Terms of Service

1. Acceptance of Terms

By accessing, browsing, reading, submitting tips to, or interacting with Bustathief.net (referred to herein as "Bustathief", "we", "us", or "our", operating under the primary domain bustathief.net), you agree to be legally bound by these Terms of Service, our Privacy Policy, and our Disclosures Policy. If you do not agree with any portion of these terms, you must discontinue use of the website immediately.

2. Educational & Consumer Advisory Scope

Bustathief.net is an independent digital consumer protection, scam warning, and threat intelligence publisher.

• Not Law Enforcement: Bustathief.net is not a government authority, police department, or regulatory intelligence body. If you are actively experiencing an emergency or criminal extortion, immediately contact your local authorities or the official agencies listed in our Official Fraud Directory.
• No Professional Legal or Financial Advice: All investigative articles, vulnerability analyses, scam indicators, and financial recovery guides are published strictly for general consumer educational and warning purposes. Nothing on this website constitutes formal legal, forensic accounting, tax, or certified investment advice.

3. User Conduct & Community Standards

When using our contact forms, community commentary fields, or security desk intake:

• You agree not to post, transmit, or distribute content that is knowingly false, defamatory, harassing, abusive, obscene, invasive of personal privacy, or in violation of any applicable local, state, national, or international law.
• You agree not to upload malicious payloads, tracking scripts, viruses, or links designed to compromise the security of other visitors.
• You agree not to impersonate any individual, corporate entity, financial institution, or law enforcement agency.

4. Threat Submissions & License Grant

When you submit scam narratives, phishing lures, malicious phone numbers, fraudulent domain names, or supporting evidence to our intake queue:

• You warrant that the information submitted is truthful and accurate to the best of your knowledge and that you possess the right to submit such materials.
• You grant Bustathief.net a non-exclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free license to research, analyze, synthesize, format, publish, index, and archive the submitted scam indicators for public educational warnings and threat intelligence reporting.
• We reserve the sole editorial right to moderate, redact, summarize, or refuse publication of any submission that fails our verification standards.

5. External Links & Third-Party Services

Bustathief.net contains hyperlinks to external third-party websites, consumer regulators, and vetted affiliate partners. We do not control, endorse, or assume legal responsibility for the privacy policies, terms, content, accuracy, or business practices of any third-party websites. Any engagement or transaction with an external merchant is solely between you and that third party.

6. Disclaimer of Warranties

Bustathief.net and all associated content, tools, search indexes, and downloadable guides are provided on an "AS IS" and "AS AVAILABLE" basis without warranties of any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, or accuracy. While we make every effort to maintain accurate and timely threat intelligence, we cannot guarantee that information will be error-free or uninterrupted.

7. Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, Bustathief.net, its authors, editors, owners, and operators shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, special, or punitive damages arising from or related to:

• Your access to, use of, or inability to use this website;
• Any financial loss, identity compromise, or damage resulting from fraud perpetrated by third-party scammers or merchants;
• Any reliance placed on information, triage guides, or ratings published on this platform.

8. Governing Law & Dispute Resolution

These Terms of Service shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the United States. In the event of any question, claim, or dispute regarding these Terms or our editorial reporting, you agree to first contact our desk in good faith to seek an informal resolution.

9. Contact Information

For inquiries or legal notices regarding these Terms of Service, please contact us directly at contact@bustathief.net or visit our Contact Gateway.