14 DAY TRIAL // Federal authorities arrested a 34-year-old man from Brooklyn, who ran a website selling counterfeit designer eyeglasses and bullied unsatisfied customers.
Vitaly Borker is the owner of a site called DecorMyEyes.com, which he managed to get at the top of luxury eyewear search results by gathering complaints from customers.
His unusual method of increasing the site's PageRank was covered in a New York Times article published two weeks ago and even prompted Google to revise its search algorithms to demote online merchants with poor reviews.
Borker used several aliases when speaking with his customers, including Tony Russo and Stanley Bolds. He also used intimidation to persuade unsatisfied clients to drop their chargeback claims and, on some ocassions, even impersonated them in phone calls with banks.
But what he thought was a really good business idea, which he referred to as negative advertising, has now come back to haunt him.
Federal authorities arrested him yesterday on charges of engaging in threatening interstate communications, mail fraud and wire fraud.
"Vitaly Borker, an alleged cyberbully and fraudster, cheated his customers, and when they complained, tried to intimidate them with obscenity and threats of serious violence," said Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara.
When prosecutors executed a search warrant at Borker’s house, they found firearms and ammunition, as well as boxes of counterfeit glasses.
According to an affidavit signed by U.S. Postal Inspector Douglas G. Veatch, who was involved in the investigation, there were well over 200 complaints filed against DecorMyEyes and its owner with the Federal Trade Commission during the past three years.
“From my review of these complaints, a distinct pattern emerges: generally, many customers stated that they purchased eyewear from the website; that it was defective or appeared to be counterfeit; that they tried to return or exchange it; that a campaign of aggressive, obscene, and intimidating conduct followed from a representative of DecorMyEyes.com [...],” Mr. Veatch wrote.
Borker faces a maximum penalty of up to fifty years in prison, but additional charges might be added after all items seized at his house are properly analyzed.