Possible GeoCoin logging fraud going on

[+Goldenhawk]

I and a fellow Maryland cacher, plus a third cacher from New York, have noted that we each have an uncirculated, activated-but-never-released geocoin which has been logged three times in the last week, all by the same set of cachers.

 

It seems there's some coin number trading going on - but it must be deeper than that, because there's no valid way for these cachers to have discovered the coin numbers.

 

A caching account with the handle "Geofantastico" was created, then first logged all these coins (and three others), all on the 24th of October. That's the ONLY activity on the account - and the only day used.

 

Since then, two other cachers have logged the SAME six coins.

 

I don't mind deleting the fraudulent entries, but I'd really like to know how someone got these coin numbers. My guess is that the Geofantastico account is a strawman, and was used solely to guess at random coin numbers until those six worked, then the list was traded. Either that, or someone at a coin manufacturer has been sharing insider numbers.

 

I know it's only a game, so why stress, but hey, it's only a game and not worth cheating either!

[+ScoutingWV]

Hi there.

 

You may find some more help over in the geocoin forums.

 

I also think it is far more likely that someone just guessed the numbers and shared them than a vendor being involved in sharing them. I really doubt a vendor would put a loss of business at risk by doing such a thing.

 

Good luck.

[+Deliveryguy428]

you might be able to get some better answers over in the geocoin section but that situation does sound fishy on how they were able to log the coins

[+Kit Fox]

My vote is they guessed the secret code. There are many Jeep TBs in circulation where the Jeep disappeared, and marked missing. Someone correctly guessed the secret number, and "resurrected" the Jeep.

[+blb9556]

Yeah someone must have just been guesing the codes

[+BlueDeuce]

Possible? yes. Certainly a couple accounts worth watching to see if they show a pattern of randomly logging coins and then sharing the tracking numbers.

[+cache_test_dummies]

Clear evidence of abuse of the features of this site should be reported to Groundspeak.

[+Goldenhawk]

Clear evidence of abuse of the features of this site should be reported to Groundspeak.

I posted a note on their support form. No answer yet, but I guess there's no hurry.

[+Vinny & Sue Team]

Oops! Sorry! It was me! No harm intended! Having been classified by testers for the CIA Stargate remote viewing project as having a Psi score of 5 and an RV score of 5 back in 1983, it is rather easy for me to "see" (i.e., to remotely view) the numbers for any trackables. In the current case, I was hired by an aging retired Florida mobster, and also a newbie geocacher -- who wished to have a large number of trackables on his brand new geo account -- to use my psi powers to allow him to create faked grabs and drops for thousands of trackables, many of which are likely missing or uncirculated. So, no harm intended, and I have actually been living in fear about this whole matter for two days now, since hearing rumors that Groundspeak is in the final stages of hiring an anti-psi to counteract my psi efforts so that I will start getting nonsense tracking numbers, or worse, no numbers at all, from the etheric realms. Of course, I could always retaliate and in turn hire an anti-anti-psi, but I am a bit afraid of escalating the battle -- it is like totally a pain to have to run an ad in the "help wanted" section of the classifieds or Craigslist reading "Looking for an anti-anti-anti-anti-anti-anti-anti-anti-anti-anti-psi with anti-anti-anti-PK powers as well ". sigh..

 

...double sigh...

 

Edited October 29, 2007 by Vinny & Sue Team

[+cache_test_dummies]

Clear evidence of abuse of the features of this site should be reported to Groundspeak.

I posted a note on their support form. No answer yet, but I guess there's no hurry.

An email to contact@Groundspeak.com should work. But responses can take a few days.

[+mtn-man]

Clear evidence of abuse of the features of this site should be reported to Groundspeak.

I posted a note on their support form. No answer yet, but I guess there's no hurry.

An email to contact@Groundspeak.com should work. But responses can take a few days.

The support forum is crazy busy with site issues at this point. I would use contact@geocaching.com instead, not Groundspeak.com. Close, but not the right address.

[+cache_test_dummies]

Clear evidence of abuse of the features of this site should be reported to Groundspeak.

I posted a note on their support form. No answer yet, but I guess there's no hurry.

An email to contact@Groundspeak.com should work. But responses can take a few days.

The support forum is crazy busy with site issues at this point. I would use contact@geocaching.com instead, not Groundspeak.com. Close, but not the right address.

Dang it! I knew it began with a "G". Thanks for the correction.

[+TKOFaith]

Oops! Sorry! It was me! No harm intended! Having been classified by testers for the CIA Stargate remote viewing project as having a Psi score of 5 and an RV score of 5 back in 1983, it is rather easy for me to "see" (i.e., to remotely view) the numbers for any trackables. In the current case, I was hired by an aging retired Florida mobster -- who wsihed to have a large number of trackables on his geo account -- to use my psi powers to allow him to create faked grabs and drops for thousands of trackables, many of which are likely missing or uncirculated. So, no harm intended, and I have actually been living in fear about this whole matter for two days now, since hearing rumors that Groundspeak is in the final stages of hiring an anti-psi to counteract my psi efforts, so that I will start getting nonsense tracking numbers, or worse, no numbers at all, from the etheric realms. Of course, I could always retaliate and in turn hire an anti-anti-psi, but I am a bit afraid of escalating the battle. sigh..

 

 

ROFLMAO!!!

[Archangel_UK]

if their`re inventing stats let the doofusses get on with it ; the only ones they`re doing down are themselves

 

lets face it ; if its against the spirit of the original cacher`s idea then it isn`t worth spit

[+BlueDeuce]

Clear evidence of abuse of the features of this site should be reported to Groundspeak.

