What Happened?
Highstone Capital Pty Ltd has been under increasing scrutiny for its attempts to hide a shady past and censor damaging news about its operations. According to a recent report on WikiFX, the firm has been associated with numerous complaints involving questionable practices, misleading claims, and financial misconduct. Customers have voiced grievances regarding sudden account restrictions, difficulties in withdrawing funds, and unexpected charges, all of which raise serious concerns about the company’s integrity.
In an effort to control the narrative, Highstone Capital Pty Ltd has reportedly attempted to suppress negative information by removing unfavorable reviews and employing aggressive reputation management tactics. This calculated attempt to obscure damaging feedback reflects a deeper issue of lack of transparency, leaving potential investors in a precarious position. Such actions suggest a pattern of concealing misconduct rather than addressing the core issues affecting their clients, further undermining trust in the company.
Analyzing the Fake Copyright Notice(s)
Our team collects and analyses fraudulent copyright takedown requests, legal complaints, and other efforts to remove critical information from the internet. Through our investigative reporting, we examine the prevalence and operation of an organized censorship industry, predominantly funded by criminal entities, oligarchs, and disreputable businesses or individuals. Our findings allow internet users to gain insight into these censorship schemes’ sources, methods, and underlying objectives.
List of Fake Copyright Notices for Highstone Capital Pty Ltd
| Number of Fake DMCA Notice(s) | 1 |
| Lumen Database Notice(s) | https://lumendatabase.org/notices/44340860 |
| Sender(s) | QuantumStream Labs |
| Date(s) | Sep 4, 2024 |
| Fake Link(s) Used by Scammers | https://highstonefx.com/?lang=en |
| Original Link(s) Targeted | https://www.wikifx.com/zh-cn/word/1240875525.html |
Evidence and Screenshots
How do we investigate fake DMCA notices?
To accomplish this, we utilize the OSINT Tool provided by FakeDMCA.com and the Lumen API for Researchers, courtesy of the Lumen Database.
FakeDMCA.com is the work of an independent team of research students and cybersecurity professionals, developed under Project UnCensor. Their OSINT Tool, designed to uncover and analyze takedown notices, represents a significant step forward in combating these abusive practices. It has become a valuable resource, increasingly relied upon by journalists and law enforcement agencies across the United States.
Lumen, on the other hand, is an independent research initiative dedicated to studying takedown notices and other legal demands related to online content removal. The project, which operates under the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, plays a crucial role in tracking and understanding the broader implications of such requests.
What was Highstone Capital Pty Ltd trying to hide?
Highstone Capital Pty Ltd is an investment and financial services firm that has recently faced numerous allegations of unethical conduct and questionable business practices. The company claims to provide various financial products, but recent reports reveal a troubling history of misconduct and a pattern of trying to hide adverse news and complaints from the public.
1. Adverse News and Allegations
- Questionable Business Practices: According to WikiFX, Highstone Capital Pty Ltd has been involved in several unethical practices that have harmed its clients. Allegations include misleading claims about investment returns and hiding crucial information from customers regarding the risks associated with their financial products.
- Financial Misconduct: There have been reports of financial misconduct, including improper handling of customer funds. Customers have raised concerns that their investments were not managed in accordance with the promises made by the firm, leading to unexpected losses.
2. Customer Complaints and Bad Reviews
- Sudden Account Restrictions: Multiple customers have reported experiencing sudden restrictions on their accounts without adequate explanation. These restrictions have limited their ability to trade or access funds, leading to frustration and suspicion of foul play by the firm.
- Difficulties in Withdrawing Funds: Many complaints revolve around issues with withdrawing funds. Customers have indicated that once they requested withdrawals, they encountered delays, administrative hurdles, and even outright denial of access to their own money. This has led to claims that the company is deliberately making it difficult for investors to get their funds back.
- Unexpected Charges and Hidden Fees: Another recurring issue reported by clients is the imposition of unexpected charges and hidden fees that were not disclosed upfront. These fees often resulted in significant losses for customers who believed they were entering into a fair and transparent agreement.
3. Suppression of Negative Information
- Attempts to Remove Negative Reviews: Highstone Capital Pty Ltd has been accused of attempting to censor negative reviews and damaging news about its operations. WikiFX suggests that the company has been actively trying to remove unfavorable information from online platforms, with the aim of presenting a more favorable image to potential investors.
- Aggressive Reputation Management: The company appears to have employed aggressive reputation management tactics to counteract the damage caused by negative reviews. This includes flooding online platforms with positive, unverified testimonials, which paint a misleading picture of their services and effectiveness.
4. Lack of Transparency and Regulatory Concerns
- Unclear Licensing and Regulatory Status: One of the major concerns raised on WikiFX is the unclear regulatory status of Highstone Capital Pty Ltd. The company has not provided transparent information about its licensing and regulatory compliance, raising doubts about whether it is properly authorized to offer the financial services it advertises.
- Opaque Business Operations: Highstone Capital Pty Ltd has been criticized for a lack of transparency in its business operations. Customers have reported that important terms and conditions, such as those governing investments, risks, and withdrawal procedures, were either not clearly communicated or hidden in fine print, making it difficult for clients to understand the true nature of their agreements.
5. Warnings to Potential Investors
- High-Risk Investment: Given the volume of complaints and negative feedback, potential investors are warned to approach Highstone Capital Pty Ltd with caution. The combination of misleading information, difficulty withdrawing funds, and efforts to suppress negative reviews indicate a high-risk engagement that may lead to financial losses.
