INTERNET
SAFETY ALERT -- WHOSARAT.COM
Please be advised and let everyone know that the Whosarat.com website
has become a very serious issue with undercover law enforcement tactics.
It is a reverse look up site that will grab the inquirer's web IP
address and add your info to the list of inquiring officers.
The website is owned by a former defense attorney who developed his
plan. He originally sent a flyer to almost every law enforcement agency
in the US, informing them that there is a website coming out known as, "whosarat.com".
He failed to mention he was the owner. He informed all LE agencies that
they should have their undercover personnel go on the site to see if
they had been compromised. Initially, he did not have any intel but as
soon as many LE Officers/Agents in the country began checking the site,
he soon had a great list to add to his site.
If your curious, stay off the site. If you're not on there already, a
simple inquiry from you will easily add you to the site. From Wikipedia,
the free encyclopedia, Whosarat.com is a controversial website, which,
in its words, allows individuals to "post, share and request any and all
information that has been made public at some point to at least 1 person
of the public prior to posting it on this site pertaining to local,
state and federal Informants and Law Enforcement Officers."
The site was founded in August 2004 by Sean Bucci, who is fighting
marijuana dealing charges. A Boston Herald story quoted him as saying
"I'm trying to level the playing field." His experiences gave him "a
deep, deep hate for the system for the way they handle informants."
The site's extensive disclaimer notes that in part that "All posts made
by users should be considered as inaccurate opinions unless backed by
official documents." It urges members to "Please post informants that
are involved with nonviolent crimes only."
The Department of Homeland Security issued an advisory about the site,
warning law enforcement officers not even to view the site. "Visiting
the site could result in the compromise of government IP addresses.
Searching the site for a particular name could result in that name being
cross-indexed to the IP address of the computer used to make the
inquiry. Searching for the names of officers or informants could
compromise those individual's identities. Any website is capable of
collecting IP address and search information from visitors, but this
site is different because it makes visitor information public."
The site believes it is protected by legal precedents set in connection
with another website, charmichaelcase, which also posts information
about informants. ProEthics, Ltd., an ethics training and consulting
firm, named Whosarat.com its Unethical Website of the Month for August,
2004.
Bottom Line -- DON'T VISIT THE SITE!!!!