Feds Arrest Internet Retailer Who Said He Scared Customers for Better Google Results
An Internet retailer who said he mistreated customers for better Google search results has been charged with cyberstalking.
Vitaly Borker was charged after a customer told the New York Times about an alleged campaign of intimidation spurred when she tried to return the glasses she bought from decormyeyes.com, the New York Times reports. The woman had told the Times that her complaints led to threats of sexual assault, reinforced by a photo she received showing the front of her apartment building.
Borker had told the Times that scaring customers improved his Google search results because the company was unable to distinguish between praise and complaints. Google has since changed its search formula.
Borker was charged with mail fraud, wire fraud, making interstate threats and cyberstalking, the story says. He is accused of making night-time calls threatening sexual assault to one customer, and sending an e-mail to the employer of another customer that claimed its employee was gay and involved in drug sales. He is also accused of selling counterfeit goods and making unauthorized credit card charges, the New York Post reports.
Postal inspectors found guns in a search of Borker’s home, but Borker’s lawyer said they were just movie props.
U.S. District Judge Michael Dolinger of Manhattan denied bail, saying Borker was either “verging on psychotic” or had “an explosive personality.”
