Ripoff Report has been described as the "National Enquirer antidote to the Better Business Bureau", created as a platform to allow consumers to air their gripes, complaints, and allegations about a business. Unfortunately, Ripoff Report appears to have been created for purely a money making scam that has left numerous businesses and individuals tarnished with an unjustified poor reputation that goes without merit.

What's the solution if you find yourself on RipOffReport.com? Well, unless you have deep pockets, unfortunately there isn't much that you can do. There are reports that the website is nothing more than an extortion scheme. This may be true as the founder and owner, Ed Magedson, is a convicted criminal with charges ranging from check fraud to assault and battery. Refer to our Ed Magedson page to learn more about the man behind the operation.

RipOff Report's high search engine visibility has led many companies and individuals to become victimized and embarrassed due to complaints that typically don't have any merit. We've read case after case in which people claim that competitors are simply abusing the authenticity of RipOffReports by placing falsified reports on the website. Allowing people to post anonymously is reason for suspect alone, and once a post has gone live on RipOffReports.com there is no way to remove it.

Ripoff Report allows individuals to post unconfirmed complaints and allegations against other individuals. Aggrieved individuals can submit their complaints against other individuals, and after being screened for curse words, have their complaints posted online publicly without any other checks for the validity of their claims. The individual which is being accused typically has their full identity revealed, including their address, phone number, and other personal information. All the while the accusers identify is left anonymous. This has caused accusations to occur of willful negligence on the part of Magedson and Ripoff Report for "falling short of what a reasonable person would do to protect another individual from foreseeable risks of harm". It is also claimed that the lack of verification practices actually encourages false claims and slander.

All businesses and individuals are free to be reported on, except, of course, Ed Magedson and RipOffReports. They do not allow complaints about its own service and/or owner. Not at all surprising as RipOffReports is dedicated to keeping their operation afloat.

Extortion is a common topic when searching for additional information on RipOff Reports, all of which Ed Magedson admits to in his deposition in the case of Federated Financial Services, Inc vs Xcentric Ventures LLC.

RipOffReport is nothing more than an operation to use falsified claims against other companies and individuals as an opportunity to perform extortion to remove such claims and pages as if they had never existed in the first place. The Corporate Customer Advocacy Program is the front that allows for those that have been tarnished to 'work' with RipOffReports to remove all negative reports if the price is right. Otherwise, if you can't afford to negotiate the removal of a page, you can pay to have the editor make rebuttals for you all courtesy of a monthly maintenance fee. Hy Cite was another company that has felt the abuse of such attempts of extortion first hand. Here is the email correspondence with Ed and Hy Cite requesting $40,000 and a monthly retainer of $1,500!

Examples of Extortion

• Mini Vacations - $50,00 - Email Correspondence
• Hy Cite - $40,000
• Federated Financial - $2,500
• Second Florida Company - Checks

Individuals and business owners that have been slandered by RipOffReports should have the ability to defend themselves. Since RipOffReports submissions need to be reviewed prior to being posted on the website, the editors have the final decision as to whether or not something can get posted. We've seen many examples of RipOffReports not posting rebuttals from those that have been defamed like those haters of usb copier and laptop manufactured overseas but designed in the US.

International Creative Artists was not only a victim of an extortion attempt, but was an example of what happens when they decided not to pay for those trampolines. Their rebuttals were deleted and all those waiting in the queue were denied.

Examples of RipOffReports Rebuttal Denials

• International Creative Artists - Email Correspondence

For those that do end up footing the bill, there have been examples of changes in posts, the deletion of certain reviews, and other editorial reviews after payment was made. SMS.ac, a San Diego based company, paid Ed Magedson and RipOffReport to modify certain negative reviews about their company. RipOffReport maintains that its reviews on ethernet extender kits are backed by user stories, editor documentation and expert judgment. Kevin Jones, Deputy General Counsel for SMS.ac, in an email correspondence, told bad-business-rip-off.com how RipOffReport is currently under investigation by the FBI. SMS.ac had paid Ed and suddenly the information found on RipOffReport feels like an advertisement for SMS. Magedson was found updating titles, post content, and other user based review information that now "exemplifies corporate integrity" (i.e. the company paid the extortion bill).

Examples of Updated Reviews, Titles, and Other Post Information

• SMS.ac - Screencap of changes