Cracker.com vs The World

[SashaSin]

Hi everyone,

There's been a lot of fuss about cracker.com (formerly known as backpage.com) being seized by the government in the latest FBI operation to assist in sex trafficking. I knew cracker.com was headed to a point of no return when I woke up one day to post an ad and the option to use a credit card was not available and the only option was bitcoin (this was 2 weeks prior to cracker.com being seized.) I contacted cracker.com via email because I thought that it may have been an error. A couple days later I received a response stating:



"Hello,

Thank you for your email. As you have noticed, we are currently not offering the Credit Card option as a payment method.

In the meantime, you can always use the Cryptocurrency option to upgrade your ads and buy credits by following the link below:

http://my.cracker.com/classifieds/central/PurchaseCredits.html/www.cracker.com/

Here are a few simple ways to purchase BitCoin:

1. Bitcoin ATM - https://coinatmradar.com/

2. Paxful (online) - https://paxful.com/

In case you need help, please do not hesitate to ask, we will get back to you as soon as we have updates.

Best regards,"


Without hesitation, I began to do some research on bitcoins, watched a documentary, asked a few of my banker friends and other escorts what they thought about bitcoin. Later that evening, I purchased a few bitcoins and transferred it to cracker.com. I thought to myself "Why the hell didn't you just purchase a ton of credits girl?" The process of purchasing bitcoins was not the easiest and isn't slightly convenient but I did appreciate the privacy. After watching a couple documentaries I completely understood and admired the bitcoin idea.


Throughout the week, I noticed less escorts posting ( most likely because of the inconvenience of purchasing bitcoins). My intuition told me not to purchase a ton of credits but to continually purchase enough credits for a day of posting. I purchased credits daily up until cracker.com was seized. Thank you intuition!!!


I've heard stories of some escorts having more than 500.00USD in credits with cracker and haven't heard anything about a refund.


Cracker.com being seized could be the end of work for some sex workers but it can also mean a more professional start for some as well. It could be a difficult journey for some guys trying to find their sweetest escape but it can also mean more safe, quality arrangements too.


Countless times have I heard from clients how they've accidentally met a transgender escort, been robbed or the photos of the escort looked completely different from the photos on cracker.com One of my regulars contacted me just to vent about meeting an escort and having full on anal for an hour to finally grab her pussy and felt a sweet, little cock instead.


Personally, I know that it will be a challenge for most to find the proper advertising company to solicit clientele after cracker.com but I think that most escorts should develop and expand their business by having several options for advertising and marketing including a professional website. I also think that clients should seek more professional escorts to help enrich and encourage a safe and satisfying adult community. I absolutely love being a provider and I hate to hear when guys have a terrible time but unfortunately you get what you pay for and spend time on.


I also do support the war against sex trafficking. I know a few girls back at home in America (Atlanta) who started at a very young age living in a house with other girls and a couple guys, being forced to escort and take photos that were posted on cracker.com. It was up until one of the girls mom who had reported her missing a year ago found her on cracker.com that the girls were finally released.


Thankfully, there are companies like tokyoadultguide.com that promotes a healthy community and actually verifies if the escort is well and independent. Hopefully, this operation will only promote a safer escort and adult community across the map.


Do you guys think that cracker.com being seized will encourage a safer community, help encourage more escorts to become independent/professional and actually assist in the war on sex trafficking?

 

[Anna Summer]

You might want to read these threads addressing the issue

https://tokyoadultguide.com/threads/sesta-fosta-law-passage-what-it-means-for-tag.18583/


https://tokyoadultguide.com/threads/backpage-is-gone-what-else-to-use.18818/

 

[SashaSin]

You might want to read these threads addressing the issue

https://tokyoadultguide.com/threads/sesta-fosta-law-passage-what-it-means-for-tag.18583/


https://tokyoadultguide.com/threads/backpage-is-gone-what-else-to-use.18818/

Hi Anna,

Thank you, I've read through these threads. I think the first thread is mostly touching on the topic of "...what it means for TAG" and the other is mostly touching on "what else should we as escorts use instead of cracker.com", right? Let me rephrase my thread. I want to know what people think about the safety mostly. Whether the seize will be beneficial to professional escorts, whether it'll actually help abolish sex trafficking and if it'll encourage new escorts to become more professional and independent. Has cracker.com been more of a headache for clients and a set back/distraction for escorts anyway?

 

[Kaizyn]

Has cracker.com been more of a headache for clients and a set back/distraction for escorts anyway?

