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> According to another source, a public address book at locatefamily.com, someone under the name Vladimir S. Nesterenko is living at [REDACTED] in Moscow. Vladi
by shakna 8y ago
> According to another source, a public address book at locatefamily.com, someone under the name Vladimir S. Nesterenko is living at [REDACTED] in Moscow. Vladimir lives according to Google Streetview it’s an apartment complex far away from the Moscow city center...
Really? Someone investigating with journalists, and may be considered a journalists themselves (?), actually publishes the address of someone that they are accusing of running a scam?
There can only be two reasons for doing something like that:
a) You're an idiot, and didn't consider the implications.
b) You're asking for the public to exact a justice that you think you can't.
- richrichardsson 8y agoI'd go with a). Very dumb move.
- sametmax 8y ago“Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence” said Napoleon.
- yesenadam 8y agoNever ascribe to Napoleon etc. https://quoteinvestigator.com/2016/12/30/not-malice/ https://quoteinvestigator.com/2016/12/30/not-malice/ TL;DR Seems to have been first attributed to 'Napolean' on Usenet in 1997!
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- bryanrasmussen 8y agoso what would comprise the requirements for an adequate explanation of incompetence in this case?
- siderax 8y agoThat's Hanlon razor :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanlon%27s_razor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanlon%27s_razor
- consp 8y agoThe site in question (locatefamily.com) is known for scraping public information. I'm very doubtful anyone did anything wrong here, tough it is questionable data to say the least. Morally questionable maybe, though I'm going full circle and going to say scamming is as well. edit: The name was posted in public whois info. That basically means you handed out your data to the public anyway. Everyone on this forum would be able to acquire the location from the information he found.
- prepend 8y agoIt’s amazing how many people don’t know how to use whois. Most doxxing I’ve witnessed comes from public info. The linking together of this info and promoting it is what creates more danger. Since I assume most swatters are 12 year olds, that means they are less likely to know that Whois exists, therefore more likely to have the info because this author posted it.
- consp 8y agoI completely agree with you on that. So it remains more questionable than good, though I do not think the '12 year old swatters' will click beyond the main article (from last year's rtl.nl website which did not contain info if i remember correctly) and go to the more detailed page described in OP.
- topoftheforts 8y agoThat's not a justification at all. Just to give you an example: UK company addresses are open to the public, and easily accessible through the government website. Many UK internet personalities have set up a company, and for many of them it's their house address (cause either they don't know about the register or they don't care enough). Would it be ok for me to make a blog post with their home address on it, just because it's publicly available? I don't think so, even if they did something scammy.
- consp 8y agoOriginal text removed as I already stated below it was wrong but people keep complaining. Apparently it is illegal since the start of this year (in the Netherlands, as it is where the article is from) since may 2018 as the new AVG went into effect and it is considered personal data which requires approval for publishing.
- topoftheforts 8y agoYeah it's unacceptable, especially for someone who claims to be "ethical" in his bio: > About Sijmen Ruwhof Independent IT Security Researcher / Ethical Hacker
- antisthenes 8y agoWhenever I see someone point out they are "ethical", it's always according to their own code of ethics that they are unwilling to ever discuss. I used to be absolutist like that as well as a teenager. It's a shame when some adults don't grow out of it.
- frogpelt 8y agoYour post reads (to me) like you no longer believe in absolute ethics. If that's the case, how can you argue with someone else's definition of ethics?
- cf141q5325 8y agoReminds me of a lot Brian Krebs doxing of the pr0gramm staff.
- scottlocklin 8y agoIt's extremely likely that this person isn't responsible for the website, or knows anything about it. Criminal or shady activities in Russia (and everywhere else) are often laundered through cutouts. You can find an example of this in "Magnitsky act: behind the scenes" where Bill Browder allegedly laundered his corporate holdings for tax fraud through various handicapped people, and eventually gangsters who were conveniently murdered.
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- Fins 8y agoUsing that piece of rather silly putin's propaganda as a source lowers your credibility greatly.
- orbital-decay 8y agoHowever, their point stands true: in exUSSR climate, registering a dummy entity through an ignorant proxy is an easy and common way to run a shady business, and sometimes even a legit one. It's entirely unnecessary to bring Magnitsky's deal as an example, but this method is well known and practiced since perestroika. It's safe to assume the person in question was a proxy, and that further investigation is needed.
- Fins 8y agoOh, that's for sure, it's just that pointing at this particular hit piece is not the most convincing argument. Otherwise, it's entirely correct that business climate in Russia is far from transparent.
- scottlocklin 8y agoAhem. The maker of that documentary is anti-Putin to the extent he supports the theory that Putin blew up some Russian apartment buildings to start a war. Browder, on the other hand, is actively surpressing the documentary; even if none of the things said about him in the documentary are true (in which case you'd think he would sue the guy who made it for libel; a guy who lives in the UK), that's pretty shady.
- samstave 8y agoI know it's an unpopular opinion, but I personally do think that people should be exposed. Sex offenders need to be registered. Heck, I think Panama papers and paradise papers people should be exposed...
- robotrout 8y agoThat's a good attitude comrade. Congratulations on earning an additional 10 points to your social credit score! Now you can enjoy the 2nd class cabin on our country's numerous, punctual, and well maintained trains. Keep up your outstanding and patriotic attitude and you'll be riding in the luxurious and stylish 1st class cabins in no time!
- 1024core 8y agoIf it's in a WHOIS record, is it really private?
- cmroanirgo 8y agoProbably not, but there's a big difference between information being drowned in the midst of other information, and carefully pruned information from that pile and then put into an article whose sole purpose is to draw attention to it. Regardless, it's a very poor decision made by the author to reveal it in such a way, with maps, etc.
- aasasd 8y agoIt's also likely that there are a dozen people with that name just in Moscow.