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Lately i've been seeing quite a few scam profiles here and it would be helpful to be able to search google for the images they use as their profiles. however, it seems to be impossible to right mouse click on the profile pictures and choose copy image. i imagine this is to prevent people from copying each other's profile pictures for nefarious purposes -- but it seriously impairs me (and doubtless others) in my quest to identify scammers when i suspect them. they do tend to appropriate model pictures to use as their own. wouldn't the ability to identify a scammer right away outweigh the dubious danger of someone's copying a profile picture? could this feature be enabled?

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genessa 8 Dec 15
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Agreed @genessa those 2 examples are not honestly reading your profile and responding appropriately. ...accordingly I have been deleting people who changed from dating to community when we first chatted. ....I wish they all would have told me of the change

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It's not your job to be the profile police

GwenC Level 7 Dec 15, 2018

are you saying we should not use the report feature? (you do not have to be profile police to notice a scammer when you see one, and if you see one, then we SHOULD report that person!) if not, then are you saying we should use the report feature without feeling fairly sure of what we're reporting? being able to search for the picture on google would provide evidence, which i am sure admin would appreciate.

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How do ya know a guy is a scam? ...Better yet how to protect me from scam alleged females

for one thing, often the person uses a stolen picture (one can usually tell but it would be better to be SURE and enabling this feature would make that possible) and a stolen profile (this one can check easily). but mostly it's a matter of common sense. the one i encountered most recently is purportedly female, by the way.

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@genessa I think that many people ASSUME direct straightforward courtship appeals on a "dating" site "you can tell is a scam ????" Somehow old fashioned gentleman callers must be con artists? ??? As for women, who has not been conditioned to be brainwashed into thinking a direct romantic appeal = dirty slut ?

@GreenAtheist i don't know what many people assume. i myself make no such assumptions, but i can only speak for myself. i know that when someone's profile is word for word the same as profiles all over the net, and i don't mean a generic profile bit some very specific stuff, long and verbatim copied, and the other profiles show different women of different ages, from different places around the world, that's a clue. i know that when someone has a profile that says she is an atheist, agnostic and freethinker and then answers the questions with yes she believes in a deity, who is allah, the god of islam, and she is 90 percent sure of that, and then she sends the same suspicious link to a couple dozen different groups with a merry christmas message, something's not kosher there! i know the guy who approached me privately here with "tell me all about yourself, i want to be your very best friend" when my profile says i am here for the community and mentions that i have a man, and after i have mentioned a few times that i am taken, not available, already with someone, he's after something other than love. yes, i can generally spot scammers. no, it's not because someone has made a direct approach, has nothing to do with old-fashioned gentleman callers and i cannot answer the question "who has not been conditioned" apart from raising my hand and saying "me. i have not."

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I'd recommend enabling it after a certain ranking, because most scammers don't stick with it, or last long enough, to hit probably level 6 or so.

you mean so scammers could not steal profile pictures? but then people who were not at level six or so could not check in order to be surer about scammers they were trying to report. it's a normal internet feature, which works just about everywhere. in fact this is so far the only place i've seen where it doesn't work!

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@genessa I think you have a good idea, but I think it needs to be prevented from being abused, because if you can right-click to check to see if it's a stock photo (or someone else's), so also can they right-click to steal the photo from the site. That's why I propose opening it up at a certain level - I mean, that level is to be determined, but it makes sense to me to have some sort of limit on it. Sure, someone at level 1 might not be able to check it, but at this rate, they're just as likely to be a scammer themselves.

@PolyWolf hmm, i was about to concede that this is better than nothing but then i realized that it is still perfectly possible to steal a picture without that feature (i have a handy dandy screen capture program myself). the only thing you cannot do without the feature is search for it on google. so since blocking the feature doesn't prevent theft, why not open it up so at least it's easier to CATCH the thieves?

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@genessa Ah, very good point. It should definitely be enabled then.

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