New York Attorney General Releases Fake FCC Comment-Finding Tool (Was Your Name Used?)

[TheBlackAdder]

Last edited Tue Dec 5, 2017, 01:01 PM - Edit history (3)

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New York Attorney General Releases Fake FCC Comment-Finding Tool


UPDATE: Dumbass me forgot to include the article link:

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/nyag-fake-fcc-comment-tool,36039.html

When an episode of Last Week Tonight incited a massive fury of comments that took down the FCC’s website, the FCC claimed instead that it had been targeted by a DDOS attack orchestrated by net neutrality supporters. Later, Redditors found a large amount of bot-submitted comments in the FCC database supporting net neutrality repeal. People who had found that their identity had been used to submit fraudulent comments penned an open letter to the FCC asking for an investigation.

In his own letter to the FCC, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman revealed that the FCC has probably not begun any investigation of its own and has also stone-walled external investigation. Schneiderman said his office began investigating the fraudulent comments six months ago after it discovered that a number of comments were posted with the identities of New Yorkers. As Schneiderman states in his letter to FCC chairman Ajit Pai:

We reached out for assistance to multiple top FCC officials, including you, three successive acting FCC General Counsels, and the FCC’s Inspector General. We offered to keep the requested records confidential, as we had done when my office and the FCC shared information and documents as part of past investigative work.

Yet we have received no substantive response to our investigative requests. None.

In order to support its investigation, the Office of the Attorney General has released a tool to help New Yorkers find out if their identity has been used to post a fraudulent comment on the FCC’s website. The search on the FCC website can take a while, and it may appear unresponsive, but it will return a result eventually. If an individual finds that their name is associated with fraudulent comments, they can use the link to submit a claim. Schneiderman’s responsibility is to the people of New York, but the tool will work the same for anyone.

https://ag.ny.gov/fakecomments


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If you are not a NY State resident, you can use this site, which performs a formatted name lookup search.

The link below is posed in the cited Toms Hardware article.

URL removed. Not valid for this campaign. Use the NY State link (update 3).


There was a hit for my name, but for a guy in Colorado.

UPDATE 2: The Non-NY State Link appears to only check on the older posts from 6 months ago. My brother lives in NY and I get two hits from November & December with his name, that do not show up with the comcasttrturf.com link.

UPDATE 3: NON-NY State residents can use the NY State link. It produces results for all 50 states. I removed the comcastroturf.com link as that is invalid for this campaign.

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[L. Coyote]

1. I think this is a fake comment:

The unprecedented regulatory power the Obama Administration imposed on the internet is smothering innovation, damaging the American economy and obstructing job creation. I urge the Federal Communications Commission to end the bureaucratic regulatory overreach of the internet known as Title II and restore the bipartisan light-touch regulatory consensus that enabled the internet to flourish for more than 20 years. The plan currently under consideration at the FCC to repeal Obama's Title II power grab is a positive step forward and will help to promote a truly free and open internet for everyone.

Every post using my name made this same exact comment, word for word. Each from a different state.

[Roland99]

4. Same here. 3 hits on my name. One in TN. Two in TX

[C_U_L8R]

6. Same here.

I found the same with my name.

[EllieBC]

9. Same. And I no longer live in the US...

I checked my sister and her husband's names too and they came up. Same comment.

[TheBlackAdder]

15. Shit, that guy from Colorado, with my name, had that same post too!

[hlthe2b]

2. OMG... My name is in there NINE times!!!!

1. Grand Haven, MI
2. Allen Park, MI
3. Fredericksburg, VA
4. Grayslake, IL
5. Pennsville, NJ
6. Grand Junction, CO
7. Sylvester, GA
8. Hobe Sound, FL
9. Amory, MS


I live in Colorado. Though my last name is common, my first name is not--especially with its fairly unique spelling. What am I supposed to do?

[LeftInTX]

3. OMG - My name and address is on that!!!

Dang, what do I do?

[C_U_L8R]

5. I have a common name BUT...

I saw dozens of postings with my same name,
all submitted on the same date with the same comment
but with different city and state. Clearly there are
tremendous number of fraudulent posts.

Here's the bullshit they posted...

"The unprecedented regulatory power the Obama Administration imposed on the internet is smothering innovation, damaging the American economy and obstructing job creation. I urge the Federal Communications Commission to end the bureaucratic regulatory overreach of the internet known as Title II and restore the bipartisan light-touch regulatory consensus that enabled the internet to flourish for more than 20 years. The plan currently under consideration at the FCC to repeal Obama's Title II power grab is a positive step forward and will help to promote a truly free and open internet for everyone.'

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

7. The only thing that shows up under my name

is the one I did make a couple of weeks ago simply stating I want the current net neutrality laws to remain in place.

I don't live in NY, and I do have a unique first and last name combination. That may help.

[Hekate]

8. KnR for visibility

[onecaliberal]

10. There is one in my name with an address in NE

[Leith]

11. I Got a Hit on My Name

Which isn't really surprising. My real name isn't common, but it isn't uncommon, either. I once got a call from a Phoenix Target Pharmacy that my prescription was ready - and I've never been to Phoenix. That's kind of understandable because I have had a couple prescriptions filled at Target and I live in southern NV.

But it's fake. I looked up the address on Google Maps: there are no buildings there at all, let alone a residence. Look for yourself:
1102 NE Grace Avenue, Battle Ground WA

Just for giggles, I checked for my fake name that I use for Twitter. No hits.

[dalton99a]

12. Kick.

[sakabatou]

13. My names not in there

But this is infuriating.

[tblue37]

14. My (fairly unusual) name was used 3 times, from 3 different states, to

make clearly robotic comments against net neutrality.

This really steams me!

[TheBlackAdder]

17. My brother's name had 8 comments, all submitted on 5/10/17 and 5/11/17, with the same comment.

[a kennedy]

16. My name didn't show up.

[Deb]

18. Thanks, I was listed too

"Brief Comment
The Obama-era FCC regulations known as "Title II" enable the federal government to exert an extraordinary and unnecessary amount of regulatory control over the internet. This bureaucratic overreach impedes innovation, stifles investment and continues to create economic uncertainty for one of the largest sectors of the U.S. economy. I support Chairman Pai's proposal to roll back Title II and restore the sensible regulatory framework that enjoyed broad bipartisan consensus and enabled the internet to thrive for more than two decades. I strongly urge all of the FCC Commissioners to support the Chairman's proposal to repeal the harmful Title II internet takeover."

lol that is hardly my idea of a brief comment