Terms & Conditions

These Terms & Conditions ("Terms") govern access to and use of the AbuseOne website at www.abuseone.com, the AbuseOne platform and all related services (together, the "Platform"). The Platform is operated by Placeholder: [Legal entity name], a company registered under number Placeholder: [Company registration number], with its registered office at Placeholder: [Registered office address] ("AbuseOne", "we", "us" or "our").

AbuseOne is a platform for online fraud, digital scams, online abuse, open-source intelligence (OSINT), fraud investigations and fraud intelligence. It connects companies with independent researchers who identify, document and report abuse.

By creating an account, submitting a report, joining a program or otherwise using the Platform, you agree to be bound by these Terms. If you use the Platform on behalf of an organisation, you confirm that you are authorised to accept these Terms on its behalf, and "you" includes that organisation.

If you do not agree to these Terms, you must not use the Platform.

In these Terms:

1. (a)"Company Customer" means an organisation that uses paid AbuseOne services under an Order Form, subscription or other written agreement with AbuseOne.
2. (b)"Program" means a set of rules published or agreed by a Company Customer that defines the scope, permitted activities and any rewards for research relating to that Company Customer.
3. (c)"Public Program" means a Program whose rules are published on the Platform and open to eligible Researchers.
4. (d)"Private Program" means a Program that is available by invitation only and may be subject to additional confidentiality obligations.
5. (e)"Researcher" means an individual who uses the Platform to conduct investigations or to submit Reports, whether within a Program or independently.
6. (f)"Report" means any submission made through the Platform, including allegations, evidence, analysis, indicators of abuse and conclusions.
7. (g)"Independent Research" means research undertaken by a Researcher on their own initiative, outside the scope of any Program, including research concerning an organisation that has no active customer relationship with AbuseOne.
8. (h)"Program Rules" means the specific conditions that apply to a Program, as published on the Platform or set out in a separate written agreement.
9. (i)"Order Form" means a written order, statement of work or commercial agreement between AbuseOne and a Company Customer.

Headings are for convenience only and do not affect interpretation. Words such as "including" and "for example" are illustrative and do not limit the words that precede them.

If there is a conflict between these Terms and an Order Form or Program Rules, the Order Form takes precedence, followed by the Program Rules and then these Terms, unless the Order Form expressly provides otherwise.

The Platform may include, depending on the account type and any applicable agreement:

1. (a)tools for Company Customers to publish and manage Programs and to receive, triage and respond to Reports;
2. (b)tools for Researchers to discover Programs, conduct and document investigations and submit Reports;
3. (c)fraud intelligence, investigation workspaces, entity graphs and analysis features;
4. (d)fraud readiness and exposure assessments delivered under a separate written agreement;
5. (e)educational content, courses and a talent network for researchers.

AbuseOne is not a law-enforcement body, regulator, court or legal adviser. Nothing on the Platform constitutes legal advice or a legal determination that any person or organisation has acted unlawfully.

Some features are available only to particular account types or under a paid subscription or Order Form. Feature descriptions on the website are indicative and do not form part of any contract unless expressly incorporated.

You must be at least Placeholder: [Minimum age] years old, have the legal capacity to enter into a binding agreement and not be prohibited from using the Platform under any applicable law, including sanctions laws.

You must provide accurate, current and complete information when creating an account and keep it up to date. Accounts are personal to the individual or organisation that registered them and must not be shared, sold or transferred.

You are responsible for keeping your login credentials secure and for all activity that takes place under your account. You must notify us promptly if you suspect unauthorised use of your account.

Researcher accounts may be subject to approval, identity verification or additional checks before certain features, Programs or rewards become available. We may decline or withdraw approval where reasonably necessary to protect the Platform, its users or third parties.

Paid services for Company Customers are provided under an Order Form or subscription agreed in writing. These Terms apply to Company Customers in addition to, and subject to, the applicable Order Form.

A Company Customer is responsible for the accuracy and lawfulness of its Program Rules, including the scope it defines, any assets it places in scope and any permissions it grants to Researchers.

A Company Customer must only place assets, accounts, systems or brands within the scope of a Program where it has the right to authorise research on them.

