Likely scam alert: "United Forward PAC"

jik

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday August 19, 2020 · 7:22 AM PDT

2020/08/19 · 07:22

I just received a solicitation from yet another organization, “United Forward PAC,” purporting to be a PAC working to elect Democrats up and down the ballot:

Let’s talk about all the reasons why this is suspicious:

Why do we suddenly need a new PAC working to elect Democrats less than three months before the November elections? How does it possibly make sense to spin up an entirely new organization from scratch this close to the election, rather than leveraging one of the many PACs that already exist for this purpose and are fully spun-up and actively working?
Why doesn’t this solicitation say anything about which candidates it is supporting or which races it is involving itself with?
Who is “John Todd” and why is he qualified to lead a PAC? Who else is involved with running this PAC?
Why doesn’t their web site work?
Why don’t their job postings answer any of these questions?
Why did they file twice with the FEC, once as “United Forward” and once as “United Forward PAC“?
Why is their official mailing address a WeWork?
Why did they send me (and, presumably, many others) unsolicited email without telling us where they got our email addresses from, in violation of the terms of use of Sendgrid, the service they sent the email through?
Why don’t they have any presence on Twitter?

In short, I don’t know who these people are, but I think it’s unlikely they’re up to anything good, and even if they are, there are many other, more established PACs you’re better off supporting.

P.S. If you got a solicitation from this PAC, please forward a copy of it as an attachment to abuse@sendgrid.com and let them know that you did not sign up for emails from this sender and they’re therefore in violation of Sendgrid’s terms of use. Even if they are a legit PAC, they deserve to get kicked off of Sendgrid for spamming, and the more people report them, the more likely that is.

(Cross-posted at my blog.)

Fraudulent Democratic organization: "One Nation United"

jik

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday November 27, 2017 · 9:15 AM PST

2017/11/27 · 09:15

I recently received spam from an organization calling itself "One Nation United." Their web site is onenationunited.com.

I am fairly certain that they are a completely fraudulent organization. Let's talk about why.

The email address they used to spam me is a dedicated address which I used only for my work in 2008 to help get Barack Obama elected. There is no legitimate way they could have obtained that email address.

Here's the first paragraph on their home page as of November 27, 2017:

This one paragraph has two typographical errors and it's over six months out-of-date.

Also, note the icon to the left of the site URL: they're not using SSL. Nobody serious puts up a new site nowadays without SSL.

But whois says their domain was registered in 2016, and so does their Twitter:

Speaking of Twitter, they haven't tweeted anything since August, over three months ago.

Speaking of activity, the "Right Now" page on their web site hasn't had anything posted on it since March 2, 2017:

There is no email address on their web site. The mailing address on their web site -- 2010 W. Avenue K, Lancaster, CA 03536 -- is a UPS Store, which makes the fact that their web site asserts "office hours" of "Mon – Fri 8am – 6pm" (without a time zone!) hilarious.

You can try calling their phone number (323-206-4440) if you'd like, but all that happens is it rings for a while and then disconnects.

Most of the donation links on their web site point to this page at ActBlue, which looks sort of legitimate. However, their "Right Now" page points to a different page at ActBlue, for an organization called "Our Nation United", with fake text:

There is not a word on their web site about their leadership or for that matter about any named person affiliated with the organization. There are no endorsements, no backers, no board of directors. There is nothing about what they've actually done to further the agenda they claim to support. There is nothing about their legal status -- whether they are a PAC, 501(c)4, etc.

There's a real organization called One Nation United which has gone by that name since 2005. It has nothing to do with the organization that spammed me. Nobody serious creates a new, legitimate, nationwide organization using the same name as an established, existing, nationwide organization.

I don't know whether the people doing this are just in it for the money (i.e., contributions line the pockets of the people running the site) or whether they're up to something more nefarious. I also don't know what, if anything, can be done to expose the people behind this and what they're up to. The best I can do is get the word out and warn people to stay away from them.

UPDATE: There are more layers of this onion to peel back.

The unsubscribe links in the spam I received point at the host "sendy.zeusvision.org". There is no web site at "zeusvision.org" or "www.zeusvision.org", and the IP address for "sendy.zeusvision.org" resolves to an Amazon EC2 instance. The whois information for the "zeusvision.org" domain is hidden.

I can't find any evidence that there's a company named "Zeus Vision" that does email marketing. The closest I can find is zeusvision.com, which claims to be in the business of outdoor advertising. However...

