CyberCriminal.com

Leveled Up Society 

We are investigating Leveled Up Society for allegedly attempting to conceal critical reviews and adverse news from Google by improperly submitting copyright takedown notices. This includes potential violations such as impersonation, fraud, and perjury.

Leveled Up Society 

PARTIES INVOLVED: Leveled Up Society

ALLEGATIONS: Perjury, Fraud, Impersonation

INCIDENT DATE: 25 Aug 2024

INVESTIGATED BY: Ethan Katz

TOOLS USED: Lumen, FakeDMCA, SecurityTrails

CASE NO: 31701/A/2024

CRIME TYPE: Intellectual Property Scam

PUBLISHED ON: 12 Nov 2024

REPORTED BY: FakeDMCA.com

JURISDICTION: USA

A summary of what happened?

Leveled Up Society: Summary of Concerns, Complaints, and Allegations

Background

Leveled Up Society is a proprietary trading firm that allows traders to access large amounts of capital upon passing evaluation challenges. Traders are required to pay a fee to participate, and if they successfully meet the trading criteria, they are granted access to trade with the firm’s capital. Profits are then shared, providing an incentive for skilled traders to grow their earnings.

Major Concerns and Complaints

  1. Regulatory Status
    Leveled Up Society operates without regulatory oversight from major financial authorities. This lack of regulation raises concerns about the safety of client funds, adherence to industry standards, and the firm’s accountability to investors.
  2. Operational Uncertainty
    Recently, Leveled Up Society reportedly halted its operations, leaving many traders unsure about the status of their accounts and funds. The abrupt cessation has created a climate of uncertainty, frustrating clients who are left with unresolved questions about their investments.
  3. Difficulties with Withdrawals
    Numerous clients have reported issues when trying to withdraw their earnings, including long delays and inadequate communication from the firm. These withdrawal problems have raised concerns about the company’s financial health and its commitment to meeting its obligations to traders.
  4. Customer Support Complaints
    A recurring issue among clients is the lack of responsiveness and effectiveness of Leveled Up Society’s customer support, especially during periods of financial or operational instability. Many traders have voiced dissatisfaction, noting that support responses are slow and do not adequately address their concerns.

The issues surrounding Leveled Up Society, including its unregulated status, operational disruptions, withdrawal challenges, and poor customer support, have led to significant apprehension among its traders. Prospective clients are advised to conduct thorough research and exercise caution when engaging with the firm due to these unresolved concerns.

Leveled Up Society  Fake DMCA

 

 

 

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 Leveled Up Society trying to hide?

Leveled Up Society ‘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 Leveled Up Society  in legal accountability. Let’s examine the information Leveled Up Society  may be trying to remove from the internet –

Investigative Report: Leveled Up Society and the Growing Controversies

Introduction

Leveled Up Society, a proprietary trading firm, markets itself as a gateway for skilled traders seeking access to substantial trading capital. The firm requires prospective traders to undergo a rigorous evaluation, with an upfront fee, to qualify for trading with company funds. In return, traders are promised an opportunity to retain a significant portion of profits. However, Leveled Up Society has been at the center of rising complaints and allegations ranging from operational inconsistencies to issues with fund withdrawals, sparking concern among clients and the broader trading community. This report delves into the allegations, client experiences, and issues surrounding the firm’s operations.

Background on Proprietary Trading Firms

Proprietary trading firms like Leveled Up Society typically operate by offering experienced traders the chance to manage large capital accounts, sharing a percentage of profits. To qualify, traders generally must pay a fee and pass a performance evaluation, proving their trading skills under pre-set conditions. This model attracts individuals looking to trade with more capital than they might personally afford. However, due to the nature of this business model, regulatory oversight varies, and the lack of regulation can expose traders to potential risks.

Key Allegations and Issues

  1. Unregulated Status and Client ConcernsOne of the primary concerns about Leveled Up Society is its lack of regulation from established financial authorities. While this is not unusual for proprietary trading firms, it raises issues regarding fund protection and accountability. With no regulatory oversight, there is no independent guarantee of the firm’s financial integrity or its commitment to honoring agreements with traders. This lack of regulatory protection leaves clients vulnerable, as there is no official body to turn to if the company fails to meet its obligations.
  2. Operational Uncertainty and Abrupt Suspension of ServicesIn recent months, Leveled Up Society reportedly suspended its operations without prior notice to its clients. The suspension has left many traders in a state of limbo, uncertain about the status of their accounts, funds, and even the company’s future. Clients reported that the abrupt nature of this halt led to confusion and frustration, with limited or no communication from the company explaining the reasons behind the suspension. This lack of transparency has raised questions about the firm’s financial stability and long-term viability, prompting clients to speculate whether it can fulfill its obligations.
  3. Withdrawal Difficulties and Payout IssuesOne of the most frequently reported issues involves traders facing significant delays and obstacles when attempting to withdraw their earnings. Clients have recounted instances of unfulfilled withdrawal requests, citing prolonged waiting times, inconsistent communication, and, in some cases, outright refusal to process payouts. For a trading firm, such issues are alarming, as they indicate potential cash flow problems or inadequate financial management. In a business model reliant on profit-sharing, clients expect prompt and reliable payouts; delays erode trust and raise suspicions about the firm’s financial health.
  4. Customer Support and Communication ProblemsNumerous clients have expressed frustration with Leveled Up Society’s customer support. Many reported that their attempts to contact the firm regarding account issues, withdrawals, or the operational suspension were met with limited or delayed responses. This lack of accessible and effective support only compounded their concerns, leaving them to speculate about the company’s stability. For traders who are handling significant sums, the inability to reach a support team and receive clear answers further undermines trust in the firm.
  5. Allegations of Poor Evaluation ProcessesSeveral clients have also questioned the integrity of Leveled Up Society’s evaluation process. Some traders reported that they were disqualified from the program due to alleged technicalities or inconsistencies in the platform’s trading parameters, often after paying substantial fees. This has led to speculation about whether the firm may use challenging or vague evaluation criteria to minimize the number of traders who successfully pass, thereby keeping the evaluation fees without granting full trading access. If true, such practices would be highly unethical, as they would effectively make the evaluation process a revenue-generating tactic rather than a fair assessment of trading skills.

