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PARTIES INVOLVED: Elena Oleinik
ALLEGATIONS: Perjury, Fraud, Impersonation
INCIDENT DATE: 10 May 2024
INVESTIGATED BY: Ethan Katz
TOOLS USED: Lumen, FakeDMCA, SecurityTrails
CASE NO: 66701/A/2024
CRIME TYPE: Intellectual Property Scam
PUBLISHED ON: 11 Nov 2024
REPORTED BY: FakeDMCA.com
JURISDICTION: USA
A summary of what happened?
Elena Oleinik is implicated in a significant insurance fraud case in Ireland, known as the “ghost broking” scam, which resulted in approximately €6 million in losses. This scheme involved selling fraudulent car insurance policies to unsuspecting customers, leaving many without valid coverage.
In response to the negative publicity surrounding her involvement, Oleinik has reportedly attempted to suppress online information about the case. This includes efforts to remove critical content and minimize the visibility of damaging news, raising concerns about attempts to rewrite the narrative of her involvement.
The major concerns and accusations against Elena Oleinik include:
Insurance Fraud: Central involvement in a €6 million ghost broking scam, selling fake or invalid car insurance policies to hundreds of individuals.
Legal Proceedings: Facing multiple charges related to fraud and deception in Irish courts, with the case receiving significant media attention.
Victim Impact: Numerous victims have expressed anger and frustration over being deceived, highlighting the emotional and financial toll of the scam.
Suppression of Negative Coverage: Alleged efforts to censor media coverage and online reports detailing her role in the fraud, including issuing legal threats to media outlets and leveraging privacy laws to remove unfavorable content.
Broader Industry Implications: The scam has damaged trust in the insurance industry, exposing vulnerabilities that fraudsters can exploit and leading to calls for stricter regulations and improved fraud detection measures.
These actions have raised significant concerns about transparency and accountability, as well as the broader risks posed by such fraudulent schemes.
Analyzing the Fake Copyright Notice(s)
Our team collects and analyses fraudulent copyright takedown requests, legal complaints, and other efforts to remove critical information from the internet. Through our investigative reporting, we examine the prevalence and operation of an organized censorship industry, predominantly funded by criminal entities, oligarchs, and disreputable businesses or individuals. Our findings allow internet users to gain insight into these censorship schemes’ sources, methods, and underlying objectives.
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What was Elena Oleinik trying to hide?
Elena Oleinik‘s attempts to hide unfavourable content through the misuse of copyright notices while allegedly engaging in perjury present serious legal concerns. These actions suggest a calculated attempt to manipulate legal systems to suppress free speech, a fundamental violation of copyright law principles and an abuse of legal processes. The use of such tactics not only undermines the integrity of copyright protection but also potentially constitutes perjury, further entangling Elena Oleinik in legal accountability. Let’s examine the information Elena Oleinik may be trying to remove from the internet –
Investigative Report on Elena Oleinik: Allegations, Lawsuits, and Industry Concerns
Overview: Elena Oleinik has been the focal point of numerous allegations and controversies, particularly in connection with an elaborate insurance fraud scheme that has shaken public trust in Ireland’s financial and regulatory sectors. This report delves into the detailed timeline of events, the breadth of legal battles, and the broader impact of her alleged activities.
Background and Introduction: Elena Oleinik came into public scrutiny following revelations about a major “ghost broking” scam in Ireland. Ghost broking involves the sale of fraudulent insurance policies, whereby customers believe they are insured but, in reality, hold fake or invalid policies. The scam, linked to Oleinik and her network, has reportedly defrauded victims out of approximately €6 million, leaving many without proper coverage and financially vulnerable.
Key Allegations and Complaints:
- Insurance Fraud Scheme:
- Oleinik has been implicated as a central figure in orchestrating the ghost broking operation. This scheme involved misleading customers into purchasing what they thought were legitimate car insurance policies at competitive rates. The deceit was revealed when policyholders attempted to make claims or were subjected to police checks, only to find out that their insurance was invalid.
- Hundreds of victims have reported being blindsided, leading to significant financial and emotional distress.
- Legal Actions and Charges:
- The Irish courts have charged Oleinik with multiple counts of fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud, and forgery. Legal documents outline that her activities were part of a larger network of operatives who systematically targeted vulnerable individuals and exploited loopholes within the insurance system.