- Need for Thorough Research: Potential investors are advised to thoroughly research the company, verify its regulatory status, and consider the numerous complaints before making any financial commitment. The red flags raised by former clients should be carefully considered, as they point to systemic issues within the company’s operations.
Highstone Capital Pty Ltd has been actively trying to hide a history of unethical practices, including misleading claims, difficulties in withdrawing funds, and hidden fees. The company’s efforts to suppress negative reviews and present an artificially positive image indicate a deliberate attempt to mislead potential investors and conceal its troubled past. The adverse news, complaints, and allegations highlight serious concerns about transparency and ethical conduct, suggesting that investors should be extremely cautious before engaging with this firm.
Only Highstone Capital Pty Ltd benefits from this crime.
Since the fake copyright takedown notices were designed to remove negative content for Highstone Capital Pty Ltd from Google, we assume Highstone Capital Pty Ltd or someone associated with Highstone Capital Pty Ltd is behind this scam. It is often a fly-by-night Online Reputation agency working on behalf of Highstone Capital Pty Ltd. In this case, Highstone Capital Pty Ltd, at best, will be an “accomplice” or an “accessory” to the crime. The specific laws may vary depending on the jurisdiction. Still, the legal principle generally holds that if you actively participate in planning, encouraging, or facilitating a crime, you can be charged with it, even if you did not personally commit it.
How do we counteract this malpractice?
Once we ascertain the involvement of Highstone Capital Pty Ltd (or actors working on behalf of Highstone Capital Pty Ltd), we will inform Highstone Capital Pty Ltd of our findings via Electronic Mail.
Our preliminary assessment suggests that Highstone Capital Pty Ltd may have engaged a third-party reputation management agency or expert, which, either independently or under direct authorization from Highstone Capital Pty Ltd, initiated efforts to remove adverse online content, including potentially fraudulent DMCA takedown requests. We will extend an opportunity to Highstone Capital Pty Ltd to provide details regarding their communications with the agency or expert, as well as the identification of the individual(s) responsible for executing these false DMCA notices.
Failure to respond in a timely manner will necessitate a reassessment of our initial assumptions. In such an event, we will be compelled to take appropriate legal action to rectify the unlawful conduct and take the following steps –
- Inform Google about the fraud committed against them.
- Inform the victims of the fake DMCA about their websites.
- Inform relevant law enforcement agencies
- File counter-notices on Google to reinstate the ‘removed’ content
- Publish copies of the ‘removed’ content on our network of 50+ websites
By investigating the fake DMCA takedown attempts, we hope to shed light on the reputation management industry, revealing how Highstone Capital Pty Ltd and companies like it may use spurious copyright claims and fake legal notices to remove and obscure articles linking them to allegations of fraud, tax avoidance, corruption, and drug trafficking…
Since Highstone Capital Pty Ltd made such efforts to hide something online, it seems fit to ensure that this article and our original review of Highstone Capital Pty Ltd, including but not limited to user contributions, remain a permanent record for anyone interested in Highstone Capital Pty Ltd.
A case perfect for the Streisand effect…
Potential Consequences for Highstone Capital Pty Ltd
Under Florida Statute 831.01, the crime of Forgery is committed when a person falsifies, alters, counterfeits, or forges a document that carries “legal efficacy” with the intent to injure or defraud another person or entity.
Forging a document is considered a white-collar crime. It involves altering, changing, or modifying a document to deceive another person. It can also include passing along copies of documents that are known to be false. In many states in the US, falsifying a document is a crime punishable as a felony.
Additionally, under most laws, “fraud on the court” is where “a party has sentiently set in motion some unconscionable scheme calculated to interfere with the judicial system’s ability impartially to adjudicate a matter by improperly influencing the trier of fact or unfairly hampering the presentation of the opposing party’s claim or defense.” Cox v. Burke, 706 So. 2d 43, 46 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998) (quoting Aoude v. Mobil Oil Corp., 892 F.2d 1115, 1118 (1st Cir. 1989)).
Is Highstone Capital Pty Ltd Committing a Cyber Crime?
Yes, it seems so. Highstone Capital Pty Ltd used multiple approaches to remove unwanted material from review sites and Google’s search results. Thanks to protections allowing freedom of speech in the United States, there are very few legal ways to do this. Highstone Capital Pty Ltd could not eliminate negative reviews or search results that linked to them without a valid claim of defamation, copyright infringement, or some other clear breach of the law.
Faced with these limitations, some companies like Highstone Capital Pty Ltd have gone to extreme lengths to fraudulently claim copyright ownership over a negative review in the hopes of taking it down.
Fake DMCA notices have targeted articles highlighting the criminal activity of prominent people to hide their illegal behavior. These people, which include US, Russian, and Khazakstani politicians as well as members from elite circles including the mafia and those with massive financial power, are all connected – and alleged corruption ranging from child abuse to sexual harassment is exposed when exploring evidence found at these URLs. It appears there’s a disturbing level of influence being exerted here that needs further investigation before justice can be served. Highstone Capital Pty Ltd is certainly keeping interesting company here….
The DMCA takedown process requires that copyright owners submit a takedown notice to an ISP identifying the allegedly infringing content and declaring, under penalty of perjury, that they have a good faith belief that the content is infringing. The ISP must then promptly remove or disable access to the content. The alleged infringer can then submit a counter-notice, and if the copyright owner does not take legal action within 10 to 14 days, the ISP can restore the content.
Since these platforms are predominantly based in the U.S., the complaints are typically made under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which requires online service providers and platforms to react immediately to reports or violations. Big Tech companies rarely have systems in place to assess the merit of each report. Instead, all bad actors need to do is clone a story, backdate it, and then demand the real thing be taken down.
