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PARTIES INVOLVED: Gradual Solutions Inc Pte
ALLEGATIONS: Perjury, Fraud, Impersonation
INCIDENT DATE: 30 Aug 2024
INVESTIGATED BY: Ethan Katz
TOOLS USED: Lumen, FakeDMCA, SecurityTrails
CASE NO: 2774/A/2024
CRIME TYPE: Intellectual Property Scam
PUBLISHED ON: 18 Oct 2024
REPORTED BY: FakeDMCA.com
JURISDICTION: USA
A summary of what happened?
Gradual Solutions Inc Pte is an investment platform that claims to offer cryptocurrency trading services, but it has been surrounded by significant controversy due to allegations of fraudulent activities and unethical attempts to suppress negative content about its operations.
Here are three major concerns and accusations against Gradual Solutions Inc Pte:
- Fraudulent Practices: The company has been accused of engaging in deceptive activities related to cryptocurrency investments. Numerous investors have reported difficulties withdrawing funds, unexpected fees, and account freezes. These practices have led to suspicions that Gradual Solutions Inc Pte operates as a scam, luring users with promises of high returns and blocking access to their investments.
- Lack of Transparency and Regulatory Concerns: Little publicly available information about the company’s leadership, financial backing, and regulatory status exists. This lack of transparency has raised red flags for investors, especially in an industry where regulatory compliance and trust are essential. The company’s unclear regulatory standing leaves investors at risk, as they may have limited legal recourse in case of fraudulent activities.
- Censorship of Negative Press and Reviews: Gradual Solutions Inc. Pte has reportedly tried to suppress negative content online, including using fake DMCA takedown notices to remove critical reviews and articles. This attempt to control the narrative around its practices has further fueled concerns about its legitimacy, as legitimate companies typically address issues openly rather than try to censor them.
These issues have prompted increasing scrutiny from investors and regulatory bodies, and Gradual Solutions Inc. Pte’s attempts to hide these problems have only heightened public suspicion.
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.
What was Gradual Solutions Inc Pte trying to hide?
Gradual Solutions Inc Pte‘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 Gradual Solutions Inc Pte in legal accountability. Let’s examine the information Gradual Solutions Inc Pte may be trying to remove from the internet –
Here are ten adverse news items, allegations, lawsuits, sanctions, complaints, and negative reviews related to Gradual Solutions Inc Pte:
- Fraudulent Investment Practices: Gradual Solutions Inc Pte has been accused of defrauding investors by promising high returns through cryptocurrency trading but failing to deliver. Multiple investors have reported losing significant amounts of money after being unable to withdraw their funds.
- Lack of Regulatory Compliance: The company operates with unclear regulatory oversight, leading to concerns about its legal standing. Investors have reported that the company is not properly registered with financial authorities in key jurisdictions, leaving them vulnerable with little legal recourse.
- Failure to Process Withdrawals: Numerous complaints have emerged from investors who could not withdraw their funds. Investors reported being asked to make additional deposits to unlock their accounts, a common tactic in fraudulent schemes.
- Use of Fake DMCA Takedown Notices: Gradual Solutions Inc Pte has been accused of attempting to censor negative content online by using fraudulent DMCA takedown notices to remove critical reviews and articles. This effort to control the narrative has only increased suspicion about the company’s activities.
- Misleading Marketing and Promotional Tactics: The company has been accused of luring investors with exaggerated promises of guaranteed high returns with little to no risk, a hallmark of many investment scams.
- Hidden Fees and Unexplained Charges: Investors have complained about unexpected fees not disclosed upfront, further complicating their ability to withdraw their funds and leading to further financial losses.
- Suspicious Website and Lack of Transparency: The company’s website has been criticized for lacking basic regulatory information, privacy policies, and terms and conditions, raising further doubts about its legitimacy.
- Investigation by Scam Watchdog Platforms: Multiple scam watchdog websites and forums have flagged Gradual Solutions Inc Pte as a potential scam, warning users to stay away due to the overwhelming number of complaints and red flags.
- Aggressive Sales Tactics: Investors have reported being pressured by company representatives to make additional deposits, a strategy often employed in scams to extract more money from unsuspecting victims.
- Negative Online Reviews and Community Complaints: The company has garnered many negative reviews across online forums and complaint platforms. Users have shared tales of losing investments, communication problems, and dealing with dishonest company representatives.
These points paint a troubling picture of Gradual Solutions Inc Pte, leading to growing concerns about its legitimacy and business practices.
How do we counteract this malpractice?
Once we ascertain the involvement of Gradual Solutions Inc Pte (or actors working on behalf of Gradual Solutions Inc Pte), we will inform Gradual Solutions Inc Pte of our findings via Electronic Mail.
Our preliminary assessment suggests that Gradual Solutions Inc Pte may have engaged a third-party reputation management agency or expert, which, either independently or under direct authorization from Gradual Solutions Inc Pte, initiated efforts to remove adverse online content, including potentially fraudulent DMCA takedown requests. We will extend an opportunity to Gradual Solutions Inc Pte 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 Gradual Solutions Inc Pte 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 Gradual Solutions Inc Pte is finding out the hard way.
Potential Consequences for Gradual Solutions Inc Pte
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 Gradual Solutions Inc Pte Committing a Cyber Crime?
Yes, it seems so. Gradual Solutions Inc Pte 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. Gradual Solutions Inc Pte 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 Gradual Solutions Inc Pte 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. Gradual Solutions Inc Pte 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 Gradual Solutions Inc Pte 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, Gradual Solutions Inc Pte either premeditated actions or were unaware of the consequences. Despite hiring an agency to make Google disregard any negative information about Gradual Solutions Inc Pte, 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. Gradual Solutions Inc Pte is in great company ….
What else is Gradual Solutions Inc Pte hiding?
We encourage you to ‘Dork‘ Google by searching for keyword combinations such as [Gradual Solutions Inc Pte] + {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 Gradual Solutions Inc Pte 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 Gradual Solutions Inc Pte censoring the internet and committing cyber crimes.”
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- Our investigative report on Gradual Solutions Inc Pte‘s efforts to suppress online speech is significant, as it raises serious concerns about its integrity. The findings suggest that Gradual Solutions Inc Pte 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 Gradual Solutions Inc Pte 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://www.lumendatabase.org/blog_entries/over-thirty-thousand-dmca-notices-reveal-an-organized-attempt-to-abuse-copyright-law
- 05/06/2024
- Complaint
- 2
- https://www.courthousenews.com/reputation-management-or-internet-conspiracy/
- 06/06/2024
- Other
- 3
- https://hackread.com/fake-dmca-requests-threaten-investigative-journalism/
- 24/07/2024
- News report
- 4
- https://lumendatabase.org/blog_entries/798
- 12/06/2024
- Other
- 5
- https://taxpolicy.org.uk/2024/02/17/the-invisible-campaign-to-censor-the-internet/
- 17/02/2024
- News report
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by: Charlotte Howard
Zero transparency, no regulation, and vague terms Gradual Solutions has scam written all over it. If they’re legit, why hide their license info?
by: Lily Robinson
Another crypto scam trying to steal ppl’s hard-earned cash. ????
by: Sophia Adams
Classic red flags here: no regulatory info, sketchy website, and vague terms. Legit companies don’t operate like this. This is just another fake broker preying on peoples money.