Criminals in our industry?
 

After pondering awhile about how a large portion of the porn industry is LA based I came to an interesting question in my own mind.

A lot of models are shuffled around by suitcase pimps or downright pimps as many of us know in and around LA and of course other places.

This business has a low entry bar, and of course anyone with any real money flow can make more with some basic knowledge.

This business has a great deal of B2B transactions, cash for design, cash for pictures, cash for traffic, and what not. This of course also is a very easy way one could clean money.

Now of course LA (other cities/countries as well) also have a large amount of organized gangs. Many of which are involved in other aspects besides dealing drugs and simple shit, from extortion to other business dealings.

So my question is, do you think or know that there is "gang" controlled activity/businesses in our industry?

some people say one major sponsor was founded as a result of criminal activity. no names unfortunately...

regular porn yes, internet porn not so much...traditional criminals aren't computer savvy enough to penetrate the market....sure you will have the odd ones but in general its just a bunch of nerds...

Wait.. go back.. you know how to launder money? Can you show me how? All I know is that to launder is to concel it's source by channeling it through an intermediate agent.

we will just have to wait for the RICO Indictments :(

quality fabric softener and a rise cycle

I would think it is the other way around. Regular porn is much harder to get into amongst many other factors.

Now looking around of course the amount of any real intelligence or as you put it computer savvy, is fairly damn low. Keep in mind as well, this is no longer the early days when it literally was ran by nerds and such. Today people are taught about computers early on.

Wide spread use of such sites as myspace and others have brought many online. A global communication platform also would seem very tempting, if not for just the communication aspect of it, but for recruitment and the like.

It would not be a big mental leap to go from cruising the net and some porn sites, to finding a make cash link, to a quick understanding of it all by a gang member. Maybe they do not have the required skills themselves, but pass the idea onto someone else and so forth.

Criminals in the online pornography business?

NO!!

You mean our PR campaign featuring Seth Warshavsky and Steve Cohen isn't working?

Next thing you will be telling me is that there are criminal elements in the construction, towing, waste hauling, and gambling industries.

WTF!?

The only way to really launder money (and not get caught like a dumbass) is to have a LOT of money to launder and have a cash-heavy "legitimate" business as the front.

Small timers get caught really easy. The problem is having a good front. Most financial institutions have sophisticated tracking programs that can sniff out suspicious activities. Then all it takes is a closer look and a call to the FBI and you're cooked.

I am asking a generalized question that is also industry related. Would you rather a thread with a funny youtube link, or a would you hit it picture?

I am also not talking about individual or small groups of criminals, I am talking about organized gang behavior. Yes I know the older mafia ties to the ones you listed as well as some earlier porn companies, I am speaking of the other sorts of gangs that have really taken a foot hold in this country among others.

My cousin is a coke head....we could ask him!
http://www.hellomynameisscott.com/ph...fficespace.jpg

Weren't dialers that perpetually rebilled and such used by people in the mafia?

I think organised crime has been in the online world for awhile now, but this business is already so damned shady in nature that its hard to differentiate the guy who'se in the mafia from the next fool looking to make a few quick bucks.

Amazingly enough, I have never encountered any organized crime in the LA adult community..never. The business is conducted these days at a very high degreee of professionalism. Most have lawyers, business suites etc.
Sometimes a new girl is being promoted by someone who could conceivable be a pimp, but this is not very often, and these "pimps" are usually gone shortly after..probably back to pimping escorts.
The only area where i think crime is involved is in the money laundering..probably through offshore companies and online money making schemes...

Porn is equal opportunity dirt. Anyone can get involved.

no, becaus there is no money in porn

a billing solution could lander $$ by joins . .

pimps don't really care for the biz . . the girls make more $$ on the street in the short term . . and the pimps don't really like 'sharing' control of the models.

an agent can be considered a pimp: the girls fuck people and the agents get paid. several agencies now offer 'private parties' . . this is actually a euphemism for prostitution from what I've been told . .

who can say and who really cares anyway?

-bmb

i hate to point out the obvious... but shaving = fraud, scamming affiliate programs = fraud... misrepresenting your sites content to surfers = fraud, double billing credit cards = fraud. the list can go on forever.

the internet porn industry is almost nothing but criminals.