A Company Customer must handle Reports and any personal data contained in them in accordance with applicable law and the confidentiality obligations in these Terms.

Except where expressly agreed in an Order Form, AbuseOne does not guarantee any particular number of Reports, Researchers, findings or outcomes.

Researchers use the Platform as independent individuals. Nothing in these Terms creates an employment, agency, partnership or joint-venture relationship between a Researcher and AbuseOne, or between a Researcher and a Company Customer.

Researchers are not employees, representatives or authorised agents of AbuseOne and must not present themselves as such, unless a separate written agreement signed by AbuseOne expressly establishes that relationship.

Researchers must not state or imply that they act on behalf of a Company Customer, or with its authorisation, except to the extent expressly permitted by the applicable Program Rules.

Researchers are responsible for their own conduct, for complying with the law of every jurisdiction relevant to their research and for any tax, social-security or reporting obligations arising from rewards they receive.

Reports may be submitted within a Public Program, within a Private Program or as Independent Research, including Reports about organisations that do not currently have an active customer relationship with AbuseOne.

A Report must be made in good faith and must clearly distinguish between facts that are evidenced, inferences drawn from evidence, and allegations or opinions.

Submitting a Report about an organisation that is not a Company Customer does not create any contractual relationship with that organisation, and does not entitle the Researcher to a reward unless a separate agreement provides otherwise.

AbuseOne may contact an organisation that is the subject of a Report, share a summary of the Report with it or decline to do so, at its reasonable discretion and subject to applicable law.

You must not submit a Report that you know or reasonably suspect to be false, misleading, made to harass or harm a person, or intended to obtain an unfair commercial advantage.

OSINT research on the Platform must be limited to information that may lawfully be accessed, collected and processed for the purpose of identifying, preventing or reporting fraud and online abuse.

Information being publicly accessible does not mean it is lawful to collect, combine, process or publish it in every context. Researchers must consider applicable data-protection, privacy, intellectual-property and computer-misuse laws, as well as the terms of service of the sources they use.

Researchers must collect only the information reasonably necessary for a lawful investigation, and must avoid collecting special categories of personal data, data relating to children or data about uninvolved third parties unless strictly necessary and lawful.

Researchers must store investigation material securely and delete or return it when it is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was collected.

Where a Program exists, the Program Rules define what a Company Customer has authorised. Activity outside that scope is not authorised by the Company Customer or by AbuseOne.

Independent Research is not authorised by the organisation being researched. A Researcher conducting Independent Research does so on their own responsibility and must restrict themselves to activities that are lawful without that organisation’s permission.

Authorisation granted under a Program applies only to the Researcher, the assets and the activities described, and only for the period the Program is active. It does not authorise any activity against third parties, including customers, users or suppliers of the Company Customer.

AbuseOne does not grant, and cannot grant, permission on behalf of any organisation that has not given that permission itself. Any statements about safe harbour or legal protection apply only to the extent expressly set out in the applicable Program Rules.

You must act lawfully and must not, whether on or through the Platform:

1. (a)gain or attempt to gain unauthorised access to any account, system, network or private database;
2. (b)impersonate any person or organisation, or conduct phishing, social engineering or pretexting against real people;
3. (c)harass, threaten, intimidate, coerce or extort any person or organisation, including by demanding payment in exchange for withholding or deleting a Report;
4. (d)collect, disclose or publish personal information unlawfully, or engage in doxxing;
5. (e)publish unsupported allegations as if they were established facts;
6. (f)access, retain or expose information beyond what is reasonably necessary for a lawful investigation;
7. (g)misrepresent your authorisation, your evidence or your findings;
8. (h)interact with suspected fraudsters in a way that causes financial loss, facilitates a crime or places any person at risk;
9. (i)use the Platform to commit, facilitate or promote fraud, scams, abuse or any other unlawful conduct;
10. (j)interfere with the operation or security of the Platform, or scrape, reverse-engineer or overload it.

Researchers should follow the published Responsible Research principles, the Researcher Guidelines and the Reporting Guidelines, which form part of these Terms.

Reports should be clear, reproducible where possible and supported by evidence that has been preserved with its source and the date it was obtained.

