That's interesting, and yes it's clearly sabotage. When I first started and information about me was shared, I didn't have any friends who were well known providers, so it was clients who talked about me. As I've mentioned in other threads, during the first 2 months that I worked, I planted some real and some false info to see if it would come back to me, and it did.
I'm realizing that maybe certain SPs have tried to pretend being friendly with me as a way to gather intel, and that sucks. I know I feel isolated in this business and may have shared too much with one or two people online.
One thing that I really wonder about is how the subject even comes up in the first place. When I'm with clients, I don't discuss other companions, that just doesn't come up. A few clients have talked about certain companions but I cut the conversation short by saying I didn't want to discuss the person. The only situation I can imagine this happening through is on this forum, in private messages, from other SP's who advertise here, or talking about a person who was given as a reference, or who gave the SP's name as a reference.
It's good that you disregard those comments because bringing something up about a colleague is highly unethical and shows a bad intention. A lot of providers don't actually know each other in person, and the rivalry and jealousy is all in people's heads. Sometimes I am a little envious of certain colleagues but I am not jealous and I would never do anything to compromise their safety or privacy. The existence of someone who is prettier than me or charges a different rate than me doesn't take business away from me. But I know a lot of companions don't see things that way. It's unfortunate, because I think we should be solidary instead of creating this climate of fear and envy..
In any case if I were you I'd tell the provider that someone is bad mouthing them, might save them a lot of trouble.