:2 cents:

To me, iBill is the epitome of a criminal organization. They ripped me and many others off for large amounts of money, and have still never answered where our money disappeared to, and apparently have no intention of giving the money back that doesn't belong to them, or if they didn't just take it, then why haven't they told us who took it so that we can deal with them instead...

The Feds should start with the crooks at iBill...

ADG Webmaster

Criminals exist in every industry/sector including government & church. Where there's money there's criminals...

Cash? Who gets paid in cash? Most clients and providers live hundreds, if not thousands, of miles away. I was paid cash once, about 4 years ago. Every other penny I've ever earned in this business has been recorded on paper by two parties.

Are you talking about criminals working in porn, or criminal activity in porn?

I consider internet porn to be no more dirty than corporate America. You've got your bad seeds, but for the most part everyone does clean business.

Criminals working in porn, well there are also criminals working at McDonalds. As long as you don't do anything illegal on the job then I don't see a problem.

Excuse the "cash" comment. Felt it was better suited than saying other possible and very simple ways to convert cash to b2b back to cash.

I tried to keep my full thoughts shorter this time instead or rambling on for a page and then having near nobody read it as well.

I've seen criminals in every profession from priests to prostitutes...so why would porn be any different?

This thread is funny!

:thumbsup :thumbsup

Very well said sir. I've been saying for years that 'shaving' (such a lovely euphemism) fits the definition of RICO Fraud to a T.

there's plenty of criminals, i'm just not too sure there's groups of organized criminals working together.

my favorite was the phrase that came up a few years ago, used be a few well known reps of billing companies used to describe blatent lies about the sites content in respect to concerns about chargebacks ... "over marketing"

i remeber readin an article how a latin?columbian? drug cartel had huge servers based in california along with a huge network...i am looking for the article told about how they had databases of fbi/cia etc agents ..pretty wild

and the answer is yes like what was said above..where there is money there is crime.. people arn't stupid..

for example: gangster A watches some porn on internet at school (LOL) goes home gets some neighborhood homegirls and steals a video camera.. gangster A shares idea with gangster B and they enlist school nerd to do the work..

makes sense to me :thumbsup

i just had the "pleasure" of meeting some last weekend. it involved extortion and threats of physical violence. but the problem was solved in the meantime

i had a gigglle :321GFY

Please try to keep in mind when I said criminals, I meant organized gangs. Not including the obvious old mob connections.

all I can say is LOL!!!

easiest way to launder money is to buy gold coins

For those laughing, please fill me in on what you find so damn funny.

Not in LA. On the east coast or in Europe, perhaps, still, but not so much on the internet, and not the way you are thinking.

Distribution was the only real key the mob ever had to porn and we all know how that went.

Im well aware of the past with mob distribution and the like in the older off line days.

I was mostly curious if the newer street level gangs have attempted much in the net side of the business.

Thanks for your insight though kimmykim.

Street gangs have been involved in online cc fraud for many years.

people have said company names - but they disappeared.:1orglaugh :1orglaugh :1orglaugh

:thumbsup :thumbsup

I couldn't disagree more with everything you have just said... sorry.

Duh... hello.....

All ya had to do is ask.

The real porno world was once controlled by the mafia. I don't think it is so much today, or at least they have not paid me a visit yet.

Just a bunch of Jews running shit these days.

Wait... someone is at my door... BRB.......

buhahaha....

Nobody is talking about controlled and shit man. Just more curious if any street level gangs might be behind programs, sites, whatnot.

BTW.... for those that don't know or forgot... Crescent Publishing.

gangs arent going to want to do net stuff because its way too traceable.most illegal activities involve cash, easier to hide. i dont think there are criminals in our business but the net is a weird place its a place where people who would never think of shop lifting have no problem stealing music online. i think its the same with fraud, they think its ok its online.

I think any US based mafia is pretty much obsolete, or certainly much diminished and more low key.

These days, I would imagine most of the "gang" type online crime comes from Eastern Europe and Russia. It seems like it is the wild west over there.

:thumbsup