Researchers must disclose any conflict of interest relevant to a Report, including any commercial, personal or competitive relationship with the subject of the Report.

Researchers must not submit duplicate Reports in bad faith, divide a single finding into multiple Reports to increase a reward, or submit material generated or altered in a way that misrepresents what was observed.

Researchers must communicate professionally with AbuseOne, Company Customers and other users.

AbuseOne may review, triage, request further information about, edit for clarity, reject or remove any Report at its reasonable discretion.

The status of a Report on the Platform reflects AbuseOne’s or a Company Customer’s assessment at a given time and may change. A Report being submitted, accepted or triaged does not mean that any person or organisation is guilty of wrongdoing.

Reports, findings and case studies must not be published outside the Platform except as permitted by the applicable Program Rules or with AbuseOne’s prior written consent. Any approved publication must identify allegations as allegations and must not disclose personal data unnecessarily.

AbuseOne may publish anonymised, aggregated or redacted information derived from Reports, such as statistics, trends and indicators of fraud, provided that it does not identify a Researcher or a private individual without a lawful basis.

Information relating to Private Programs, Company Customers, non-public Reports and the internal operation of the Platform is confidential unless AbuseOne indicates otherwise.

You must use confidential information only for the purpose for which it was disclosed, protect it with at least reasonable care and not disclose it to any third party without authorisation.

Some Programs or investigations require a separate non-disclosure agreement. Where one applies, it governs in addition to this section.

These obligations do not apply to information that is or becomes public through no fault of yours, that you lawfully obtained independently, or that you are required by law to disclose, provided you give us prompt notice where lawful.

Nothing in these Terms prevents anyone from reporting suspected criminal activity to law enforcement or a competent regulator.

AbuseOne processes personal data in accordance with applicable data-protection laws and its Privacy Notice, available at Placeholder: [Privacy Notice URL].

Users who submit or receive personal data through the Platform are responsible for complying with applicable data-protection laws in relation to that data, including having a lawful basis for processing it.

Where AbuseOne processes personal data on behalf of a Company Customer, the parties’ respective roles and obligations will be set out in a data-processing agreement or the applicable Order Form.

Any person who believes a Report contains their personal data may contact us at Placeholder: [Privacy contact email] to exercise the rights available to them under applicable law.

AbuseOne and its licensors own all intellectual-property rights in the Platform, including its software, design, text, graphics and trade marks. You may use the Platform only as permitted by these Terms.

You retain ownership of the materials you submit, subject to any assignment or licence set out in the applicable Program Rules or Order Form.

You grant AbuseOne a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to host, store, reproduce, analyse, redact and share submitted materials as necessary to operate the Platform, to deliver Reports to relevant Company Customers or organisations, and to produce anonymised or aggregated intelligence.

You confirm that you have the right to submit the materials you provide and that they do not infringe the rights of any third party.

Not every Report generates a reward. A reward is payable only where the applicable Program Rules or a separate written agreement provide for one and the Report meets the stated criteria.

The amount, eligibility conditions and timing of any reward are determined by the applicable Program Rules or written agreement. Reward ranges shown on the Platform are indicative unless the Program Rules state otherwise.

AbuseOne may charge Company Customers a platform or service fee, and may retain a commission from rewards, as set out in the applicable Order Form, Program Rules or published pricing.

Payments may be processed by third-party payment providers. You may be required to provide identity, tax and payment information before a reward can be paid, and payments may be withheld where required by law, including sanctions and anti-money-laundering laws.

Rewards may be withheld or reclaimed where a Report was obtained in breach of these Terms or the Program Rules, or was submitted fraudulently.

Some services are offered on a subscription basis, which may be billed annually. The price, billing period and payment terms are those shown at the point of purchase or set out in the applicable Order Form.

Unless stated otherwise at the point of purchase or in the Order Form, subscriptions renew automatically for a further period of the same length. You may cancel renewal through your account settings or by contacting us before the renewal date.

Refunds are provided only where required by applicable law or where expressly stated at the point of purchase or in the Order Form. Nothing in these Terms affects any statutory rights you have as a consumer.

We may change subscription prices for future billing periods by giving you reasonable advance notice. The change will not affect a billing period that has already been paid.

