I am very saddened to inform you that all my outlook based emails have been hacked for the past week, as confirmed by my IT Consultant today, that’s why I haven’t been receiving very important emails. What makes it worse is that it was done by my former IT manager and two other people who worked for me:
Brewster Bonifacio – my former IT Manager
Vincent Rufo – my former Assistant Photographer
Kristian “KC” Enriquez – my former Sales Manager
The three of them have put up ArtWorx Studios to go against my company, Spoolworks Studios (see how close their name is to mine?) since November 2009. I have been aware of them but I welcomed them without holding anything in mind. This is even with the fact that they are using my works and photos as part of their portfolio. My IT Consultant traced the origin of the hack to their ip addresses.
I am deeply offended however, to find this electronic ad below promoting their works and what makes it funny is they emailed it to ALL of my outlook contacts in one go, strangely, even those they DON’T KNOW! Some of you might have never heard of them, and you’re probably surprised to receive their electronic ads. Some of you emailed them back to me asking if I own this company or if I am involved with them. The answer is NO, and for those who have sent me important business emails, kindly resend them to my other address: spoolworks@hotmail.com or iam@lovenramos.com
Thank you for your support.
Loven
This is the electronic flyer they sent to all my clients!
They even copied our family Christmas greeting lay-out for this ad!!! See below...
See the uncanny resemblance?
Now you be the judge. There goes intellectual property rights to you.
The funny thing is that these people used to work for me and they were part of my family at one point. I took Brewster in as one of my first employees because he was fired from his work at Shinta Mani Hotel. Vincent Rufo is Brewster's best friend and I hired him out of Brewster's insistence to give his friend a chance. KC and I worked together when I first moved to Cambodia and was one of my founding partners in Spoolworks. He left me twice without any explanation and a few months later, him and Brewster and Vincent put up their own company... ARTWORX STUDIOS.
I don't mind the competition and all, but with their efforts of trying to destroy me by hacking through my email servers and my client database, as well as buying my domain www.spoolworks.com and linking it into their website, that's definitely below the belt!
What should I do?
Any suggestions?
OMG Loven, I'm so shocked! It's so sad about what these people have done to you, I hope those guys get their just desserts.
ReplyDeleteGrabeeh I can't believe it brotherhood. Pano nila nagawa to sau?! But hey! Look on the brighter side, once a mangongopya will always be mangongopya forever, hinde sila nag susuceed. What a shame to these people!
ReplyDeleteang bad naman......yeah--there's nothing wrong with competition basta healhy---but if it has to go this far that's already below the belt and you should not hold back...have you thought of taking legala ction kuya Loven?
ReplyDeletegather your evidence and take legal action kuya. that's just fair. it's called justice.....
ReplyDelete@chymera: and it's really sad that these people are fellow filipinos too!
ReplyDelete@edregin: yup, they definitely won;t go far, especially in a small country like cambodia!
@pusangkalye: yup, indeed. We've done research na on Cambodia's Intellectual Property Rights and Unfair Trade Practices Law and I think we have solid footing. Will definitely have legal action soon!
Grabe katindi gid ang ila pangangailangan, no? They have to resort to evil means to achieve whatever it is they want to achieve. In this digital age, anyone can steal your creative ideas and it happens all the time everyday. But to go through the lengths of hacking your email and doing malicious things (and who-knows-what else) with it... get a lawyer, pronto!
ReplyDeletePeople already know who you are, Loven, you have built a name for yourself ... you are the original, sila, imitations lang. Don't let these thieves bring you down.
Noted and will not get their services and/or recommend to others as well.
ReplyDeleteThat really sucks!
These are people who doesn't want to create and earn something for their names, rather they would wanted it the easy way and think they can just run away from it.
Where's the "utang na loob" in there guys? If its really true how can you do that to your fellow noypis?
These guys will have their own time. Conscience is your greatest enemy.
You are still the original Spool Artist, we will keep on spreading the word!
that's so bad...
ReplyDeletedoing their own business is alright but using your works is illegal.
You can sue them if you can prove that the IP that hacked your account was theirs. Contact your ISP ..they will give u the details.
Take them to court for stealing your contacts.
take care...
I know how you feel Love. It also happened to me in the past. I learned so much lesson about trusting friends and employees and too much familiarity thing. Be well Love, as long as you have peace in your heart, everything bright and wonderful come back to you. Regards to faith, don and freedom.
ReplyDeleteWell, that really hurts! Great thing you'll be able to cope with the situation. Another thing is that you have your IT consultant with you. Now you know how important it is to secure data to avoid circumstances like this.
ReplyDelete-Lisa Moore
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ReplyDeleteOuch! What happened to those hackers? Well, we need to be extra careful when it comes to our emails because hackers nowadays are pretty nifty at finding their way around security systems and such.
ReplyDelete