Myspace extortion scheme

On May 22, 8:29 am, bizee <bizeesh...@gmail.com> wrote:
> We have a case here at home.  There is a local gal with a beef with my
> daughter.  The gal has a myspace profile for her adult entertainment
> business.  Placed my daughter's photo on there as an employee of
> hers.  Daughter does not work for her.

Granting the truth of everything you say, how does this local gal even know your daughter?  What age are these people -- HS teens, college age, or older twentysomethings?  What is the "beef" all about?   Not that it matters to the legal analysis, but it sure would help us understand the backstory better and maybe give some clues to what's really going on and therefore how best to handle it.   So without knowing more, all anyone can do here is give some general guidelines.

> This offender wants $50.00 from my daughter to remove the photo.

Demanding money in such circumstances is probably the crime of extortion.  The other gal could be prosecuted for making such demands.   Assuming, of course, there is suficient evidence she actually made the demand.   Was it in writing?   Did she leave a recorded phone message?   If it's just your daughter's word against hers, don't count on anybody taking action.

> We aren't sure what we can do at this point.  Just keep notifying
> myspace?

You shouldn't have to keep whacking the mole every time it pops up through a different hole.  But I guess that's a first step.

>  Find a local police official with more knowledge?

You don't say where you live, and local laws differ, but chances are you can swear out and file a criminal complaint if you are the victim of a crime even if the police won't do it for you.  BTW it is your daughter who would have to do that, not you.  It will still be up to the prosecutor whether to prosecute, and rest assured he or she will want to know answers to the kind of questions I asked above to get the complete context before making any such decision.

> Direct call to local prosecutor?

Well, no one is stopping you from doing that, but it may not get you very far; in most jurisdictions AFAIK you would have to go thru the police to swear out a victim complaint.   But as they say, "there's no harm in asking."

> Civil suit?

Defamation?   Invasion of privacy?  Also a possibility.   Also fraught with many of the same difficulties of proof and context as a criminal complaint for extortion would be.   At the very least, nothing is stopping you from consulting a local personal injury lawyer in a confidential meeting to find out if he or she thinks your daughter has a case worth pursuing.  It should not be hard to find a plaintiff's lawyer who gives free initial consultations for screening purposes, and then will take her case on a contingent percentage fee if the lawyer feels it has potential to bring in some money for your daughter (and earn a fee for the law firm).   Even if the case has legal merit, it may not be worth pursuing if the other gal is asset-free and therefore judgment-proof, or it may be something that could be pursued to get an injuction (court order) demanding that the other gal cease and desist, but most lawyers would only do so for payment up front since there is no money to be won that way against which a contingent fee could be taken.

Good luck,
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Mike Jacobs
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