Help me decide something...

I have a website that I started a while back with Daily's help (funding, I still have to pay you back, I know I'm late, I apologize, but I will be soon). Anyways, I started it, got it pretty far, there's only a few things left to do on it, but here's the thing...

I don't know if anyone will use it?

Basically, it's a site where people submit scam reports about a person, whether they're 100% valid or not is not determined by the site, they're merely logged away for reference. And when someone goes to trade, they check the site to see if the person they're trading with has been reported.

I have a few ideas in motion to get the database full of old scam reports, and that way it has usefulness to both traders and people have been scammed and wish to file a report.

So, what I need to know is... would you guys use it? A site that has a collection of scam reports from all over the net, and a search engine where you can look for pseudonym's, emails, site of occurrence, or a person's paypal email. All of which are very targeted.

You can also file with the above information, with details of the trade, and with any proof you may have...

I don't wanna post the name, or the domain, as I have a dreadful fear of breaking the rules (yeah right), but I do want opinions on what I posted above .

If I did do something like this, I would be taking a lot of content from Sythe, and try and work closely with Sythe and many of the other big trading sites. Hopefully, this site can bridge the gap and do away with the mass of scamming, quickly.

 

If the reports weren't monitored wouldn't it lead to false reports about someone in order to gain their business, etc...?

 

I think your website would be used by hundreds of people. I know i'd definately use it. How would you get record of all the previous scammers on trading sites?

 

The reports aren't approved before-hand, however, the site does have a page in place for requesting the removal of said report. Usually, we won't remove them, but if we find a report to be invalid, or simply not have enough substantiated proof behind it AND a request to remove it is filed, we'll remove it.

On the flip side, if a report is filed against someone, and the evidence is damning, we won't.

I had planned on paying a dozen or so people a bit of money to go through and get a bunch of scam reports together, ones that are of high quality, and to post them on the site.

 

I wouldn't use it, as it seems it would be too much raw infomartion to sort through. However, if it was nicely organized and easy to use, I could see your site being quite successful.

 

I'd be glad to help out! I'm all for this kind of stuff.

I'm a moderator over at the new MarkeeDragon (MMOBay)

 

If I traded, I would definitely use something like this. It's a great idea, but there are some kinks to work through: is the scam real, is this positive enough proof, and how would the remove system work. I think that this is a great project, and good luck to you.

 

I could see it working, you'll just have to have at least one person on at any given time to be able to quickly resolve entry issues such as flooding or fake entrees. That would probably take about 5-8 dedicated people to cover.. Hell, if this became an official Sythe feature, I bet sythe or Finn would ask the already existing staff to help you with moderating it..

 

I'd use it, but how can you guarantee that it'd be legit? Anyone can make up a phony report about who did what.

 

There is a search engine present, and the reports are quite well organized. You can also easily navigate to other reports that are related by keywords. While it's still in development, and I would be adding features, I assure that it would not be so chaotic.

That's for the user to decide, not for us, to be honest. The scam report is not verified by the site, it is merely open information for traders to use and determine on their own accord.

I'd prefer a trader asking me about a past trade and me having to explain myself, rather than another random site determining my guilt or innocence.

I had considered developing something for Sythe and Sythe alone, however, I feel a neutral party would be more useful. Endorsements from all sites would be welcomed, and desired in fact, however, I do not feel that any one site possessing it would be beneficial to all sites.

There is an admin control panel, while it is rather simplistic at the moment, and a report record feature, so users can bring certain things to the attention of the admins, so yes, moderation is being considered. I do have plans to have people who moderate reports, but such will be chosen with very strict regard. And systems will be put in place to prevent corruption, and shady businesses.

That would be up to the user to decide. If no proof is supplied, and the reasoning is 'He scammed me', I would expect the trader merely take these reports to mean be a little more cautious. However, if a report supplies in depth information, and evidence damning the reported, then I would theorize the user would either cancel the trade, or take even more precautions to ensure the same situation does not befall them.

 

I don't think you'd be able to find a dedicated staff or one that is able to filter reports to Sythe's standards.

 

The site is not a forum, nor does it necessarily require dedicated staff. I'm not so naive to believe that I can have others do dirty work without payment, so I intend on paying people to perform the simple tasks of the site.

Sythe's standards of filtering reports is not effective. While users are banned, and pruned, the system is not quite as effective as it is not meant to be. It is meant to get rid of scammers, and to fill the database with information in an attempt to prevent them from returning and scamming again.

However, this site would be dedicated to scam reports, and the actions traders take will be based on their sole discretion. Rather than filtering reports, determining if the reports are valid, etc, the paid contributors would be simply required to answer requests for removal, and do moderator actions.

 

I'm all for it. I hate scammers. I am online a lot, and could probably help you out.

[newfag..... yay!]

 

Help will always be appreciated . To put the idea into perspective, here's a site which I got the idea from:

http://ripoffreport.com

While this one does companies, real life problems, etc... the one I am working on would be more dedicated to scammers online, and scamming websites.

 

Bump, any other opinions?

 

Sounds good, i'd use and add to it.

 

Sounds like a good idea, but sadly I don't think most members are smart enough to realize what's valid and what's not (saying this from my experience with certain scam reports >.>), nevertheless go for it.

 

Wouldn't there be too many reports to compile into the site? It sounds like it'd take a lot of time. But it can be done, then i think it'd be very useful. I never use the black market, nor do i ever intend to, but if i were to use the black market, i'd definately find the site helpful and would ofcourse use it.

 

Just out of curiosity, can't you get sued for "defamation of character" if putting in false reports?

 

No, lol. The views of the individual are not necessarily the views of the website, as is stated on the website. So, we assume no responsibility for false, or judgmental reports. Which, almost instantly removes us from all responsibility.

The only legal clause I had to work around was the posting of confidential information regarding a person, however, almost all sites allow the posting of e-mails online, as the individual e-mail does not belong to the person who uses it. Ownership is with the register, so yeah... No matter what a person posts, there's really no legal obligations for the website...