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PARTIES INVOLVED: Partners Special Capital Limited
ALLEGATIONS: Perjury, Fraud, Impersonation
INCIDENT DATE: 21 Aug 2024
INVESTIGATED BY: Ethan Katz
TOOLS USED: Lumen, FakeDMCA, SecurityTrails
CASE NO: 232701/A/2024
CRIME TYPE: Intellectual Property Scam
PUBLISHED ON: 12 Nov 2024
REPORTED BY: FakeDMCA.com
JURISDICTION: USA
A summary of what happened?
Partners Special Capital Limited is a UK-registered company that has recently come under scrutiny for alleged fraudulent activities and attempts to suppress negative information about its operations.
Major Concerns and Accusations:
- Fraudulent Practices: The company has been accused of misleading clients and engaging in dubious financial dealings, failing to deliver promised returns, and operating without proper regulatory oversight. Despite being registered in the UK, it allegedly lacks the necessary authorization to offer financial services, putting investors’ funds at significant risk.
- Regulatory Warnings: The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK issued a warning on November 6, 2024, stating that Partners Special Capital Limited is not authorized to provide financial services or products. The FCA advised the public to avoid dealing with this firm and to be cautious of potential scams.
- Attempts to Suppress Negative Information: Reports indicate that the company has engaged in deceptive practices to manipulate its online reputation. This includes filing fraudulent copyright takedown requests to remove adverse news articles and negative reviews from search engine results, thereby attempting to censor critical information about its operations.
These allegations have raised significant concerns about the company’s legitimacy and ethical conduct, prompting regulatory bodies and the public to exercise caution when dealing with Partners Special Capital Limited.
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 Partners Special Capital Limited trying to hide?
Partners Special Capital Limited‘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 Partners Special Capital Limited in legal accountability. Let’s examine the information Partners Special Capital Limited may be trying to remove from the internet –
Investigative Summary: Partners Special Capital Limited and Its Troubling Practices
Overview of Partners Special Capital Limited
Partners Special Capital Limited is a company based in the United Kingdom that recently gained attention due to a range of complaints and accusations regarding its business practices, regulatory compliance, and efforts to censor negative information about itself online. Although formally registered as a UK company, Partners Special Capital Limited has been accused of engaging in practices that raise serious ethical and legal questions, especially concerning its financial offerings and online reputation management.
Accusations of Fraudulent Practices
The primary concern surrounding Partners Special Capital Limited involves alleged fraudulent activities targeting investors. The company has reportedly lured clients with promises of high returns on investments, but many have claimed that these returns were never delivered. Instead, investors allege they were left without access to their funds and were often unable to obtain transparent explanations or accountability from the company. Some clients have shared stories of unreachable customer service and vague responses when seeking clarification on their investments. There are also concerns that the company may not have the appropriate regulatory backing to operate, leaving investors in a vulnerable position should any issues arise.
Moreover, Partners Special Capital Limited is accused of running without the necessary authorizations to conduct financial transactions, despite appearing legitimate. This lack of regulatory oversight potentially exposes investors to significant financial risk, as their funds are neither protected nor insured by any governing body. As a result, clients who invested substantial sums could face severe losses without any legal recourse. The lack of transparency and the perceived high-risk investment environment created by the firm have raised considerable concern among regulatory bodies and the public.
Regulatory Warnings and Public Advisories
Regulators have taken notice of Partners Special Capital Limited’s questionable operations, with warnings issued to alert the public about the potential risks associated with dealing with this company. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the United Kingdom, which oversees financial firms and protects consumers, has issued a public advisory regarding Partners Special Capital Limited. The advisory cautions individuals against engaging with the firm due to its lack of necessary authorization to offer financial products. Such warnings are typically reserved for companies that pose a potential risk to consumer protection or those with unresolved compliance issues. This warning serves as a red flag, urging investors to exercise caution when considering business with this firm.
Attempts to Censor Negative Information
Beyond the financial concerns, Partners Special Capital Limited has reportedly engaged in strategies to suppress negative information online. The company allegedly employed aggressive digital tactics to control its online image, including filing fraudulent copyright takedown requests aimed at removing critical reviews, news articles, and adverse information from search engine results. By targeting these materials, Partners Special Capital Limited appears to be trying to eliminate content that would expose its alleged practices, effectively attempting to censor the internet to maintain a positive public facade.
These alleged censorship tactics involve abusing digital copyright tools intended for legitimate intellectual property claims, such as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). By filing these notices fraudulently, the company is accused of manipulating the digital space to erase or hide any information that could damage its reputation. Such actions not only mislead potential clients by creating a falsely positive online image but also raise significant ethical concerns, as they infringe on the principles of free information and transparency on the internet.
Implications and Conclusion
Partners Special Capital Limited’s situation highlights critical issues facing investors and regulatory bodies in the financial sector. The company’s alleged fraudulent activities and regulatory non-compliance put clients at considerable risk. Additionally, its attempts to control its online reputation reveal a disturbing trend where companies exploit legal mechanisms to censor criticism, deceiving the public and suppressing important information. This case underscores the need for vigilance among investors and calls for stronger regulations to prevent misuse of digital tools for reputation management.
Moving forward, the allegations against Partners Special Capital Limited emphasize the necessity of conducting thorough due diligence before investing. As financial and digital manipulation tactics continue to evolve, this case serves as a stark reminder for regulatory bodies to reinforce policies that prevent companies from evading accountability and deceiving the public.
How do we counteract this malpractice?
Once we ascertain the involvement of Partners Special Capital Limited (or actors working on behalf of Partners Special Capital Limited), we will inform Partners Special Capital Limited of our findings via Electronic Mail.
Our preliminary assessment suggests that Partners Special Capital Limited may have engaged a third-party reputation management agency or expert, which, either independently or under direct authorization from Partners Special Capital Limited, initiated efforts to remove adverse online content, including potentially fraudulent DMCA takedown requests. We will extend an opportunity to Partners Special Capital Limited 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 Partners Special Capital Limited 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 Partners Special Capital Limited is finding out the hard way.
Potential Consequences for Partners Special Capital Limited
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 Partners Special Capital Limited Committing a Cyber Crime?
Yes, it seems so. Partners Special Capital Limited 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. Partners Special Capital Limited 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 Partners Special Capital Limited 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. Partners Special Capital Limited 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 Partners Special Capital Limited 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, Partners Special Capital Limited either premeditated actions or were unaware of the consequences. Despite hiring an agency to make Google disregard any negative information about Partners Special Capital Limited, 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. Partners Special Capital Limited is in great company ….
What else is Partners Special Capital Limited hiding?
We encourage you to ‘Dork‘ Google by searching for keyword combinations such as [Partners Special Capital Limited] + {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 Partners Special Capital Limited 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 Partners Special Capital Limited censoring the internet and committing cyber crimes.”
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- Our investigative report on Partners Special Capital Limited‘s efforts to suppress online speech is significant, as it raises serious concerns about its integrity. The findings suggest that Partners Special Capital Limited 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 Partners Special Capital Limited 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/43984235
- 21/08/2024
- Complaint
- 2
- https://grazyna30495.blogspot.com/
- 17/02/2024
- News report
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