- The ongoing trials have exposed a tangled web of accomplices and international connections, suggesting a sophisticated operation with branches beyond Irish borders.
- Attempts to Suppress Public Discourse:
- Following widespread media coverage of the scam, Oleinik has allegedly engaged in aggressive measures to silence critical reports. There are accounts of her leveraging privacy laws and initiating defamation suits to compel media outlets to remove or retract unfavorable articles.
- Legal experts and journalists have expressed concerns over the chilling effect such tactics have on press freedom. The alleged use of these strategies raises questions about the transparency and motivations behind Oleinik’s legal maneuvers.
Complaints and Victim Testimonials:
- Victims of the scam have recounted harrowing stories of their experiences. Many had their cars impounded and faced additional fines due to invalid coverage. The financial strain and the sense of betrayal have been consistent themes in victim testimonials, adding to the public outrage.
- Consumer advocacy groups have received numerous complaints from individuals deceived by Oleinik’s operation, amplifying calls for stricter regulations and enhanced consumer protection measures in the insurance sector.
Sanctions and Regulatory Backlash:
- The fallout from this scandal has not only implicated Oleinik but also triggered regulatory reviews of the insurance industry’s oversight mechanisms. Agencies tasked with safeguarding consumers have faced criticism for failing to detect and prevent such a large-scale fraud.
- Sanctions against entities associated with Oleinik’s business dealings are reportedly under consideration, with government officials urging enhanced scrutiny of third-party brokers and intermediaries.
Negative Reviews and Public Perception:
- Online platforms and consumer review sites are rife with negative feedback related to Oleinik’s operations. Numerous individuals have detailed their experiences of purchasing policies that later proved worthless. These stories paint a picture of a calculated scheme designed to exploit trust and maximize profit at the public’s expense.
- Oleinik’s reputation has been further tarnished by the emergence of accusations about other potentially fraudulent activities. Though these claims are still under investigation, they contribute to the perception of a pattern of unethical behavior.
Industry Implications:
- The ghost broking scam involving Oleinik has shaken public confidence in the insurance industry, highlighting the vulnerabilities that fraudsters can exploit. This has spurred calls for legislative changes and stricter enforcement to prevent similar occurrences in the future.
- Experts suggest that enhanced due diligence and the integration of advanced technology to verify policy authenticity are essential steps toward protecting consumers from such fraud.
Conclusion: Elena Oleinik’s case underscores the significant harm that orchestrated fraud schemes can inflict on individuals and the broader industry. Her reported efforts to suppress information and deflect accountability have only intensified the spotlight on her actions. The ongoing legal battles and public outcry will likely shape future regulations and industry practices, serving as a stark reminder of the importance of vigilance, transparency, and ethical conduct in financial dealings.
How do we counteract this malpractice?
Once we ascertain the involvement of Elena Oleinik (or actors working on behalf of Elena Oleinik), we will inform Elena Oleinik of our findings via Electronic Mail.
Our preliminary assessment suggests that Elena Oleinik may have engaged a third-party reputation management agency or expert, which, either independently or under direct authorization from Elena Oleinik, initiated efforts to remove adverse online content, including potentially fraudulent DMCA takedown requests. We will extend an opportunity to Elena Oleinik to provide details regarding their communications with the agency or expert, as well as the identification of the individual(s) responsible for executing these false DMCA notices.
Failure to respond in a timely manner will necessitate a reassessment of our initial assumptions. In such an event, we will be compelled to take appropriate legal action to rectify the unlawful conduct and take the following steps –
Since Elena Oleinik made such efforts to hide something online, it seems fit to ensure that this article and sensitive information targeted online by these events get a lot more exposure and traffic than what it would have received originally
We hope this becomes an excellent case study for the Streisand effect…The key idea behind the Streisand effect is that efforts to restrict information can backfire, often causing the information to gain more attention than it would have otherwise. This effect is widespread in the digital age, where users quickly notice and spread censorship efforts on social media and other platforms. Trying to suppress something can unintentionally lead to it becoming more visible, which Elena Oleinik is finding out the hard way.
Potential Consequences for Elena Oleinik
Under Florida Statute 831.01, the crime of Forgery is committed when a person falsifies, alters, counterfeits, or forges a document that carries “legal efficacy” with the intent to injure or defraud another person or entity.