Ignoring any moral, safety, or trafficking related issues, from the standpoint of someone who just started looking into this scene... I had actually looked at backpage some time ago just to get an idea of things, but after seeing the types of ads up there and reading stories about people's experiences with it, I quickly abandoned it as even something to use for reference or comparison.

I was quite hesitant to try anything P4P, and I eventually mustered up the nerve and went with a heavily reviewed place here and it was pretty good. If I had ended up getting ripped off or some other scam, I may very well have abandoned P4P completely. Instead I've ended up spending quite a bit of money on it since then.

I guess what I'm trying to say is ... getting rid of a relatively lawless site with scams/ripoffs is probably good for the overall health of the P4P economy. Someone gets scammed on it once, they're probably not going to be quick to try again, so the legitimate providers could suffer, even if they were getting clients from it... how many potential new clients were lost because they picked the wrong ad and then gave up?

Unless others are just a lot more tenacious than I am, and will grind through the bad to find the good :-P

 

[Jishin]

I would love if more SPs accepted bitcoins. It’s pretty much the perfect way to pay. Taking out gobs of cash is suspicious and inconvenient.

There is the issue of bitcoin value fluctuating, which could be an issue. And of course pulling money in and out has some cost. But I think the convenience makes it worth it.

Sasha let’s give it a shot on our next date

 

[rob040188]

I also do support the war against sex trafficking.

I'm new to p4p so my opinions may not carry a lot of weight. I guess the passage of the sesta/fosta law might minimize the sex trafficking in the US. I said "might". Cause sex traffickers will probably become more careful. It is analogous to boxing; Boxer A punches then Boxer B counter punches.

Thankfully, there are companies like tokyoadultguide.com that promotes a healthy community and actually verifies if the escort is well and independent. Hopefully, this operation will only promote a safer escort and adult community across the map.

Yup I agree with you on this. Before I tested the waters with p4p I read a lot of threads on TAG. And, yes there were so many horror stories with providers from cracker and cl. Good thing I stumbled onto this website.

I want to know what people think about the safety mostly.

As a client, my main considerations are privacy and safety. I think a verified escort on TAG will not risk her reputation to be tarnished cause this will harm her business [hence ensuring my privacy and safety]. Also, TAG Indies can get a vibe if their potential clients are @$$holes or not based on their TAG posts (assuming the potential client is a TAG member that posts regularly on TAG). But, like I said i'm new to this scene. So what I wrote here is just based on my very limited experience.

Whether the seize will be beneficial to professional escorts

I hope so. More power to you verified indies on TAG

 

[User#8628]

For Japan, i don't think it matters a lot. I have used backpage a long time ago and met some high ballers there, but there were always a lot of flakes, and i haven't used in years because it got less and less good (girls with other ads dropped their prices and even more emails seemed weird and not serious). For me its no difference.

Hooooowever, i think this is a MAJOR problem for US escorts.
Backpage is by far the most well known and most likely to guarantee customers that are new to the industry. Also the best place where new escorts who really need the money can easily start up and advertise for free. Some places may have regional boards, but not everywhere, and of course the new laws also forbid those boards.
Having your own site costs money and is not very useful. How are people supposed to find your site if you can not post it in an ad, unless you are a very famous escort or something.

Unlike what some people believe, this will NOT stop trafficing, this will stimulate trafficking. There was no trafficking before the internet? Of course there was. Pimps are known to have a network of male customers that they can page up when they get new girls in, and they will also go onto the streets or post on other websites trying to look for customers. What you said about the mother seeing her child on cracker was an ADVANTAGE, if a guy kidnaps a girl now and gets her customers in more obscure ways, nobody will see her photos and realize where she is.

Prostitution existed far before the internet. This will force girls onto the streets, where customers will beat them up and pimps will recruit them, or into illegal brothels where the owners may exploit them.

With websites that girls use to screen clients also having to shut down, girls' lives are in danger. Even without being forced, its probably saver for a girl to work together with a shop or male protector just to keep them alive.

The US is a very dangerous place for sexworkers and this only makes it more dangerous. Of course i have never worked there but from what i've heard, I'd recommend girls to work in the legal brothels in Nevada, do stripping and optionally offer extras to repeat clients, be a sugar baby or to freestyle in luxury hotels.
Not all girls have those options though, some people really need some quick money and they deserve to be safe as well.
The internet made things easier and saver and now the US doesn't like that and is comming for anything SW have...

As for cracker alone, bottomline of my opinion is, it doesn't matter for trafficking, and in some places with other advertisement sites, cracker is not needed, but not all places have this option and not all other advertisement sites have a free option.

