Imposter in our midst

[Photofinish61]

Guys, I just discovered something that I found deeply disturbing. I posted within another thread but want to make sure everybody sees it. There seems to be a monger out there who is trying to impersonate me on this board. I discovered 4 posts so far from a person with the screen name "Photofinish6l"...take note, that last character is not the number "1" (one), as it is in my screen name. It's a lower case "L" that looks like the number one at a glance.

If you see any posts, before thinking I wrote it, look at the post count. I am a gold member with over 900 posts to my name as of this writing. The "other" Photo is a bronze member with less than 10 posts to his name so far.

I would like to think I have a good reputation on this board. This person could potentially ruin it and that really pisses me off. I honestly don't know how the mods could allow a screenname like that. I know our memberships have to be approved before we're granted posting status, so someone in charge saw this and approved it. How would they like it if someone took out a screen name like "Sllnkybender"?

I already received a very upset email from Amy (reiki goddess) telling me how upset she was because she was told by a monger who knocked on her door without an appointment, that I was the one who gave out her location on this board. That's not true and anyone who has seen my posts would have seen that I specifically would not post her new location for discretion reasons. So she's upset with me for something I didn't do and that upsets the hell out of me.

I want this imposter removed and banned. If this is allowed to continue, I'm sure I won't be the only one, so all you guys who sit back and allow it are equally at risk.

Thanks for listening and please help support my efforts to get this lowlife thrown out.

 

[vince-10001]

I had heard that had happened while Jill was there as well......no mention of who had given out the address. It's way to easy to be somone your not, with all the free emails available, takes about 30 seconds for some scum bag to fuck things up.
I haven't noticed any of the imposter post's......but I'm sure they are not as cleary written as yours are, and most hee would spot them very readily.
While I am Vince here, both of those ladies know me by my full name, that's how much I trust them and would hate to see them have to pack it up and go elsewhere to escape these a holes.

 

[vince-10001]

Just read his post.....what's the a holes problem with the reiki girls??
Now I'm pissed. Low life lurker scum bag.

and like I said photo .......I would never think that was you. spelling errors and subject matter way out of line.

 

[genius]

Photo,
I did a search ( search, advanced search, search by user name) for the name you indicated and found there are currently 4 posts so I assume the ones you had a problem with were deleted or you overestimated the number.

The substitution of l for 1 is a common trick when you generate passwords where you use a common phrase (maybe even your full name) and substitute numbers for letters. Makes it easy for you to remember. Point is you don't have to be very smart or clever to do this - just need to hear about it.

As I remember a few years back I was able to contact slinky via email to discuss a problem. Don't remember how I did it - I thought there was a email contact link but I cannot find it right now.

 

[Photofinish61]

Thanks, Genius. No I only saw 4 posts as well, but one of them, in the thread for R&R spa mentioned their proximity to that place.

I will try to find slinky's email addy but hopefully Bio or one of the mods reading these posts will pick this up and have it taken care of.

 

[skeeter82]

one bad apple-

Yeah one scumbag (or a stooge from the K Rice goon squad) can ruin everything.
I pretty much stopped posting on UG as I watched the 2753 feeding frenzy spiraling up. Sure enough a few months later it hit the fan over there, ultimately driving some good talent back to Queens.
Now this.
I know the mods do this UG thing on a volunteer basis but some ongoing policing by them is really necessary. The bad news as Photo has shown us is more damage to what was a good thing. Along similar lines I have seen some postings mention a specific car model/color at a provider. Posts like those should also be immediately deleted.
Any thoughts from the moderators on this?

 

[vince-10001]

Photo,
As I awoke this morning, I wondered how I had missed those imposter posts.......since I read all "new posts" everytime I log in. Anything Amy or Jill related catches my attention and gets my full attention, so I said WTF to myself.

So I checked the dates, and there is no way I would have missed them if they had been posted within the normal stream of established member post's.
They had to be awaiting "moderator approval" and posted into the thread by a mod, thus not showing up in the "new posts". I know this is how my new posts got into threads.

Why a mod would see and allow this to be done to you and a trusted well reviewed provider.......I have no idea.

 

[Li631]

Photo... This scares the heck out of me to be honest. The mods somehow misse this one and we can only hope a correction is made.

To that point also that i have to believe corrections have to be made. Is it possible that somebody knows you as ------------- (your real name) AND Photo? The only reason i am saying this is this seems rather vindictive and direct point at you.

Just trying to be honest here dont be upset but it does seem personal to a point. I know our beliefs are being raked through the coals on the other thread and its almost at the point that i fully expect to be blasted for feeling how i feel and it is what it is. I just hope for your sake this is just a post and a badly timed post and nothing else.

 

[Photofinish61]

I have no idea what to think. Nobody on this board has ever met me in person and no one knows my real name or where I live. I've been very careful. I don't know what drives people to do the things they do. I just want us all to be aware and be careful. And I hope the mods will listen and remove the damaging posts and ban this asshole.

 

[Canis Latrans]

UG is using vBulletin for the message boards a mod can easily check the IP the the person used to register & post if i recall correctly a any staff member with access to the Moderator or Admin CPanel can check & I believe by default vBulletin with record the registration email/IP as well as the last 3 IP's that person used when they logged on. Also usually a Moderator can see a IP or lil icon on post that revel the IP used for that post.. That won't revel the identity of said person but it gives you a general idea maybe the person wasn't savvy & used their real ISP email or something..

