usually pointed out that I'd have left them for spying on me and that I'd never spied on a partner.
Reflecting on this later I think part of being REALLY able to do it make the whole thing a much bigger deal in my mind made the whole thing
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"The spying itself is legal, again, unless there is something like a "separation" that makes that it not a real marriage."
Of course. It isn't abusive to have doubts about your spouses loyalty. If your doubts are correct it is your spouse who is being abusive. You and your spouse have a legal contract which not only has a massive financial impact but potentially huge social implications with children on the line. Infidelity is pretty much on par with rape in terms of mental suffering.
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That's the stupidest thing I've heard all week.
Policing their platform (Score:3)
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It raises an interesting question. To what extend should the platform be policing itself, rather than just relying on people using the report button?
Presumably it wouldn't be hard for a Fiverr employee to run a few searches, the same way Motherboard did, and ban those accounts periodically. Is there some minimum level of effort we should expect from these services?
Silly kids (Score:1)
Fiverr, aka Spammerr (Score:5, Insightful)
If you wondered what "someone to help with your social media accounts" means.
Fiverr goes out of their way to protect social media spammers. A huge chunk of their business is selling manipulation of various social media metrics, or downright spam.
It's not surprising that they would welcome other lowlife too.
This will be a major scandal at some point! (Score:2)
If the most powerful men, who have a lot to lose, are vulnerable to extortion or simply divorce and seeing their families broken up, how much longer before this will get outlawed. I am very surprised it's still legal. For many of these douches, their wives can simply install this on hubby's laptop and very quickly get a MacKenzie-Bezos-proportioned payout.
Even
Reciproque? (Score:2)
Because the powerful men want to be able to similarly spy on their wives and/or mistresses?
And also, because these powerful men are absolutely certain they'll never be caught by their wifes' Fiverr spies?
Re: Reciproque? (Score:2)
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"Lots of powerful men cheat. They have a lot to lose if caught cheating."
This has nothing to do with powerful men and everything to do with women. Women get caught the least and cheat the most. It is women who are push for ridiculous measures like an expectation of privacy vs a spouse and preventing "stalking" from a spouse whatever that means. Cheating on a spouse is abuse but a slight case of crazy brain during a distant or fighty moment? Hardly. My spouse knows where I am at pretty much all times and vic
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What kind of marriage doesn't include total transparency?
If you have to ask that, you're either very newly married or in the top .00001% of marriages. My marriage had nothing to hide the first 10 years as well. I choose not to cheat, but everyone does something online we don't want our spouses to see. Even if you're transparent with your spouse, what about your kids? Do you want your kids seeing your porn search history? Also, a lot more people cheat than you know about...you'll be surprised at how many of your coworkers and friends do shady things on the si
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"but everyone does something online we don't want our spouses to see"
Seriously you advocate an opaque marriage just to hide porn? That definitely does not sound healthy.
"Even if you're transparent with your spouse, what about your kids? Do you want your kids seeing your porn search history?"
Either is simply resolved with the private browsing functions in the popular browsers. This is embarrassment level stuff not actual "secret" stuff. If my wife is that determined to know specifics and installs something t
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"Private browsing doesn't work with a keystroke logger. In my case, if my wife discovered everything I do online, we'd have an awkward night, but be fine. There's no infidelity, I just don't know how she'd react to my porn tastes and don't want to find out. If she found out I was looking at women of other races in porn, will that make her feel insecure, for example? People need boundaries. She needs a safe space to explore her sexuality as do I. I think that's very healthy. Our boundaries are anything onlin
So? (Score:2)
Wow, illegal services are offered on some website online!?!? ... Call the police!!
Big Fat Whooo
Hmm .. no actually, shouldnâ(TM)t you call the police and let them know.