Can Your Own Personal Website Compromise You?

[ryan]

It just occurred to me, since I do business online, that my website may provide some info to creditors??

...Its in my name (my name is the url) and does have an 'about me' page etc. It shows what I charge for certain work projects, and provides some other basic stuff including a picture and contact info.

...should I be concerned about this?

[nickifan]

And what about LinkedIn?

Hi Ryan,

Not to hijack your thread...but perhaps complement it...I was going to come on and post a similar question about LinkedIn!

If someone views my profile there (all real names...people WANT to be contacted by recruiters, etc.), it would appear that I have not worked for at least three years. That's not exactly true, as I did not include the jobs I have had that are not in my "primary" career (as any jobseeker today hears ad nauseum, it's about "branding" yourself and what you can offer.)

I'm wondering if a web-surfing CC rep would say, hey...you've charged under fraudulent circumstances for _years as you were unemployed!

[frogger]

It just occurred to me, since I do business online, that my website may provide some info to creditors??

Everything that you do online with your personal/business information can and will be to gain information about you by your creditors.

Websites, facebook, myspace, you name it. It is looked for by collectors.

[meateater]

I'd assume that creditors are going to become aware of whatever you've got online (if they take the time to do this). If you think you're going to be filing (which you probably are, since you are on this forum), just make sure there's nothing that would be awkward to explain at a 341 hearing. The creditors already know your name, they already have at least one way to contact you, and what you charge for a job is not something that should be a secret, so they aren't exactly getting much new from your online posting (except maybe new ways to contact you).

It's safe to assume potential employers are also looking online, which is one reason why, (in my opinion), its really important to make sure posts here do not include much identifying information, as it could be quite problematic if a creditor or employer had access to someone's posts here. I cringe when I see a post that seems to have someone's name as the user id, a year which looks like a date of birth, and a reference to the place they live, and maybe a reference to the field they work in; I always hope the poster just has changed the details; the internet is not as anonymous as it appears.

[frogger]

You might want to look at this thread:

http://www.bkforum.com/showthread.php?t=41608

[Dst1]

You would not believe the number of people who have been denied or are in jail for fraud because of what they find on the web. People are stupid; it's that simple. Insurance companies employ tech people whose entire job is to hunt down information about you on the web.

If you are going to commit fraud, do not brag about it on facebook. ok?

[GoingDown]

It just occurred to me, since I do business online, that my website may provide some info to creditors??

...Its in my name (my name is the url) and does have an 'about me' page etc. It shows what I charge for certain work projects, and provides some other basic stuff including a picture and contact info.

...should I be concerned about this?

Yes, you should be concerned.

If it has your name in the url, and they google you, it might come up.

I use all sorts of websites such as MySpace, etc., but I never use my full name. I just use my first name "Going".

One time a debt collector called me and said that he had found my employer (and the employer's address) through the internet and he read it to me over the phone. Fortunately, it was for an old defunct employer, but it is scary that he was able to find even that on the internet.

[Bell30656]

I had a creditor that had obviously Googled my email address. He asked: "Do you still work for 8 oo-sa-fad?" It took me a minute to figure out that he was talking about a military unit that I had once served with two decades ago... 8th USAFAD. Obviously, he had not read anything on that particular forum or he would have had a better idea of what he was talking about.

There was also a thread, I believe on this forum once about a message on a Facebook site left by a creditor. Nothing like having a JDB write a love note on your wall.

[PoorGrammyinBK7]

I'm quite certain it was our website that got us sued. We had tracking and saw one day on the where a certain person had been all over it. We had not heard from him in years and we thought he had written off the debt. We didn't have any significant assets, but our website gave a "look" of success. Well - we heard from him within a week and were sued within two months, by this ruthless billionaire in another state, who was convinced (partly because of our website) that we must have money. Well, we didn't but it led to our BK because he was adamant that we must have some money! Absolutely nothing would convince him otherwise - our meager offers to settle, etc. So I guess he got his satisfaction from feeling like the big guy beating the little guy into the ground, because he got nothing else.

[flyinbroke]

[albacore44]

know. I think that one CA found his mark by using a pic of a hot blonde. delinquent.

Do you have her Pic ??

[flyinbroke]

Remember Albacore, no matter how hot she is, someone out there is sick of her s***. Do you really need a skiptracer, even if she is hot?