 

[e-smile]

I'm not an expert on law but if a site like that was hosted in a country where prostitution is legal can it still be seized ?

 

[Babaram]

I'm not an expert on law but if a site like that was hosted in a country where prostitution is legal can it still be seized ?

It is more complicated than that. See the other posts on TAG.

TL;DR: If you are a U.S. citizen, or resident alien, and operate a site facilitating sex in the U.S. or any country where prostitution is illegal, then you are screwed, and not in a good way. It does not matter where the server is located. If you are outside the country, and operate a .com, they can simply route your domain to ns1.seizedservers.com, and instead of hot babes, your customers see FBI shields. One of your best bets would be being a German citizen with a server in Germany. Prostitution is fully legal in Germany, and they do not extradite their citizens.. There aren't too many countries where prostitution is completely legal. In Japan, it's not. Even in Thailand, it is not.

 

[Wwanderer]

If you are a U.S. citizen, or resident alien, and operate a site facilitating sex in the U.S. or any country where prostitution is illegal, then you are screwed, and not in a good way. It does not matter where the server is located. If you are outside the country, and operate a .com, they can simply route your domain to ns1.seizedservers.com, and instead of hot babes, your customers see FBI shields. One of your best bets would be being a German citizen with a server in Germany. Prostitution is fully legal in Germany, and they do not extradite their citizens.. There aren't too many countries where prostitution is completely legal. In Japan, it's not. Even in Thailand, it is not.

This is all accurate to the best of my understanding, and if the SESTA/FOSTA laws are vigorously enforced, it may well drive nearly all SW-related website,services and servers to countries and their citizens (such as Germany) where the legal situation is favorable. Most likely some small and poorer countries will change their laws to attract this sort of business. In many cases the ultimate ownership and financing of these efforts will be deeply cloaked through a maze of “paper holding companies” located in a string of different countries and such so as to make it very difficult to determine who violated the US laws, if anyone. Prices will likely go up somewhat for the hosting of SW-related sites and related charges.

Very similar things have happened with other online activities that law enforcement has tried to suppress. Internet virtual casinos are an example.

Finally, note that the new laws may well not be heavily enforced. Since p4p first began to have an online presence, in the 1990s, almost all US states have had anti-prostitution laws sufficient to allow prosecution of the owners and operators of p4p-related sites and the SWs who used them, and indeed this has happened fairly regularly. A number of high-profile sites have been closed down over the years by local authorities. However, and has traditionally been the case in the US and many other countries (including Japan), law enforcement has turned a blind eye (i.e., ignored) p4p-related “crimes” as long as they remained low profile and no one complained too loudly. The currently existing internet community and culture in the US developed and grew in that environment. It is by no means certain that it will be the same with SESTA/FOSTA, but that is my personal best guess at what will happen after some initial surge of prosecutions by the Feds.

The very sad and unfair thing is that the law is having bad consequences for many SWs at least in the short run, even without much enforcement so far.

-Ww

 

[e-smile]

It is more complicated than that. See the other posts on TAG.

TL;DR: If you are a U.S. citizen, or resident alien, and operate a site facilitating sex in the U.S. or any country where prostitution is illegal, then you are screwed, and not in a good way. It does not matter where the server is located. If you are outside the country, and operate a .com, they can simply route your domain to ns1.seizedservers.com, and instead of hot babes, your customers see FBI shields. One of your best bets would be being a German citizen with a server in Germany. Prostitution is fully legal in Germany, and they do not extradite their citizens.. There aren't too many countries where prostitution is completely legal. In Japan, it's not. Even in Thailand, it is not.

So if people all around the world put their ads in a German site made by a German it should be OK.

 

[Babaram]

So if people all around the world put their ads in a German site made by a German it should be OK.

As far as the German is concerned, yes

 

[Wwanderer]

So if people all around the world put their ads in a German site made by a German it should be OK.

As far as the German is concerned, yes

Exactly. The SWs all over the world would still be violating or not violating their local laws the same as before. The new US law has no effect at all on any of that; it “just” interferes with communication about p4p, including advertising, online.

-Ww

 

[Babaram]

Exactly. The SWs all over the world would still be violating or not violating their local laws the same as before. The new US law has no effect at all on any of that; it “just” interferes with communication about p4p, including advertising, online.

-Ww

Exactly. And in doing that under the mantle of trafficking, it brings down the freedom of the net.

 

[Babaram]

Finally, note that the new laws may well not be heavily enforced. Since p4p first began to have an online presence, in the 1990s, almost all US states have had anti-prostitution laws sufficient to allow prosecution of the owners and operators of p4p-related sites and the SWs who used them, and indeed this has happened fairly regularly. A number of high-profile sites have been closed down over the years by local authorities.