Yea this shit sucks that it would even come down to having to explore such avenues especially on boards such as this..
For the life of me I cant grasp the mindset of some people.
We all come here for enjoyment & such not to cause grief, drama or stir shit up..

I'm sure we all have enough real life drama & everyday bullshit in our lives I know i come to places like this to sorta escape that shit for a few minutes.
Why someone who do shit like this or things like I read in other threads is beyond me, i guess their just miserable SOB's & others wanna ride on someone else's coat tales.

Then again WTF do I know for the older I get the more I realize that I don't know jack shit...
When i was a younger man i knew everything.. I wish i knew what happened

Hope you get your problem resolved bro..


.

 

[Li631]

They should also reveal the true user name if it was sabotage by a current user as well... IMHO as this would lend some cr****ce to it all

 

[Li631]

Anybody else notice an unusual ammount of posts by newbies? Posting they are new to board and hobby yet seem to know too much.
Theres one and dammit i cant find it to share or direct in the right place but its a CL UTR where 2 mongers which both signed real recently are going back and forth the the thread starter asks mods to delete thread.
Fishy? Or just nervous for all?

 

[Photofinish61]

Anybody else notice an unusual ammount of posts by newbies? Posting they are new to board and hobby yet seem to know too much.
Theres one and dammit i cant find it to share or direct in the right place but its a CL UTR where 2 mongers which both signed real recently are going back and forth the the thread starter asks mods to delete thread.
Fishy? Or just nervous for all?

It's in the BP and CL section and I saw it. Looks really fishy.

 

[nycliguy]

If no one ever tells a provider about this site no matter how cool sweet lovely special the provider is , then part of this problem would be null.

 

[Quint]

If no one ever tells a provider about this site no matter how cool sweet lovely special the provider is , then part of this problem would be null.

I couldn't agree more. I know this comes up on various threads from time to time, but if everyone would just keep the existence of UG as a secret among guys who share a common (not quite legit) hobby, it would work so much better. From the point of view of the UG membership in general, there is really no good reason to show a provider this site if she is not already aware of it, and many reasons why it is a horrible idea. Just my $.02.

 

[Photofinish61]

I agree wholeheartedly. I have never told a provider about UG but have been told by several that they know about it. It's the same old story. The good contributing members are what's great about this site. The lurkers ruin it for everyone.

 

[genius]

I agree wholeheartedly. I have never told a provider about UG but have been told by several that they know about it......

Just curious Photo - how did the name of UG come up in conversation?

 

[fairemily]

I agree wholeheartedly. I have never told a provider about UG but have been told by several that they know about it. It's the same old story. The good contributing members are what's great about this site. The lurkers ruin it for everyone.

I don't agree with you regarding the lurkers. I do wish more people contributed like yourself but many lurkers do see providers tell them there heard about them on UG and in turn those providers tell others about the board. I tell lurkers to post all the time but it's a personal choice plus this is not the easiest crowd to please. I've seen first time posters get critized and never post again too often.

Regarding your sock puppet/imposter/troll, public figures on message boards sometimes gain unwanted attention especially well liked ones, this person is obviously envious of your popularity which you earned. The smart members will see the post numbers and writing style know he/she is not you. This isn't the first time I've seen a handle hijacked, these social inept people do not have the skills to correspond in a civil manner and reduced to assuming the identity of respected members.

 

[fairemily]

If no one ever tells a provider about this site no matter how cool sweet lovely special the provider is , then part of this problem would be null.

I completely disagree, I think all members should tell providers they see about the board. They might want to advertise or do a banner link and foward the information to people new to the PMB's and hopefully add new contributors.

 

[Photofinish61]

Just curious Photo - how did the name of UG come up in conversation?

Honestly it's different in every instance. I've been told people talk about providers on "that website" by some, and a couple have even shown me the website on their phones or laptops and identified me, saying they know which are my posts, probably by noting when I visited or the frequency of my visits. One time I saw a sign that said something like "Please don't publicize us online".

Emily, thank you for the kind words. I didn't think of myself as highly regarded or popular. I came to this board very early on, actually stumbled upon it when I was doing a google search on a provider, which is how I imagine a lot of providers discover it. I knew nothing about the hobby and didn't want to fall into the traps that the uninitiated did. So I did a lot of reading and learning and eventually asked questions. After I got comfortable with the way things worked, I felt that I was beholding to a lot of the members for showing me how things worked and I always believed in paying it back and paying if forward. I guess I'm just a giving person. LOL. In case you haven't noticed, I happen to love to write and like to express myself as well as my feelings about things. Sometimes I express too much, which can get me into trouble. My current ATF told me flat out that she knows I saw a lot of people and saw everything I wrote on this site. I felt kind of embarrassed, considering how I felt about her, and considering How long I've felt this way about her. But now I just contribute to help people who have a question I may have an answer to. I don't see providers anymore because I'm extremely happy with the one person I'm seeing, though I can't understand why she likes me so much considering my past. LOL. I guess some people have the ability to see beneath the surface. I consider myself lucky in that respect.

There I go rambling again. LOL. I do feel good that people here appreciate the help I've given and enjoyed my musings. But I have a deep resentment for the few who make it bad for everybody else and when I referred to the lurkers, it's because it always seems when something goes awry, it's when someone nobody saw post on this board opened up his mouth and said the wrong thing. I think if the good ones here support each other, we will remain safe.