Impact on the Trading Community

Leveled Up Society’s alleged actions have sparked concern and skepticism among the broader trading community. Proprietary trading firms already occupy a gray area in terms of regulation, and firms that fail to uphold transparent practices tarnish the reputation of the entire industry. The issues with Leveled Up Society have led to increased caution among traders, many of whom are now seeking more transparent, regulated options for their trading needs.

Conclusion and the Road Ahead

The allegations against Leveled Up Society—including unregulated operations, suspension of services, payout delays, poor customer support, and questionable evaluation practices—paint a concerning picture. For clients, these issues mean significant financial uncertainty and frustration, as they are left without clear information on the status of their funds or accounts. While proprietary trading can offer unique opportunities, this case emphasizes the importance of conducting thorough research and due diligence before engaging with unregulated firms.

As the complaints and reviews continue to emerge, prospective clients are advised to proceed with caution. The company’s reputation hinges on its ability to address these issues transparently, provide adequate support, and rebuild trust within the trading community. However, without regulatory oversight, clients face a greater risk, underscoring the importance of choosing firms that operate within regulated frameworks for enhanced security and accountability.

 

 

 

How do we counteract this malpractice?

Once we ascertain the involvement of Leveled Up Society  (or actors working on behalf of Leveled Up Society ), we will inform Leveled Up Society  of our findings via Electronic Mail.

Our preliminary assessment suggests that Leveled Up Society  may have engaged a third-party reputation management agency or expert, which, either independently or under direct authorization from Leveled Up Society , initiated efforts to remove adverse online content, including potentially fraudulent DMCA takedown requests. We will extend an opportunity to Leveled Up Society  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 Leveled Up Society  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 Leveled Up Society  is finding out the hard way.

Potential Consequences for Leveled Up Society

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 Leveled Up Society Committing a Cyber Crime?

Faced with these limitations, some companies like Leveled Up Society  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. Leveled Up Society  is certainly keeping interesting company here….

CompanyNames Fake DMCA

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 Leveled Up Society  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, Leveled Up Society  either premeditated actions or were unaware of the consequences. Despite hiring an agency to make Google disregard any negative information about Leveled Up Society , 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. Leveled Up Society  is in great company ….

What else is Leveled Up Society hiding?

We encourage you to ‘Dork‘ Google by searching for keyword combinations such as [Leveled Up Society ] + {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 Leveled Up Society  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.

Authorities we may contact and share this report with for further actions

GOOGLE LEGAL HEAD

Halimah DeLaine Prado

NEWS DESK

Washington Post & NY Times

The above decision-makers and authorities will be provided a comprehensive dossier of our findings, including anonymously submitted evidence and tips. We invite journalists to contact us to receive a copy of our complete investigation here

Credits and Acknowledgement

16/10/2024

Many thanks to FakeDMCA.com and Lumen for providing access to their database.

Photos and Illustrations provided by DALL-E 3 – “a representation of Leveled Up Society  censoring the internet and committing cyber crimes.”

    • Our investigative report on Leveled Up Society ‘s efforts to suppress online speech is significant, as it raises serious concerns about its integrity. The findings suggest that Leveled Up Society  has engaged in questionable practices, including potential perjury, impersonation, and fraud, in a misguided attempt to manage or salvage its reputation.

    • 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.

    • 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.

    • 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 Leveled Up Society  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

16/10/2024

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.

USER FEEDBACK ON Leveled Up Society 

2.1/5

Based on 3 ratings

Trust
20%
Risk
66%
Brand
40%
by: Quinn Hudson
December 13, 2024 at 6:24 am

When I first came across Leveled Up Society, I was impressed by the concept of being able to trade with large amounts of capital after passing their evaluation. It seemed like a great way for skilled traders to grow their...

by: Amos Bailey
December 13, 2024 at 5:43 am

trading criteria were tough, but fair. Unfortunately, the rest of the experience is a nightmare. Can’t withdraw, and the lack of regulation is worrying

by: Yara Hadi
December 13, 2024 at 5:03 am

They’re unregulated, which is a huge red flag for me. Without proper oversight, how can we trust that our funds are safe?

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