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Kickstarter Identity theft

Former Member

A post warning others of what I found just an hour ago.

 

I had a project hosted on Indiegogo of a case for the raspberry pi.

 

I have just found all my material on Kickstarters website hosted by a user pretending to be me. He claims he is from the Uk, and is taking money under my name. He even has my videos linked.

 

Due to the seriousness of this, and the fact that it is identity theft I intend making this viral. This could have serious impact to my name and career should the hacker fund the project, and do a run with the funds.

 

The project name is Raspberry Slice - it can be found archived on the Indiegogo website, and is now currently funding on Kickstarter!!!!

 

I have posted about it on Kickstarters Facebook page, and also reported it on their site.

 

This is really, really, not good enough and scary when you think about it. Their screening is obviously terrible, as is their user checks.

 

 

Brian Garvey.

  • It looks as though kickstarter has already taken it down.

  • in reply to Nate1616

    He cancelled the fund, and It does appear they have now deleted him.

     

    http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/957482907/raspberry-slice-raspberry-pi-case

     

    It throws a dim view for me from now on, as to if a kickstarter project is legit or not if it is that easy steal others identity.

     

    Brian,

  • It's absurd to steal someone's identity in which some people pretends to be someone else by assuming that person's identity, typically in order to access resources or obtain credit and other benefits in that person's name.The victim can suffer adverse consequences if they are held accountable for the perpetrator's actions. If you are concerned about tax reimbursement burglary, you have good reason to be. It is not terribly uncommon. Learning the best way to fight back against tax refund theft means keeping your personal financial information safe. Here are some ways you can make that take place. It will take a huge installment loan to pay for legal fees while getting everything straightened out.

  • KS has always made me shudder at the thought of showing the world your new ideas only to have them snatched by whoever wants to. Just like the US Pat Off, your patent is just a way for large corps to get your innovations for free. Whenever a little guy is ripped off by a big corp, they always lose...without $millions$ to battle in court, tough schitt.

  • in reply to Former Member

    Mike Crane wrote:

     

    KS has always made me shudder at the thought of showing the world your new ideas only to have them snatched by whoever wants to. Just like the US Pat Off, your patent is just a way for large corps to get your innovations for free. Whenever a little guy is ripped off by a big corp, they always lose...without $millions$ to battle in court, tough schitt.

    Not always -- see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/i4i -- but as a general rule patents are a game for the rich.  IMO as a small outfit your greatest danger is from "non-practicing entities", better known as "patent trolls".

  • in reply to johnbeetem

    There are definitely issues with the patent system that I think stifles creativity in many ways.

     

    I guess by "patent trolls" you mean those folks who register patents for ideas and never actually implement them, hoping to make money off other people later doing the real work?

     

    My wife (superartgirl.com) was selling her stuffed "muLLies" dolls on Etsy and at one point decided it would be a good idea to add little tag loops for babies to fiddle with - like the taggie blankets. She very quickly got the dolls removed from Etsy because of patent infringement. They gave us the patent details, which was interesting - apparently some company had patented that idea, even though they are not actually producing them. But as an artist handmaking dolls, it's not worth fighting that. Clip the loops and carry on image.

  • in reply to Former Member

    @Brian - good on ya for catching that and forcing them to take it down!

     

    ps, it's too bad you couldn't take over that kickstarter campaign - the scammer seemed to be doing well with it!

  • Brian, Did you find out who the SOB was?? can you put you hands on him....

    1. Sue him in a federal court.. image This can put him away for long time..image

    2. no imagethen have somebody break his f*in legs...image

     

    I don't know about the UK but across the pond in the states.... when you start a project...

    1. I buy a bound quadruled book at Staples. http://s7d5.scene7.com/is/image/Staples/s0474956_sc7?$splssku$

    its about $20 here in the states

    2. write the name of the project on the first page, and a short description (your idea) as well make sure you give a time and date..

    3. put the whole thing in the post to you self by registered mail.. (sealed envelope)

    4. take the unopened envelope to your local notary or lawyer.  have it noterized

    and you have what we call a poor mans copyrite.. that is legal and will stand up in a court of law!

    OH BTW DO NOT ever tare any pages out of the book..

    just put a X over the part you don't want to use...  and if you need a second book do the same thing again but put volume II or what ever on the front of the new book and make reference to it in the old book. as well as referencing the first or the volume before this one..

     

    Enjoy

    image Cris H.

     

     

    BTW ONE BOOK ONE PROJECT!!

  • in reply to phoenixcomm

    Cristina Harrison wrote:

     

    ...and you have what we call a poor mans copyrite.. that is legal and will stand up in a court of law!

    IANAL, but I would avoid poor man's copyright.  If you want an official date stamp on a copyrightable work, you can register is with the US Copyright office for only US$35 per work the last time I looked.

     

    US patents switched from "first to invent" to "first to file" last month.  This means it doesn't matter if you invented something first.  If someone else applies for the patent first, you're out of luck.  IANAL, but I suggest publishing ideas immediately.  This gives you one year to file a patent and nobody else can file a valid patent with the same idea.  After one year, nobody can file a valid patent including you.

     

    Of course, even if you're in the right and someone else's patent is invalid it can be prohibitively costly to prove it.  As I said upstream, it's a game for the rich.

  • in reply to phoenixcomm

    Cristina,

     

    Sadly no, didnt get him. Infact it is safe to say that everyone I contacted ingnored the story/issue including Kickstarter. I didnt even get any replies back from anyone!!

     

    I hear you about the poor mans patent. Im not sure that works here. But, this is not a patent matter Im having issues with - I dont care if anyone takes this design as it was just for fun/spur of moment, what I had/have an issue with is that a member took all my info, including my identity and posed as me. Where are the security checks??????

     

    For real stuff Im more than familiar with the patent route, but for small stuff like this it doesnt bother me if ideas are copied.

     

    I have done a LOT of reading on kickstarter since the issue and it now appears that the site is not as successful as they would like you to think. 90% of projects dont fund and are quickly brushed away under the carpet and nearly impossible to find. Anyone looking is swamped with hundreds that did fund and given the impression it wins on all projects.

     

    This is not the case.

     

    Im sure nothing will ever happen now at this point, but it sure does give one a dim view of their 'help' email contact address, or basic comms/security in general.

     

    Brian,