Forging a document is considered a white-collar crime. It involves altering, changing, or modifying a document to deceive another person. It can also include passing along copies of documents that are known to be false. In many states in the US, falsifying a document is a crime punishable as a felony.
Additionally, under most laws, “fraud on the court” is where “a party has sentiently set in motion some unconscionable scheme calculated to interfere with the judicial system’s ability impartially to adjudicate a matter by improperly influencing the trier of fact or unfairly hampering the presentation of the opposing party’s claim or defense.” Cox v. Burke, 706 So. 2d 43, 46 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998) (quoting Aoude v. Mobil Oil Corp., 892 F.2d 1115, 1118 (1st Cir. 1989)).
Is Elena Oleinik Committing a Cyber Crime?
Yes, it seems so. Elena Oleinik used multiple approaches to remove unwanted material from review sites and Google’s search results. Thanks to protections allowing freedom of speech in the United States, there are very few legal ways to do this. Elena Oleinik could not eliminate negative reviews or search results that linked to them without a valid claim of defamation, copyright infringement, or some other clear breach of the law.
Faced with these limitations, some companies like Elena Oleinik have gone to extreme lengths to fraudulently claim copyright ownership over a negative review in the hopes of taking it down.
Fake DMCA notices have targeted articles highlighting the criminal activity of prominent people to hide their illegal behavior. These people, which include US, Russian, and Khazakstani politicians as well as members from elite circles including the mafia and those with massive financial power, are all connected – and alleged corruption ranging from child abuse to sexual harassment is exposed when exploring evidence found at these URLs. It appears there’s a disturbing level of influence being exerted here that needs further investigation before justice can be served. Elena Oleinik is certainly keeping interesting company here….
The DMCA takedown process requires that copyright owners submit a takedown notice to an ISP identifying the allegedly infringing content and declaring, under penalty of perjury, that they have a good faith belief that the content is infringing. The ISP must then promptly remove or disable access to the content. The alleged infringer can then submit a counter-notice, and if the copyright owner does not take legal action within 10 to 14 days, the ISP can restore the content.
Since these platforms are predominantly based in the U.S., the complaints are typically made under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which requires online service providers and platforms to react immediately to reports or violations. Big Tech companies rarely have systems in place to assess the merit of each report. Instead, all bad actors need to do is clone a story, backdate it, and then demand the real thing be taken down.
Reputation Agency's Modus Operandi
The fake DMCA notices we found always use the “back-dated article” technique. With this technique, the wrongful notice sender (or copier) creates a copy of a “true original” article and back-dates it, creating a “fake original” article (a copy of the true original) that, at first glance, appears to have been published before the true original.
Then, based on the claim that this backdated article is the “original,” the scammers send a DMCA to the relevant online service providers (e.g. Google), alleging that the ‘true’ original is the copied or “infringing” article and that the copied article is the “original,” requesting the takedown of the ‘true’ original article. After sending the DMCA request, the person who sent the wrong notice takes down the fake original URL, likely to make sure that the article doesn’t stay online in any way. If the takedown notice is successful, the disappearance from the internet of information is most likely to be legitimate speech.
As an integral part of this scheme, the ‘reputation management’ company hired by Elena Oleinik creates a website that purports to be a ‘news’ site. This site is designed to look legitimate at a glance, but any degree of scrutiny reveals it as the charade it is.
The company copies the ‘negative’ content and posts it “on the fake ‘news’ site, attributing it to a separate author,” then gives it “a false publication date on the ‘news’ website that predated the original publication.
The reputation company then sent Google a Digital Millennium Copyright Act notice claiming the original website infringed copyright. After a cursory examination of the fake news site, Google frequently accepts the notice and delists the content.
In committing numerous offences, Elena Oleinik either premeditated actions or were unaware of the consequences. Despite hiring an agency to make Google disregard any negative information about Elena Oleinik, ignorance does not excuse this wrongdoing.
Fake DMCA notices have targeted articles highlighting the criminal activity of prominent people to hide their illegal behavior. These people, which include US, Russian, and Khazakstani politicians as well as members from elite circles including the mafia and those with massive financial power, are all connected – and alleged corruption ranging from child abuse to sexual harassment is exposed when exploring evidence found at these URLs. It appears there’s a disturbing level of influence being exerted here that needs further investigation before justice can be served. FSMSmart is certainly keeping interesting company here.