The address on the Zeus Vision web site, 11870 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles CA 90025, is a UPS Store (sound familiar?). There is no recent press on their web site. There are no articles or press releases shared on the site, and the most recent blog post on the site is dated 2014. Since January 20 2015, they have tweeted just once, on October 12, 2017, a video link with the caption, "Zeusvision Activism supporting The 3rd annual @DaRealAmberRose SlutWalk 2017." The video itself doesn't appear to have anything to do with Zeus Vision.

But wait, there's more. Is it just a coincidence that the web sites for Zeus Vision and "One Nation United" are both WordPress sites fronted by Cloudflare? Is it a coincidence that both Zeus Vision and "One Nation United" have (UPS Store) mailing addresses in Los Angeles County?

But that's not all. The footer of the Zeus Vision web site reads, "Copyright 2015 Zeusvision | All Rights Reserved | Zeusvision is a division of ionRepublic LLC." Well, now, that's interesting. Let's see if we can find out something about "ionRepublic LLC." If we search the State of California's business database, we find that "IONREPUBLIC LLC" has a suspended business registration. It was registered in 2011 by "Business Filings Incorporated," i.e., a front company which hides the identities of the individuals involved with the business. And its mailing address is (surprise!), "11870 SANTA MONICA BLVD STE 106-456, LOS ANGELES, CA 90025". What a coincidence!

Let's keep looking, shall we? If we Google for "ionrepublic llc", we find it registered as a trucking company with a single truck whose mailing address is, "44125 Yucca Ave, Lancaster, CA 93534". Remember Lancaster? That's where the mailing address for "One Nation United" is. Another amazing coincidence. We can also see this information on the US DOT web site, where the type of cargo carried by the company is listed as "advertising."

If you call the telephone number listed for "ionRepublic LLC," you get voicemail with the following outgoing message: "Hello. You've reached my personal voicemail system. Please leave your name and the message you would like to get to me, and I'll get back to you as soon as possible." Note the lack of identifying information on the outgoing message.

Most likely, whoever is behind "Zeus Vision" and "ionRepublic LLC" is behind "One Nation United". I don't know how to pierce that veil, but perhaps someone reading this does.

(Cross-blogged at “Something better to do”.)

"Nation of Change" "borrows" email addresses from Brave New Foundation

jik

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday August 12, 2011 · 1:46 PM PDT

2011/08/12 · 13:46

Earlier, I wrote about Nation of Change, a progressive organization which appeared recently out of nowhere and seemed to have some suspicious attributes, including somehow getting their hands on Brave New Foundation's email list and using it to spam people.

I accused Brave New Foundation of sharing or selling their list to Nation of Change. However, it now appears that they are as much a victim as I am -- they are alleging that Nation of Change gained access to and copied their email list without authorization. I've posted details about these allegations on my blog.

When these new allegations are combined with the other issues I had previously raised, it seems clear to me that Nation of Change is not worthy of our trust or support.

"Nation of Change", who are you and why are you spamming me?

jik

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday July 28, 2011 · 8:11 AM PDT

2011/07/28 · 08:11

IMPORTANT UPDATE: It now appears that Brave New Foundation was not at fault in this incident. They are alleging that Nation of Change gained access to and copied their email list without authorization. See this diary for more details.

Dear Nation of Change (along with Brave New Foundation),

Let me tell you about a little strategy I use to find out who's buying and selling my email address... When I give my email address to an organization or Web site, I "tag" it to make it unique to that site while still ending up in my inbox. So when that site decides to sell or share my address, I know who did it.

When I put my address on a petition created by Brave New Films (now the Brave New Foundation) during the 2008 presidential campaign, I did not give Brave New Films permission to give it out to others. Guess what, folks, that's spamming, and it's evil, and I don't support organizations that spam or help others spam. By giving out my address and others without permission, Brave New Foundation has permanently lost my support, and by using my and others' illicitly obtained addresses, so have you.

But that's not the end of it.

jik

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday December 20, 2010 · 8:15 AM PST

2010/12/20 · 08:15

The greatest crisis facing America is not the state of the economy, or the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, or the threat posed by al-Qaeda. These are all critically important, and we prolong them at our peril. But none of them is the one existential crisis that threatens to undo everything our country has achieved.

Many people are disappointed in Barack Obama for not standing up to his opponents. The previous administration had spent eight years ignoring the will and desires of half the population, and now it was time to turn the tables and give the other half a taste of their own medicine. If only Obama had turned the thumbscrews a little tighter on a few recalcitrant moderates, he could have gotten any legislation he wanted through Congress, the opposition be damned. Obama was not liberal enough / strong enough / smart enough to do the right thing.

