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Last updated on July 5th, 2024 at 10:58 am
Header image source Pixabay
Any sites listed in this post were found via a general online search and will be cited.
Last week I shared that I had found one of my photos being sold via another website without my permission. Well, I thought I’d give you all an update.
As of yet, the issues haven’t been resolved but I have some key info about the sites. They are as I suspected originally shady fake e-commerce sites.
You can read my original post by clicking on the link below.
my content was stolen and put up for sale
When I first found my photo for sale
When I first found my photo for sale on another site I was mad. Yet I couldn’t do anything because it was the weekend. I figured I’d wait until the next week to reach out to the websites and hosting providers listed via the site’s Who is info.
I found one of my Grape Leaves series photos on two websites that were both registered with the same company.
They were https://statloveov.live/product_details/19632490.htm
https://mirasellsk.life/product_details/19450331.html
what got me
What got me about this was the photo is a set of 2 yet the site only scrapped 1 of the two photos. I also noticed tha the prices were outrageous. The 2nd site (mirasellsk.life) wanted to sell the image for $46 (what I assume was USD). They claimed they would use the image on clothing, bags, or shoes. The photo is also been 50% off for the last week or longer. They originally priced it around $93.
The statloveov.live site had it for about $6 which is closer to what I have 2 photos listed for in Pal’s shop.
How I found out it’s a scam site
Well, I didn’t think much about it at first I was so mad to see my photo for sale somewhere else. But when I looked at the sites further I realized they were a bit odd. They had images from across the web even real estate photos of homes listed SOLD.
I figured I’d contact the sites and see what was going on. Basically, I would submit a copyright complaint. Again I let my anger cloud my judgment I should have known the site was a fake when I saw the email addresses. Yet I still emailed them like a dummy.
mirasellsk.life contact us is : hot@examfreevs.com
This email address seems to be used by many scam sites.
statloveov.live contact us is: sale@mamilike.top
Both email addresses have been shared via Scam Watcher.
I also noticed that when I placed a product in the cart on one of the sites I couldn’t remove it. It would automatically send you to checkout. When I tried to remove the product from the cart it wouldn’t delete it.
the who is of it all
So I found that the sites Who is info is basically the same they were both registered via a sav.com (I’ll get to them in a minute).
mirasellsk.life Whois info.
statloveov.live Whois info.
Let the emailing begin
Thanks to the info from Whois and what was publically listed (the dummy contact us emails). I set about emailing the sites and the hosting providers.
It runs out fake or scam sites are hard to pin down. I emailed the abuse email options on Whois. I still have not had a reply back from these emails.
I never heard back from the scam email addresses either. I guess they get routed to a black hole somewhere on the internet.
I did hear back from Cloudflare which pointed out that they weren’t the hosting provider and directed me back to the info I found on Whois. So I went on to contact Sav.com. Being that they are the site domain registrar I might have luck with them.
an endless circle
When I tell you I’d love to virtually punch someone after dealing with this site I mean it. I know it’s awful to say but someone seriously deserved a punch in the nose.
I emailed them initially stating that I would like my photo removed from the sites I shared. This just led to a vicious cycle of back-and-forth emails for about a week.
The help desk folks would say to send an email to XYX email address and add Copyright complaint in the title. I did that. Little did I know this only sent it to the Sav.com help desk support staff. So every time I would reply back in an email it would open a new request. So by last Friday, I was up to 5 requests. I had 3 support agents direct me to send emails via their support page which again turned into a circle of the same complaint.
Finally, on Friday, I had a support agent point out that they weren’t the hosting provider and directed me back to Whois. What got me was that they didn’t once own up to the sites being scam sites or even that they were based here in the US.
Is it worth fighting a copyright claim?
I would say it may depend. For me, it is because it’s my photo. Granted the sites that stole my photo are scam sites so I may never get my photo removed as requested.
I would also like to add if you feel that you need to fight for your content do it. Most times you can send an email requesting your content be removed in a set number of days. If you don’t see it you can send a cease and desist letter. If things escalate you can contact legal services if you have the funds.