I posted a note on their support form. No answer yet, but I guess there's no hurry.

An email to contact@Groundspeak.com should work. But responses can take a few days.

The support forum is crazy busy with site issues at this point. I would use contact@geocaching.com instead, not Groundspeak.com. Close, but not the right address.

 

You'll probably get the best response when reporting abuse when it is extremely clear. Sometimes it takes showing a history of abuse to bring it into the clearly obvious category.

[Keystone]

Moving thread from the Geocaching Topics forum to the Geocoin Discussion forum.

[+fairyhoney]

Yeah someone must have just been guesing the codes

OR, perhaps, just maybe, they were logging legitimate coins but messed up the true #s and got those. But then, if that were the case, they should Not have logged let alone, passed the #s on.

[+fairyhoney]

I've typed in the wrong # and have gotten an actual TB or coin but I do Not log them!!!

Edited October 30, 2007 by fairyhoney

[WI_Robin]

If the owner of the coin objects to the log he or she can always delete the log. There is no advantage to logging a coin if the log gets deleted.

[+fairyhoney]

If the owner of the coin objects to the log he or she can always delete the log. There is no advantage to logging a coin if the log gets deleted.

So true!

[+C A Royal Flush]

I too had an uncirculated, activated-but-never-released geocoin "discovered" by two different cachers last week. One was by "Unnamed", and I forget the other geonick. I delete the logs, and send them an email telling them that they logged an uncirculated coin, and they should check the coin's numbers and try it again. If its an innocent mistake, I want them to be able to try it again. If its fraudulent, I want them to know I noticed it and deleted their logs.

 

This happened only once before, several months ago and with a different coin.

[+fox-and-the-hound]

There's always the chance that two coins were mistakenly engraved with the same code, too. Is that possible in this scenario? Never mind, forgot you said multiple coins

Edited October 30, 2007 by fox-and-the-hound

[+Eartha]

Have you got any photos of the coins posted in a public place that show the tracking numbers? Unscrupulous people, or perhaps people dying of boredom, have been known to log coins and travel bugs just because the number was showing somewhere. You should always smudge the numbers in the image, with a photo editor, if you must show that portion of the coin in a photo.

[+fairyhoney]

Just the other day, I logged a coin I traded from an event and there on the coin's page was its picture with all its glory. I e-mailed the owner and explained. but their reply was that having the #s show, has maybe contributed to its success go figure

[+Eartha]

Well, that would constitute virtual logging and could have their trackable locked for good. Had they thought of that?

[+islander1988]

Yeah someone must have just been guesing the codes

OR, perhaps, just maybe, they were logging legitimate coins but messed up the true #s and got those. But then, if that were the case, they should Not have logged let alone, passed the #s on.

 

I agree they shouldn't trade numbers, but I've logged a wrong coin by mistake. I once discovered a bunch of coins from an event, and later got an e-mail from a cacher letting me know I had logged their coin but it wasn't at the event. Obviously I wrote the number down wrong, but I had so many numbers from so many different coins I didn't notice when logging that one was a coin I hadn't seen. I just apologized and asked the owner to delete my log.

 

On the topic of guessing numbers, it's not hard. Being a bit of a geek, I wrote a phishing program over a year ago that searched for active TB and coin tracking numbers. I could let it run overnight and in the morning it would have a bunch. I wondered if it was the first geocaching hacker app.

 

(Don't worry, I didn't log the numbers I found; I just wrote it for fun. And no, you can't have a copy of the program.)

[+fairyhoney]

Yeah someone must have just been guesing the codes

OR, perhaps, just maybe, they were logging legitimate coins but messed up the true #s and got those. But then, if that were the case, they should Not have logged let alone, passed the #s on.

 

I agree they shouldn't trade numbers, but I've logged a wrong coin by mistake. I once discovered a bunch of coins from an event, and later got an e-mail from a cacher letting me know I had logged their coin but it wasn't at the event. Obviously I wrote the number down wrong, but I had so many numbers from so many different coins I didn't notice when logging that one was a coin I hadn't seen. I just apologized and asked the owner to delete my log.

 

On the topic of guessing numbers, it's not hard. Being a bit of a geek, I wrote a phishing program over a year ago that searched for active TB and coin tracking numbers. I could let it run overnight and in the morning it would have a bunch. I wondered if it was the first geocaching hacker app.

 

(Don't worry, I didn't log the numbers I found; I just wrote it for fun. And no, you can't have a copy of the program.)

 

Still the same . . . It's scary to think that it Can be done!

[+bluecherry]

I kinda had this problem only the person who logged that they saw my coin also logged that they took it from me and placed it in a cache. I do not know for sure if they did discover my coin but I do know for a fact that the coin has never left my hands so why did they say that they had it and placed it in a cache. It does not make since to me that someone would say they put a coin in a cache when they did not. Does anyone else have this problem.

[+Lehigh Mafia]

Weird things happen.. Here is our Story..

 

We have one of the Geocoin Club Coins that has been Activated, yet never released (2006)..

 

A Fellow Geocacher Discovered this Geocoin a couple of months ago.. They claimed they won this Geocoin at an Event and that they were surprised that it was activated when they went to activate it..

 

Both our Geocoin and Their Geocoin had the same Tracking and Activation Number..

 

After a Couple of E-Mail the Situation was Cleared up and Everyone had a Happy Outcome..

 

LM