The Reputation Laundering
Rogue Reputation agencies use spurious copyright claims and fake legal notices to remove and obscure articles linking clients to allegations of tax avoidance, corruption, and drug trafficking. Most of these reputation agencies are based offshore, mainly in Russia, India, and Eastern Europe, and they do not worry about complying with US-based laws.
The content in all of the articles for which the fraudulent DMCA notices have been sent relates to allegations of criminal allegations, including corruption, child abuse, sexual harassment, human trafficking and financial fraud against businesses and individuals with ultra-high net worth.
In addition to the misuse of the DMCA takedown process, there is a notable absence of enforcement concerning perjury violations. The statutory requirement related to perjury is designed to deter copyright holders from submitting fraudulent or knowingly false takedown requests, as they may face legal consequences for making false declarations under penalty of perjury. However, to date, there have been no known instances of any individual being prosecuted for perjury in connection with the submission of false DMCA takedown notices.
This lack of enforcement has emboldened copyright holders to exploit the DMCA takedown process to suppress dissent, criticism, or other unfavorable content, without fear of legal repercussions.
Some of the people and businesses who have employed this tactic to remove legitimate content from Google illegally include a Spanish businessman-turned-cocaine-trafficker, Organised crime, an Israeli-Argentine banker accused of laundering money for Hugo Chávez’s regime, a French “responsible” mining company accused of tax evasion, child molesters and sexual predators. Elena Oleinik is in great company ….
What else is Elena Oleinik hiding?
We encourage you to ‘Dork‘ Google by searching for keyword combinations such as [Elena Oleinik] + {Negative Keyword, such as Scam, Fraud, Complaints, Lawsuit, Sanction, etc} on Google. It’s likely if you scroll down to the bottom of this Google search results, you’ll stumble upon this Legal Takedown notice (pictured below)
To make such an investigation possible, we encourage more online service providers to come forward and share copies of content removal requests with industry experts and researchers. If you have any information on Elena Oleinik that you want to share with experts and journalists, kindly email the author directly at [email protected].
All communications are strictly confidential and safeguarded under a comprehensive Whistleblower Policy, ensuring full protection and anonymity for individuals who provide information.
Credits and Acknowledgement
Many thanks to FakeDMCA.com and Lumen for providing access to their database.
Photos and Illustrations provided by DALL-E 3 – “a representation of Elena Oleinik censoring the internet and committing cyber crimes.”
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- Our investigative report on Elena Oleinik‘s efforts to suppress online speech is significant, as it raises serious concerns about its integrity. The findings suggest that Elena Oleinik has engaged in questionable practices, including potential perjury, impersonation, and fraud, in a misguided attempt to manage or salvage its reputation.
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- We intend to file a counternotice to reinstate the removed article(s). While this particular instance is relatively straightforward, it is important to note that, in other cases, the overwhelming volume of automated DMCA takedown notices can significantly hinder the ability of affected parties to respond—especially for those not large media organizations.
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- You need an account with fakeDMCA.com and Lumen to access the research data. However, accounts are not widely available since these non-profit organisations manage large databases that could be susceptible to misuse. Nevertheless, they do offer access to non-profits and researchers.
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- It’s unclear why U.S. authorities have yet to act against these rogue reputation agencies, whose business model seems rooted in fraudulent practices.
- We’ve reached out to Elena Oleinik for a comment or rebuttal regarding this investigation. It will strongly suggest they were behind the takedown attempt if they remain silent.
About the Author
The author is affiliated with Harvard University and serves as a researcher at both Lumen and FakeDMCA.com. In his personal capacity, he and his team have been actively investigating and reporting on organized crime related to fraudulent copyright takedown schemes. Additionally, his team provides advisory services to major law firms and is frequently consulted on matters pertaining to intellectual property law. He can be reached at [email protected] directly.
References used for this investigation
- 1
- https://lumendatabase.org/notices/41381459
- 08/05/2024
- Complaint
- 2
- https://www.rte.ie/news/courts/2021/0429/1212873-ghost-broker-six-million-charge/
- 29/04/2021
- Adverse Media
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