How brothers Dmitry and Igor Lyubarsky trade the personal data of millions of Americans

Radaris did not respond to requests for comment.

Radaris, TruthFinder, and other companies like them force users to agree that their reports will not be used to evaluate a person’s suitability for a loan, a new apartment, or a job. This language appears so often in people search reports because selling the reports for these purposes classifies these companies as consumer reporting agencies (CRAs) and subjects them to regulation under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

These data brokers do not want to be considered the same as CRAs, and for this reason, their people search reports typically do not include detailed credit histories, financial information, or full Social Security numbers (Radaris reports include the first six digits of a person’s SSN). But in September 2023, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) found that TruthFinder and another people-finding service, Instant Checkmate, were trying to have both. The FTC fined the companies $5.8 million for allegedly acting as CRAs by collecting and compiling consumer information into background reports that were and are sold for employment and resident screening purposes.

The FTC also found that TruthFinder and Instant Checkmate deceived users regarding the accuracy of biographical information. The FTC alleges that these companies made millions from monthly subscriptions using push notifications and marketing emails that claimed the subject of the background record had a criminal record or arrest when it was just a traffic ticket.

“At the same time, in online advertisements and other promotional materials, companies touted the accuracy of their reports, claiming that their reports contained ‘the most accurate information available to the public,’” the FTC noted. However, the FTC maintains that all information used in their reports are obtained from third parties who expressly deny that the information is accurate and that TruthFinder and Instant Checkmate take no steps to verify the accuracy of the information.

According to the FTC, both companies are deceiving customers by providing “Delete” and “Flag as Untrustworthy” buttons that do not work as advertised. In contrast, the “Delete” button removed the disputed information only from the report that was displayed for a given client; however, that same piece of information remained visible to other customers searching for the same person. The FTC also said that when a customer noted that information in a background report was inaccurate, the companies did not take any steps to investigate the claims, change the reports, or indicate to other customers that the information was disputed.

Indirectly or directly, Lyubarsky own many real estate properties in Sherborn and Wellesley, Massachusetts. However, the Radaris website is operated by an offshore company, Bitseller Expert Ltd, registered in Cyprus. Neither of the Lyubarsky brothers responded to requests for comment.

An analysis of domain names registered by Gary Norden shows that since the early 2000s, he and Dan have built an e-commerce empire by selling prepaid phone cards and VoIP services to Russian immigrants living in the United States and looking for an affordable way to stay connected. with loved ones at home.

In 2012, the US Federal Communications Commission fined $179,000 Unipoint Technology Inc. of Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts, which admitted that Unipoint was not licensed to provide international telecommunications services.

DomainTools.com shows that the email address Этот адрес электронной почты защищён от спам-ботов. У вас должен быть включен JavaScript для просмотра. is associated with 137 domains, including radaris.com. DomainTools also shows that email addresses used by Gary Norden for more than two decades – Этот адрес электронной почты защищён от спам-ботов. У вас должен быть включен JavaScript для просмотра., Этот адрес электронной почты защищён от спам-ботов. У вас должен быть включен JavaScript для просмотра. and Этот адрес электронной почты защищён от спам-ботов. У вас должен быть включен JavaScript для просмотра., among others – appear in the WHOIS registration records for a fleet of websites across people search including centeda.com, virtory.com, clubset.com, kworld.com, newenglandfacts.com and pub360.com.

Even more platforms for finding people associated with Gary Norden, such as publicreports.com and arrestfacts.com, are now referring interested clients to third-party search companies such as TruthFinder and PersonTrust.com.

The email addresses used by Gary Nard/Norden are also associated with a number of data broker sites that sell reports on companies, property owners and professional service providers, including bizstanding.com, homemetry.com, trustoria.com, homeflock.com , rehold.com, difive.com and projectlab.com.

Previously, Comby.com was a Russian-language social network, very similar to Facebook. The domain now redirects visitors to Privet.ru (“hello” in Russian), a dating site that claims to have 5 million users. Privet.ru claims to be owned by Dating Factory, which has offices in Switzerland. Privet.ru uses the domain Gary Norden eprofit.com for its domain name servers.

Dating Factory’s website says it sells “powerful dating technology” that helps clients create unique or niche dating sites. A review of the sample images available on the Dating Factory home page suggests that the term “dating” in this context refers to adult sites. Dating Factory also operates a community called FacebookOfSex, as well as the domain analslappers.com.