Morgan Carey (aka SEO Guy) who operates one of the largest real estate forums on the Internet admitted publicly Friday November 2nd on his real estate Blog that his Canadian based company did hack into the Pro Real Estate Network Forum also known as PREN.

According to administrators of PREN and Mr. Carey’s REW Forum Hacking Apology sites someone from REW used a password from a former Client that is now a Forum Moderator at PREN to hack into the system and delete threads that openly discussed many ethic violations and misconduct of Morgan Carey and Real Estate Webmasters. PREN immediately discounted the Carey apology as little more than damage control and called for Morgan Carey to name the employee, dismiss him/her and file a criminal complaint with the Canadian authorities. This has not taken place as of the time of this posting.

It seems as though passwords can be harvested from these public real estate forums and inasmuch as we all tend to reuse the same passwords it leaves us open for identity theft. It is recommended by industry experts to use passwords that are unique to any public forum and to NEVER reuse any password on bank or email accounts.

Although SEO-Guy (Morgan Carey) blames an unnamed employee for the forum break-in and has downplayed the incident law enforcement agencies have now been involved since Federal Statutes have been violated.

The recent fire storm in the real estate forums is an unwelcome distraction for those of us that are already besieged by an industry slump and poor press. This classic “David vs Goliath” reenactment is certain to gain more negative press for the housing industry as Agents from several states have been adversely affected by REW Forum Hacking and deletion of these threads.

According too many experts in the field of “Search Engine Optimization” back-links from these forums aide in search engine rankings for real estate websites. When these aged pages and agent links were deleted it negatively impacted the rankings of the Agents involved and the PREN forum itself. Since most real estate transactions begin on the Internet these prized search engine rankings can be worth a great deal of income to any Agent or company fortunate enough to have them.

I was also informed that Morgan Carey and REW has SEO and link Clients competing from many of the same markets of the Agents that were impacted in PREN. In my humble opinion the action taken by REW gives SEO Guy’s Clients an unfair advantage and is outright Industrial Sabotage.

Please remember to change your passwords if you belong to any of these public forums to protect yourself from identity theft. This is becoming an extremely cut throat industry I am ashamed to say and all precautions need to be taken.

~Rhonda McMillan
Broker

We are proud to report that the 12th Annual Columbia Heart Walk was the most successful Heart Walk that Columbia has had to date and that the All Pro Realty Team was a part of this historic fundraiser.

So far over $88,000 has been collected for the American Heart Association as a result of the Columbia Heart Walk and the money is still coming in.

The All Pro Realty Team fell short of our $500 goal by over $200 but already have plans to better organize next year for this worthy event.

“It was great fun and I am proud to have been a part” reported All Pro’s Vice President Brandon Parker. Brandon led the way for “Team All Pro with his VERY pregnant wife Katarina and 9 year old daughter Autumn.

Despite early morning thunder showers hundreds of Columbians turned out for the 8 mile march for health. The gathering at Stevens Park was accented with drawings, gifts, face painting and balloon sculpturing for children.

Local vendors like Subway and others supplied food and drinks while our premier local FM station The Eagle 93.9 served as MC.

“It was a blast to say the least and made even better by being for such a great cause” stated All Pro Realty Team Leader and Broker Rhonda McMillan who was last seen being shadowed by a beautiful red headed butterfly (her Grand Daughter – BreAnne).

The American Heart Association will continue to accept donations to the 2007 Heart Walk through September 30, 2007.  Any donations received after September 30th will be credited to the 2008 Columbia Heart Walk.  If you have donations that still need to be turned in you can drop them by the office, call 573-234-1487 to make pick up arrangements or you may mail your donations to:
 
American Heart Association
Attn:  Columbia Heart Walk
P.O. Box 30638
Columbia, MO 65205

2007 Columbia Start! Heart Walk

Date:  Saturday, August 25, 2007
Time:  8:00am — 12:00pm
Fee:  Free. Participants receive a T-shirt by raising $100 or more.
Location:
Stephens Lake Park
2001 E. Broadway
Columbia, MO 65201

on Saturday, August 25th the 2007 Columbia Start! Heart Walk will create great opportunities for people to improve their health by walking while simultaneously raising funds to help fight stroke and heart disease.

Companies, family and friends can organize teams of walkers.  Walkers ask others to support their walk effort by sponsoring them with a donation to the American Heart Association.  Your Columbia Missouri Real Estate Pro’s at All Pro Realty urge you to  Register now! You can join the Team All Pro Realty or support our efforts by your donations. We hope to raise $500 or more in this event. For more information you can go to our Columbia Heart Walk 2007 webpage.

Broker Rhonda McMillan and Vice President Brandon Parker will represent All Pro Realty and encourages participation and donations.

Rhonda stated “After almost losing my husband in 2005 to Heart Disease this is a cause near and dear to my heart. Heart disease is a silent killer that can strike and devastate any family member without warning. Please walk with us August 25th.”

~Webmaster