The insidious part of this law is that it makes operators close down the sites by themselves. Until a week ago, they were protected by the "user generated content" decision. Police had to hunt down provider by provider, and prove that money was exchanged for sex, and not for a dinner date.

Now suddenly, operators "facilitate prostitution," which can cost up to 25 years in the slammer. They talk to their lawyer, and the lawyer says "shut it down."

 

[Babaram]

Actually, I see one of the many hammers to fall at Twitter, where suddenly, there is a lot of sex and explicit offers.

 

[SashaSin]

Ignoring any moral, safety, or trafficking related issues, from the standpoint of someone who just started looking into this scene... I had actually looked at backpage some time ago just to get an idea of things, but after seeing the types of ads up there and reading stories about people's experiences with it, I quickly abandoned it as even something to use for reference or comparison.

I was quite hesitant to try anything P4P, and I eventually mustered up the nerve and went with a heavily reviewed place here and it was pretty good. If I had ended up getting ripped off or some other scam, I may very well have abandoned P4P completely. Instead I've ended up spending quite a bit of money on it since then.

I guess what I'm trying to say is ... getting rid of a relatively lawless site with scams/ripoffs is probably good for the overall health of the P4P economy. Someone gets scammed on it once, they're probably not going to be quick to try again, so the legitimate providers could suffer, even if they were getting clients from it... how many potential new clients were lost because they picked the wrong ad and then gave up?"

Hey, thanks for replying. I absolutely agree with you. I'm certain if I would have gotten scammed or taken advantage of from any advertising company or client during my start, I wouldn't be as successful as I am now. I'm thankful that TAG was my first option as a home and advertising since moving to Japan. Backpage had no sense of care or concern for anyone even their own clientele which was always unappealing and said a lot about their longevity.

 

[SashaSin]

So if people all around the world put their ads in a German site made by a German it should be OK.

I wondered about that as well. I'm sure there's another company creating a site similar to Backpage and learning from all of Backpage's flaws as we speak - if the CEO's haven't already invested in a copy site outside of the U.S. already. I wonder why they didn't think expect this to happen eventually? They can't be too surprised.

 

[Babaram]

There are tons of classified ad and escort sites operating completely legal beyond U.S. jurisdiction. I bet they are all looking very hard at the suddenly very appealing U.S. market

 

[SashaSin]

For Japan, i don't think it matters a lot. I have used backpage a long time ago and met some high ballers there, but there were always a lot of flakes, and i haven't used in years because it got less and less good (girls with other ads dropped their prices and even more emails seemed weird and not serious). For me its no difference.

Hooooowever, i think this is a MAJOR problem for US escorts.
Backpage is by far the most well known and most likely to guarantee customers that are new to the industry. Also the best place where new escorts who really need the money can easily start up and advertise for free. Some places may have regional boards, but not everywhere, and of course the new laws also forbid those boards.
Having your own site costs money and is not very useful. How are people supposed to find your site if you can not post it in an ad, unless you are a very famous escort or something.

Unlike what some people believe, this will NOT stop trafficing, this will stimulate trafficking. There was no trafficking before the internet? Of course there was. Pimps are known to have a network of male customers that they can page up when they get new girls in, and they will also go onto the streets or post on other websites trying to look for customers. What you said about the mother seeing her child on cracker was an ADVANTAGE, if a guy kidnaps a girl now and gets her customers in more obscure ways, nobody will see her photos and realize where she is.

Prostitution existed far before the internet. This will force girls onto the streets, where customers will beat them up and pimps will recruit them, or into illegal brothels where the owners may exploit them.

With websites that girls use to screen clients also having to shut down, girls' lives are in danger. Even without being forced, its probably saver for a girl to work together with a shop or male protector just to keep them alive.

The US is a very dangerous place for sexworkers and this only makes it more dangerous. Of course i have never worked there but from what i've heard, I'd recommend girls to work in the legal brothels in Nevada, do stripping and optionally offer extras to repeat clients, be a sugar baby or to freestyle in luxury hotels.
Not all girls have those options though, some people really need some quick money and they deserve to be safe as well.
The internet made things easier and saver and now the US doesn't like that and is comming for anything SW have...

As for cracker alone, bottomline of my opinion is, it doesn't matter for trafficking, and in some places with other advertisement sites, cracker is not needed, but not all places have this option and not all other advertisement sites have a free option.

