Massive influx of fake accounts

[Wi****]

25 minutes ago, SierraSix75 said:

there's one serial scammer on here who always post in my country ,UK, not sure if elsewhwre. Asian girl with alphanumeric profile name e.g Sami1346 always wants friends and LTR. beware. I've reported his ass to the moderatos numerous times

You would think that by now they would know how to block the IP address instead of just blocking screen names.

[ey****]

12 minutes ago, Windwolf said:

A lot of us here also use fetlife.

who, funnily enough

also have complaints of a massive rise of scammers 

[Wi****]

Yeah. They are doing something about it though and they just started punishing members who support the pay for play profiles. They are working to rid the arena of liars and chests.

[ey****]

3 minutes ago, Windwolf said:

Yeah. They are doing something about it though and they just started punishing members who support the pay for play profiles. They are working to rid the arena of liars and chests.

ahem

and what exactly are they doing?

[Wi****]

They are banning fake profiled as well as cash cow accounts. They are discouraging everyone from supporting them and doing so can cause people to get banned as well.

[ey****]

15 minutes ago, Windwolf said:

They are banning fake profiled as well as cash cow accounts. They are discouraging everyone from supporting them and doing so can cause people to get banned as well.

respectfuly.

no they're not. 

[Wi****]

That's what the post said.

[Wi****]

37 minutes ago, eyemblacksheep said:

respectfuly.

no they're not. 

I'm looking for the post. I didn't think much about it at the time since it didn't apply to me.

[Deleted Member]

2 hours ago, Windwolf said:

Damn censor is about useless. You can say fuck but you can't say m o n e y

An attempt at stopping Fin Dommes & scammers, etc, asking for it on the site, it failed miserably & only achieved annoying the rest of us with over doing the language filters.

[Wi****]

1 hour ago, eyemblacksheep said:

respectfuly.

no they're not. 

I found it. You are correct. It isn't fetlife it's a group. I should have read closer but it wasn't something that actually applied to me and I was looking for something else.

[ey****]

yep, groups on fetlife can set their own rules - and as such you get a lot of self appointed dictators running groups 

Fetlife themselves have a far more tolerant policy on sellers, Pros, etc than they do on here. 

[TyHutley78]

Wow... I had no idea this thread would take off the way it did. So it seems like a lot of people on here are noticing the same thing.   Is there anything else that can be done to fix it? It's getting to be a bit tiresome reporting these accounts, especially seeing a lot of them never go away lately.

[ey****]

12 minutes ago, TyHutley78 said:

Wow... I had no idea this thread would take off the way it did. So it seems like a lot of people on here are noticing the same thing.   Is there anything else that can be done to fix it? It's getting to be a bit tiresome reporting these accounts, especially seeing a lot of them never go away lately.

So, I've not noticed personally BUT that doesn't mean it isn't happening, a lot can be in how people use the site - which I'm not saying anyone is using badly.

I'd notice if my DMs filled up with suspicious messages, but this hasn't happened

I do have a little experience here - and sadly, the solutions are not great

So, keep reporting - but don't go out of your way - i.e. don't go vigilante hunting

In essence, the support teams should notice an increase in reports and that should lead to investigations and process changes

If you find reporting too much - take a few days break from the site for your own sanity!

If you have relevant experience/knowledge to know where the fakes are coming from or what they're doing - that may be worth reaching out with - but most people do not have this information.   

A couple of years ago there was a problem cos someone on TikTok did a video saying this was an excellent site for *** to use and it caused a surge, the right thing for the site to do then was contact tiktok to get the video removed and basically ride out the wave. 

[xp****]

I find that usually if not always it’s a one pic profile their manes are usually followed by a bunch of numbers. Blah blah 23456
Kinda thing.
To find out if they are actually real I ask them for a pic early on with one or two fingers out on whatever hand and a clear face pic.
Usually they disappear right after.
I don’t know their end game.
I’m even convinced that it’s men behind lots of woman pics trying to get explicit pics to beat off to.

[Ga****]

Sooooo many fake accounts.

[NickFromCenla]

One thing that would eliminate many fake profiles would be to have a mandatory minimum of at least three different pictures uploaded. Not the profile with one overpolished photo of the "jewelry designer" who is 25 and has a PhD and is widowed etc etc.

