With the increased number of scammers, why don't we insist on authenticity verifications? Holding a pic that says, Agnostic.com or whatever? Having researched the scammers phenomena quite a lot, they work in teams running profiles across social media. The photos in the profile is never real. They are unlikely to comply. Verified profiles could maybe have a points boost or something. No unverified profiles in the Senate etc etc? I am posting this here rather than the community senate as I think we should all contribute. It concerns me that these scammers are targetting our older and potentially more vulnerable members. What do you all think? I am happy to post a silly pic of myself with a verfying poster.
Love Jayne xx
4
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I think folks would be more okay with this if the photos were limited to site admins.
bingst
Level 8
Nov 7, 2018
0
Wow, I am surprised by the hostility about this. I offered a reasonable idea, used by other sites to protect vulnerable members. Even someone doubting my integrity! Thats terrible. This is ostensibily a dating site. Dating attract scammers. I am NOT here for dates, I have a partner. Neither am I vulnerable, however some of our members are. If you aren't happy with this, then lets discuss it openly, rather than attact me!
Amisja
Level 8
Nov 7, 2018
2
Hey I wasn't being hostile. I'm interested in finding a solution to protect the members who aren't as tech savvy. (I just found and posted yet one more scammer.).
I just think it would be easy to add "Agnostic" to a stolen selfie. But maybe it's not?
Perhaps you need to bring the idea to Admin. He might know if it has worked well on other sites.
I'm also here for community - but I do not like seeing the vulnerable taken advantage of. I've met men and women here who have sent money to people on other sites. I'd hate to see it happen here.
I had a whole discussion with some of the other members more than once on this very topic.
I think if a worthwhile solution were found it might be put into action. That is often how the site Admin works.
@bingst idea of having a member write their user name down and hold it in the photo - has a ton of merit. It would make it very hard to photoshop a stolen photo - as it would be individual to the user.
Doing that - at least for the dating population - is not a bad idea. (Just don't ask me to make my cat hold a member card).
It's at least one more hoop for scammers to jump through.
Pardon my naiveté but how does this work? I will never give personal information or even think about money to anyone online. I can understand people try to worm their way into someone else's heart and then ask for things so one does need to be aware and suspicious. Trust but verify should be everyone's motto!
JackPedigo
Level 9
Nov 7, 2018
0
I don't know if you were here when we mentioned verification before (a few months back).
It would require a credit card and it would cost the site money to do so. (Which is why there is none).
I like your idea - but the smart scammers would get around that quickly. Just like they come back again and again.
I do think every time we bring up scammer issues more folks are educated about NOT sending personal information to people right away - and not sending money or gift cards to people.
There has been an uptick lately (or so it seems). And the more we learn - the better we can report.
RavenCT
Level 9
Nov 7, 2018
2
Some sites require real members either to post pics of themself with a poster with the site's name. Alternatively just post pics of the poster.
Post suspect accounts here
[agnostic.com]
DoctoralZombie
Level 7
Nov 7, 2018
0
Be mindful when talking to anyone. Look for bad spelling and poor grammar. If this person is insistent on using email or some other way of communicating, they are likely scammers.
RobertMartin
Level 8
Nov 7, 2018
2
Because ... Photoshop?
evidentialist
Level 8
Nov 7, 2018
0
You misunderstand the process
@Amisja -- You didn't delineate a process for me to misunderstand or understand. So, what process?
These scammers buy stock photos of individuals. Google it...they are unbelievably easy to obtain. We delivered a session for students using specialist software and two students had their images illegally captured by scammers and produced as 'profiles' for them. They work in teams...sending out millions of scams. Everything from 'the Nigerian prince' to 'your Apple ID has been compromised' but cruelest of all are the love scams. This is done on an industrial level, it earns these teams $millions.
However, by far the biggest danger comes from Russian hackers because money is not their focus, they want power and knowledge.
Ha! As if there's a real place called Oswaldtwistle
Anonbene
Level 8
Nov 7, 2018
0
[en.m.wikipedia.org] How bloody dare you!!!! My beautiful town. It is well known and a historical district.
Follow this simple rule and you will never get scammed:
One strict rule when on the internet. NEVER, under ANY circumstances, send money or gifts to ANYONE for ANY REASON.
jlynn37
Level 8
Nov 7, 2018
5
And if she seems way out of your league but quick to flirt, she probably isnt real. There are also sites you can screencap and send a pic to that will tell you if the photo appears on the web elsewhere, so you can see if this is a stock model photo for the cases that are too plausible to tell.
I've sent money to at least 8 people that are on this site today. A few others thought I was scamming them when I asked for their number to send money via PayPal.
Not everything is a scam.
@Anonbene All I am saying is, if you follow this one simple rule, you can not be scammed on the internet. It is YOUR decision to make whether to do anything or not. I personally use the internet to send money to reputable charity organisations and I make purchases on the internet. YOUR call completely.
Are scammers really sticking around long enough to get that high of a level here?
ghettophilosopher
Level 7
Nov 7, 2018
3
The research I did came from online games originally. This is about 10 years ago and my sons were playing WoW. They told me how you could use real money to 'buy' online money. I was shocked as this went against everything I taught them about being good sportspersons. It was essentially cheating. Then I learned that these 'gold farmers' were often no more than slaves, sometimes chained to desks, made to play games for 20 hours a day. They often were forced to sleep under their desks. Initially these started in China and South Korea.Later I started to hear about the love scams. These had a reputation (along with Nigerian Prince scams) as coming from Nigeria. The stories were virtually always identical. They targetted older, lonely, vulnerable people. At one point they were everywhere. Facebook was rampant, emails, twitter, even LinkedIn. There is an idea that these crimes are perpetuated by individuals but they aren't. They are an industry and take place on an industrial scale. Recently Russia particularly has taken promenance. They are more ruthless, including nationwide scale hacks. The NHS in UK was recently hacked with millions of people's info on it. To be though it is the elderly, the lonely and vulnerable who I am concerned with. These teams will do anything to get you to hand over your savings (easy for me, I have none). I came to this community because I felt here at least there would be a group of people who would be unattractive to scammers due to their inquisitive, intelligent minds. It really worries me to see Scammers here too. I have had messages telling me to f**k off and to stop. I think if we can do anything to thwart their activities we should. Its wrong and very cruel.
Amisja
Level 8
Nov 7, 2018
3
I've been in IT for 30 years, behind you 100%. Most people lock their cars, why? Because they're aware of the risk and its a good deterrent. People need to be more aware of online risks and take appropriate precautions. Security always lags behind new technology. Thanks for your efforts in combating this online crime industry.
@Rocketman88 thank you
Why agnostic dot com do not demand photos for all the members? What's the scare?
GipsyOfNewSpain
Level 9
Nov 7, 2018
0
Are you a member of the scammers group? If yes, do you find it helpful?
DoctoralZombie
Level 7
Nov 7, 2018
0
Did you get scammed? If so, how?
SleeplessInTexas
Level 8
Nov 7, 2018
0
No
@Amisja Do you know someone here that's gotten scammed? If not, I don't see reason to change anything. Anyone can hold an agnostic.com pic and it would not make a difference or change the fact that you could still get scammed by them. Just use safe internet practices. Most of us are strictly just here for mutual friendship and same viewpoints.
@SleeplessInTexas please read my above posts
@SleeplessInTexas Oh there is a population here for dating and some are not at all internet savvy. This sort of thing could be helpful for them.
As could some sort of tutorial on scammers.
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