In fact, Obama has been doing exactly the right thing. He knows that what most threatens us now is not economics, war, or terrorism. Obama has seen the enemy, and it is us.

jik

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday October 08, 2008 · 8:24 AM PDT

2008/10/08 · 08:24

At last night's debate, John McCain had this to say about solving fixing entitlement programs in the United States: "Social Security is not that tough. We know what the problems are, my friends, and we know what the fixes are. We've got to sit down together across the table. It's been done before."

Does John McCain think we're stupid?

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"Jewish Mother for Obama": First Video from Orthodox Jewish Community to Refute Anti-Obama Rumors

jik

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday October 06, 2008 · 3:48 PM PDT

2008/10/06 · 15:48

Cambridge, MA (October 3) – Janette Hillis-Jaffe, An Orthodox Jewish supporter of Senator Barack Obama who lived in Israel for five years, has released a ground-breaking video (www.JewsObamaIsrael.com) encouraging other Jews who love Israel to join her in supporting Obama.

Hillis-Jaffe, who lived in Israel during the Second Intifada and the start of the Iraq War, knows first-hand the existential dangers that Israel faces. Her fond memories of her life in Israel will forever be marred by fear and violence. “I remember the terror of sealing my son Tani's nursery against the threat of nerve gas and practicing strapping Tani into his toddler-sized HazMat suit while praying that it would never be necessary,” Hillis-Jaffe explains. “And there were so many suicide bombings near our home that Tani started asking about the explosions, and I had to lie to him about what they were.”

jik

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday August 06, 2008 · 7:09 AM PDT

2008/08/06 · 07:09

David Brooks asks yesterday in The New York Times, "Why isn't Barack Obama doing better?"

A good friend of mine, Marc Caplan, had this to say about it...

Well, there’s a leading question if every there was one; who said he was doing all that badly to begin with? It’s like when Monty Burns said on returning from the Harvard-Yale game, "Oh honestly, Smithers, I don’t know why Harvard even bothered showing up this year: they hardly even won!"

In fact, let’s spin this the other way and pose the same question in reverse. Why isn’t John McCain doing better?

jik

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday May 27, 2008 · 8:37 AM PDT

2008/05/27 · 08:37

To paraphrase the old joke, on the Internet, nobody knows you’re black. Or white, Latino, Asian, Inuit, or Cherokee, for that matter. The Internet is the great equalizer – every blogger starts out equally anonymous, and every blogger has the chance to succeed or fail based on his or her merits.

Why, then, this uproar over the skin color of bloggers selected to attend the upcoming Democratic National Convention?

jik

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday May 13, 2008 · 8:58 AM PDT

2008/05/13 · 08:58

Right-wing pro-Israel blogger Ted Belman has recently embarrassed himself by joining the stampede of conservative Republicans so desperate to keep Senator Barack Obama out of the White House that they'll say just about anything to scare people out of voting for him.

Make no mistake, Belman and his ilk are scared. The smear tactics which worked so well against John Kerry in 2004 just don't seem to be working on Obama. So, what's an ideologue to do? The answer, apparently, is to take a gaggle of absurd accusations against Obama, combine them into a hastily written hodgepodge of rumor and innuendo, and throw them out into the blogosphere in the hope that "a lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes."

Here's what the smear-mongers want you to believe:

jik

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday April 07, 2008 · 6:57 AM PDT

2008/04/07 · 06:57

Michael J. Gaynor published a column today entitled "Inside the Obama Campaign" in which he excoriates Obama based on the unsubstantiated accusations of Susan O'Donnel, a woman who claims to have had a terrible experience working for the Obama campaign and claims that her experience is typical.

The idea that a committed supporter of the Democratic party, a woman who worked for John Kerry's campaign, loved Obama when she met him, and worked desperately to obtain a position working for his campaign, would choose to air her dirty laundry with a bottom-dwelling Republican smear columnist strains credulity.

Even assuming that her story is true, Gaynor's handling of it is nothing more than a smear and certainly nothing resembling reputable journalism.

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Likely scam alert: "United Forward PAC"

Fraudulent Democratic organization: "One Nation United"

"Nation of Change" "borrows" email addresses from Brave New Foundation

"Nation of Change", who are you and why are you spamming me?

Barack Obama is still my president

Does John McCain think we're stupid?

"Jewish Mother for Obama": First Video from Orthodox Jewish Community to Refute Anti-Obama Rumors

"Why isn't John McCain doing better?"

Race politics in the blogosphere

Ted Belman and the anti-Obama Smear Machine

Gaynor's "Inside the Obama Campaign" isn't