The Platform may contain links to, or integrations with, third-party websites and services. AbuseOne does not control and is not responsible for their content, availability or practices.

Your use of a third-party service is governed by that third party’s own terms. Researchers must respect the terms of service of any platform they use in the course of an investigation, to the extent required by law.

Reports are prepared by Researchers and may contain errors, omissions or conclusions that are not supported by later evidence. AbuseOne does not guarantee that any Report is accurate, complete or independently verified.

Anyone relying on a Report, a finding or fraud intelligence from the Platform should verify it independently before taking any action that could affect a person or organisation.

If you believe a Report or published content is inaccurate, contains confidential or personal information, or otherwise raises a legitimate concern, you may request a review by contacting us at Placeholder: [Legal contact email]. Please include:

1. (a)the content or Report concerned, where known;
2. (b)a description of your concern and, where relevant, why the content is inaccurate;
3. (c)any supporting information;
4. (d)your contact details and your relationship to the matter.

We will acknowledge legitimate requests, review them within a reasonable time and take appropriate action, which may include correction, redaction, restriction or removal.

AbuseOne provides the infrastructure through which Company Customers and Researchers interact. Unless expressly agreed otherwise, AbuseOne does not author Reports, does not direct how Researchers conduct their investigations and is not a party to the relationship between a Researcher and the subject of a Report.

AbuseOne may facilitate communication, triage, reward payment and dispute resolution between users, but is not responsible for the acts or omissions of any user.

We may suspend or terminate your access to the Platform, remove content or withhold rewards where we reasonably believe that you have breached these Terms or any Program Rules, that your use creates legal or security risk, or where required by law.

Where reasonably practicable and lawful, we will notify you of the reason and give you an opportunity to respond.

You may close your account at any time. Closing an account does not affect obligations that by their nature continue, including confidentiality, intellectual property, payment of fees already due, limitation of liability and indemnification.

Termination of a Company Customer’s services is governed by the applicable Order Form.

We aim to keep the Platform available and secure but do not guarantee that it will be uninterrupted or error-free, except to the extent of any service levels expressly agreed in an Order Form.

We may modify, add or withdraw features, or carry out maintenance, from time to time. Where a change materially reduces a paid service during a billing period, we will give reasonable notice where practicable.

Nothing in these Terms limits or excludes liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or for any other liability that cannot be limited or excluded under applicable law.

Subject to the previous clause, AbuseOne is not liable for any indirect or consequential loss, or for loss of profits, revenue, business, goodwill or data, arising from use of the Platform or reliance on any Report.

Subject to the first clause in this section, AbuseOne’s total liability arising out of or in connection with these Terms is limited as set out in the applicable Order Form or, where there is none, to the amounts you have paid to AbuseOne in the twelve months preceding the event giving rise to the claim.

If you use the Platform as a consumer, these limitations apply only to the extent permitted by the consumer-protection laws that apply to you.

To the extent permitted by applicable law, you agree to indemnify AbuseOne against claims, losses and reasonable costs arising from your breach of these Terms or any Program Rules, your unlawful research activities or materials you submit that infringe the rights of a third party.

This section does not apply to consumers where such an obligation would be unenforceable under applicable law.

We may update these Terms from time to time. The "last updated" date at the top of this page shows when they were last changed.

Where a change is material, we will give reasonable advance notice through the Platform or by email. Continuing to use the Platform after the change takes effect constitutes acceptance. If you do not agree, you must stop using the Platform and may close your account.

Changes to these Terms do not alter an Order Form unless the Order Form permits it.

These Terms and any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with them are governed by Placeholder: [Governing law].

The courts of Placeholder: [Courts with jurisdiction] have jurisdiction over any such dispute, without prejudice to any mandatory rights of consumers to bring proceedings in the courts of their country of residence.

Before starting proceedings, the parties will first try in good faith to resolve the dispute by contacting each other in writing. An Order Form may set out a different dispute-resolution procedure, which will apply to the Company Customer concerned.

Questions about these Terms, legal notices and review requests can be sent to Placeholder: [Legal contact email].

Postal correspondence may be sent to Placeholder: [Legal entity name], Placeholder: [Registered office address].

For account and technical help, please use the support page.