Hey Alice how are you? Thanks for responding. I agree, cracker.com being seized makes things much more difficult for advertising if you are a new escort or an escort who solely depended on cracker.com for advertising. Here in Japan we have better options. I think having a site does give you some advantages. Clients do treat you with more respect when they notice that you have invested more than escorts who don't. It is always smart to establish your own domain just in case something happens like cracker.com. Your clients will always remember your address and you will have a database of contacts for your clients. Also, if you put a little extra into your website, you can work on Google Analytics to have your website appear on the first few pages on Google. Usually clients type in "Tokyo Escorts" or "Japan Escorts" to find escort companies here and you can have that keyworded into your site. I think it's one of the best "business cards" besides having a reputable company like TAG verify you.

Sex trafficking won't end until we sex workers/escorts make things more safe for our own industry by being responsible/independent, creating more safe places and partnering with each other.

The U.S. is all over the place. It's a dangerous place for "workers" period. The advantage lies within being as independent as possible or creating your own company.

 

[DocMcStuffins]

Hey Alice how are you? Thanks for responding. I agree, cracker.com being seized makes things much more difficult for advertising if you are a new escort or an escort who solely depended on cracker.com for advertising. Here in Japan we have better options. I think having a site does give you some advantages. Clients do treat you with more respect when they notice that you have invested more than escorts who don't. It is always smart to establish your own domain just in case something happens like cracker.com. Your clients will always remember your address and you will have a database of contacts for your clients. Also, if you put a little extra into your website, you can work on Google Analytics to have your website appear on the first few pages on Google. Usually clients type in "Tokyo Escorts" or "Japan Escorts" to find escort companies here and you can have that keyworded into your site. I think it's one of the best "business cards" besides having a reputable company like TAG verify you.

Sex trafficking won't end until we sex workers/escorts make things more safe for our own industry by being responsible/independent, creating more safe places and partnering with each other.

The U.S. is all over the place. It's a dangerous place for "workers" period. The advantage lies within being as independent as possible or creating your own company.

Won't trafficking end when it is no longer profitable?

 

[SashaSin]

Absolutely!

 

[Wwanderer]

The insidious part of this law is that it makes operators close down the sites by themselves. Until a week ago, they were protected by the "user generated content" decision. Police had to hunt down provider by provider, and prove that money was exchanged for sex, and not for a dinner date.

Now suddenly, operators "facilitate prostitution," which can cost up to 25 years in the slammer. They talk to their lawyer, and the lawyer says "shut it down."

Right, it is fear of the law not its enforcement that is currently doing the damage. Everyone (board owners and operators) is hunkering down and minimizing exposure until they see what happens. If the law is not much enforced, I would expect them to slowly and cautiously go back into operation.

This is very much like what would happen in the pre-internet days of p4p on a local (usually town or city) level when there was a high-profile bust or a tough talking new mayor/police chief/DA or whatever. All the action would suddenly disappear or become much less conspicuous and easy to access; it would then gradually re-emerge and return to the status quo ante once the pressure receded. Perhaps the same sort of thing will now happen on a bigger scale. (I have decades of monger experience before there was any p4p activity at all online. I should have saved some of those stone tablets on which the old-school indie escorts used to carve their ads! )

-Ww

 

[Wwanderer]

Hey Alice how are you? Thanks for responding. I agree, cracker.com being seized makes things much more difficult for advertising if you are a new escort or an escort who solely depended on cracker.com for advertising. Here in Japan we have better options. I think having a site does give you some advantages. Clients do treat you with more respect when they notice that you have invested more than escorts who don't. It is always smart to establish your own domain just in case something happens like cracker.com. Your clients will always remember your address and you will have a database of contacts for your clients. Also, if you put a little extra into your website, you can work on Google Analytics to have your website appear on the first few pages on Google. Usually clients type in "Tokyo Escorts" or "Japan Escorts" to find escort companies here and you can have that keyworded into your site. I think it's one of the best "business cards" besides having a reputable company like TAG verify you.

Sex trafficking won't end until we sex workers/escorts make things more safe for our own industry by being responsible/independent, creating more safe places and partnering with each other.

The U.S. is all over the place. It's a dangerous place for "workers" period. The advantage lies within being as independent as possible or creating your own company.

Another post to which I wish I could give a whole stack of likes.

-Ww

 

[Babaram]

(I have decades of monger experience before there was any p4p activity at all online. I should have saved some of those stone tablets on which the old-school indie escorts used to carve their ads! )

-Ww

Somewhere in moving boxes in the attic are yellowed issues of SCREW from the 70's