If you’ve ever received a Facebook or Myspace message from someone named “Deja Stwalley” telling you that you’ve got the right look for indie porn, now might be a good time to get in touch with the Washington State attorney general.
On November 20, the AG’s office filed a civil suit against Matt Hickey, a former tech freelancer and Capitol Hill local, over an alleged porn auditioning scam stretching back a decade. The AG’s complaint claims that Hickey violated the state’s Consumer Protection Act through “unfair or deceptive acts” while representing himself, and his fake online identity “Deja Stwalley,” as being part of a legitimate porn recruiting business. The civil suit, filed in King County Superior Court, also claims that Hickey violated the Commercial Electronic Mail Act by using deception to obtain the personally identifiable information of his victims online. According to the AG’s office, this is the first time these laws have been invoked in response to an alleged scam like this one.