[ey****]

the kinda problem is that any fakes, automation, bots, etc. always will find ways to get to the minimum

so if you say you need a minimum amount of photos, they can provide that

if you say they need a minimum amount of profile completed, they can generate that

whilst, these themselves being things which can be off-putting to new members (like people looking to explore and being unsure how much of themselves to post initially) 

like, there is a way which would eliminate almost all fakes is mandatory ID verification - but - again, most people would be hesitant about handing over their ID to be on a dating site.  

The solution is for users to remain vigilant, understanding how desirable sites like this can be for those with dishonest (or inappropriate for the site) motives - while the sites themselves looking at their own processes.   Like, limiting the s***d people can post/upload which helps detect automation, whilst also using automated code to check for where images or profile descriptions have been used elsewhere. 

[MI****]

They’re everywhere now days! It’s 60% or more of the accounts on sites like this. They’re getting smarter and more devious with it too. I just got threatened with blackmail for my own nudes. Be careful out there Yall

[Wi****]

I don't know if it's true here or not ,but I installed a dating platform on one of my isolated domains today and it has an option for me to populate with AI generated accounts.
That could explain why a lot of the fake accounts are so similar, but it doesn't account for all the scammers.

[ey****]

4 hours ago, Windwolf said:

I don't know if it's true here or not ,but I installed a dating platform on one of my isolated domains today and it has an option for me to populate with AI generated accounts.
That could explain why a lot of the fake accounts are so similar, but it doesn't account for all the scammers.

I have been here long enough to feel it's not true of here, and there's a simple reason of which I'd come on to

I guess first off, it'd always be difficult for any new dating platform, since initially there would be no users - so I could see the temptation in faking a start up value - this site was an evolution of an app/site which started in Germany, so when I started on here the complaints were there were so many Germans, they were eventually filtered into their own version of the site (a .de) and as it expanded territory again, Americans complained there were too many Europeans - and this all took time to populate

But, hypothetically - if I were to build a dating site and happy to use AI then I'd use AI to combat one of the greatest complaints men have : that they don't get replies.  And yep, basically have AI users who would respond.  Basically set these users with believable 'active hours' and basic personality and learning for consistency 

to be honest, it's a danger of where we're heading - messaging back and forth with someone "you've reached a daily limit of 10 messages, you need a pro subscription to increase this", "you've reached a weekly limit of 150 messages, you need a VIP subscription" and someone who is always going to respond to eat up the credit.

Fet has little to gain from doing something like that.  And that any 'fakes' do get deleted when reported or suddenly are removed from the site when in an inbox is testament to that.  There's no real need or gain from artificially inflating membership with fakes. 

[HDHighlander]

It seems that they follow the same naming conventions too. Female first name then 4 or 5 digit numbers. Any photo like or comment is met with a message where they soon inquire about WhatsApp and talking via there.
I read about a current scam once there asking for a verification code, mistakenly sent to you.
They use the code to take over your account and scam any contacts there and *** any payment info stored therein.
Avoidance is key.

[Mu****]

What I've run into, they ask to go off the platform quickly. It's usually the ones that have new profiles and are not verified. Or the have a current city or area posted online. Then when you start to communicate, they say they are like 1000 miles away from you. Or the picture they post is not theirs, it belongs to her Friend or *** . 

[Deleted Member]

In my experience they do want you to get onto another DM platform quickly.
One tell tail, I've found, is the that they only stick around for a few messages and then they disappear for a while. Presumably this is because they have several marks on the go and have to spread themselves thin. Now, we all work, make brews, take trips to the toilet, but when it keeps happening and I start to feel I'm interrupting them and getting a disinterested vibe, well, for me it's a flag and I proceed with caution, untill I get bored with the spare part feeling. then I tend to string them along to gradually beat them to death with a metophorical intellectual teaspoon or just block them.

[ey****]

there are a few reasons why they try to get you off site quickly

One is that they are on borrowed time on sites like this before their profile is deleted

Another is that it changes trail more difficult to report

It's private and direct, and of course can have multiple people on go at once from one number and multiple sources

One other thing as well is there can be multiple goals of different scammers and one thing in particular is if they have you on whatsapp they likely know your phone number which may mean they can find you on other sites or socials.

A little old school "what if I sent the pics/vids/chat you've been sending to your parents/boss/wife" 

[Error99]

Met my first scammer today. All of the comments resonate with the experience. Took photos and reported.