I hate to be a downer, but so far every site that has come under investigation has been shut down within a few years.
Is it safe to contact them to be verified at this time?
Your files are still safe and have nothing to do with her current (old) issues.
why wouldnt they be? did I miss something?
Same here. What happened?
Meaning no disrespect to anyone, but once two people know a secret it's not a secret.
Believe it or not as you see fit, but it is absolutely, positively, 100% certain that the files have been accessed by USDOJ. Did the attorneys in the Financial Litigation Unit (FLU) share information with other LE agencies? I will definitely ask next time I see them.
But really, what do you think?
Membership and several parts of RS-AVS are down.
Yep I'm using an alias so I don't get beaten up.
No I don't have an axe that grind.
Yes it could be down for routine maintenance or some legit reason.
No I don't really believe that all is well and my info is safe
No idea what you're seeing wherever you are.
The entire site seems fine from here in good 'ol Chicago
All pages load just fine.
Been that way all day long.
I've searched for a few ladies earlier and they had me verified just fine....
I have no reason to worry. I'm OK with it all
I get that a bunch of you are friends with the owner, but the insistence that "all is fine, you have nothing to worry about" is becoming insufferable. Maybe some of you ought to consider how carefully you screen your clients, how carefully you protect your real life identity from clients, why you do so, and then think about how would you feel if a database containing your real life private info was compromised and out in the wild? Would you gladly accept a bunch of hobbyists saying "you have nothing to worry about, nobody wants to hurt you, nothing to see here, move on and keep working"?
All of us here have a very real interest in the privacy of our information. We all depend upon each other to protect that privacy, and when someone gets compromised, says nothing about it, and continues on as of nothing happened for MONTHS you'd better believe it raises serious questions of honesty and trust. Certain people's flippant dismissals of those VERY valid concerns as silly, or overblown, are absurd and they make me question whether or not I should trust then and what role they might be playing in this. Despite statements to the contrary, there is about ZERO reason to believe that database hasn't been shared with other departments and they're not interested in what it contains.
And who exactly are you to be so sure this "database is out in the wild" and being shared by other departments?
If "they" have the database as you claim, where is the proof? Has anyone been contacted by anyone? I know I haven't and I'm in that database. For many many years in fact.
How are you all knowing? Were you there in all those discussions back in 2008 revolving around the tax circumstances?
Did you ever think that maybe if someone is "friends with the owner" as you put it they may be privvy to a little more information than you ever might be?
If you're uncomfortable dealing with rs-avs, so be it. Just don't claim to be so sure "they have the database" based on absolutely nothing but your own paranoid reasoning.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DG97dAVZns
-- Modified on 1/15/2017 9:59:00 AM
They've been hugely successful in Chicago.
I've always thought, and even have suggested to RS-AVS that they should broaden the area the cover. I would like to see them all over the country as they are in Chicago.
But why didn't they move the business outside of the US? I'm sure they could find a company in India to host this site, even own it legally, then hire them (American RS employees) to work for them. Maybe it's not that simple.
I hate to be a downer, but so far every site that has come under investigation has been shut down within a few years.
People say that they sites based outside of the US are safe but I don't know if that's really true or not
I hate to be a downer, but so far every site that has come under investigation has been shut down within a few years.
Well, if the initial tax situation came to light back in 2008, it's been what, 9 years now? Seems like a long time to investigate something that even the FBI said wasn't outright illegal... since were using that one article as the go-to know-it-all source for all of this.
A tax situation came to light, and after years of back forth, a conclusion was reached. Not too good for the owner, but hey, life goes on, and the site goes on. Business like usual. If you hate the site and how it does what it does, that's your opinion, and you're certainly entitled to that, but no right to make blanket statements "of fact" when you can't 'cause you don't know....
Many people panic, but most people seem to believe that since nothing has happened so far to the members of any of these sites, we will be continue to be safe when future sites are investigated or shut down.
If we could be in trouble just for being on escorting sites, then we'd all be in trouble. There has to be proof of a crime. The burden of is on the prosecution.
RS-AVS has always worked well for me and I will continue to use them.
Based upon what has happened with the owner will my RS2K information still be considered a valid form of verification for most Chicago area providers?
Providers: Do you still accept it as verification?
If not, do I need to get a subscription to another verification service? If so Which one?
I'd rather not change but if RS2K is not accepted I guess I need to
rs-avs is still doing what they do.........
Some providers still accept it. I suggest writing them to find out first.
As much as rs2k is a Chicago institution and it pained me to do so, I had our ad pulled and we stopped accepting them 15 minutes after I saw the news article.
I want to be clear, I have no proof either way. But the protection of our clients and providers discretion trumps everything. We wont put anyones info in jeopardy over loyalty to someone or because we might book more taking it
Thank you for understanding the big picture. Very intelligent response.
people can call us chicken little or paranoid but the fact remains that folks in this community need to be extra cautious for obvious reasons. therefore, i applaud the people who have spoke up that the risk just simply isn't worth it. of course we don't know for sure if the database has been compromised or not but for some of us we feel the chance is great enough not to mess around with it. safety/privacy is top priority. i personally would feel more comfortable booking a provider that is not with rs2k and/or doesn't accept their verification anymore. i recall maybe 1 or 2 of providers who explicitly state on their website that they ONLY accept rs2k. we don't have to go as far as to say "i don't accept RS" but if i saw an ad that said, "i only accept p411, DC, or 2 provider references" that wold make me feel comfortable. obviously DC/p411 isn't bulletproof either, but this is the situation we are in... just my .02
(btw, i don't think p411 is US anyways, i could be wrong. RS on the other hand was based here)
Agree about the great posts from Mya and 2KG - straight forward and honest.
to answer the poster above, P411 is based in Canada, which makes if feel safer to me.
It never was acceptable...
As you can see, I don't typically post on boards. But I've been around a while and always enjoy reading your posts/stories. I just ran across this thread (yep - way behind!) and felt it was too important to stay silent.
RS-AVS is run by perhaps the kindest, most generous person I've met. If you know her well, you can vouch for the same. Anyone who verifies with her, knows the service is beyond reliable. Even when when there are false claims to the contrary, she never gets involved in mud-slinging. Everyone is verified thoroughly - including advertisers. She goes the extra mile to share relevant data that improves safety for everyone.
RS-AVS is not named in her case. It is not under investigation by the DOJ or any other government entity. No databases have been compromised. In an industry fraught with reckless behavior and a lack of accountability, she's a recognized part of the solution. She wants everyone to be successful. She invests a great deal of time on social media, promoting her clients at no additional cost. When you find her brand of integrity and genuine concern, it's worth defending.
I realize I must sound like her mother or her best friend - ha. And with a history of "non-posting", many of you will take this with grain of salt. I'm not a VIP member. And no, I'm not Cathy - just someone close enough to know the details and to appreciate many of the extra things she does. What's right is right. We need more people like her and more services like RS in this industry.