South Wales Travel Bug & Geocoin Thief

[+Eclectic Penguin]

It seems that someone in South Wales is enjoying a spate of stealing Travel Bugs and Geocoins - but the strange twist is that they seem to be replacing the original items with elaborately created replacements.

 

I first came across one of these while visiting Melin Court Falls in the upper Neath Valley in February to see the waterfall in flood. I'd already visited the cache previously but had a quick look at the cache location only to discover it wasn't there, but In a nearby gap in the rocks, I found Laverne's Labyrinth Geocoin (TB19PQ3). Or so it seemed until I checked the TB's entry and found that the elaborately painted pebble that I had found wasn't the original coin but a replacement. More, the coin had been removed from Cwm Du Glen - Glanrhyd Plantation (GCZ4RM) without being logged. The owner on contacting appeared angry and upset that this had happened and asked me to remove the item from circulation.

 

Melin Court cache has since been replaced but the mischief seems to continue here and the immediate vicinity.

 

Yesterday, while caching in the general area I picked up two other items that I've since confirmed have been stolen and replaced by impostors. While the two new items are quite different from each other, they bear several things in common. If you visit the item’s pages, I’ve posted pictures of what I found.

 

The first one was another pebble, almost identical in size to the Laverne coin. It had a painting that was similar to the original Travel Bug it was pretending to be. This was originally released as Africa Bug (TBNGG5) and was a hand crafted, hand panted wood cut-out little bug, released by an 11 year old child with a mission to reach Africa. I guess the thief didn't care about this or understand what TBs are about as this too had been replaced by an item that had obviously taken a lot of time to create, but also at the same time stolen the very essence of what the original item was about. This had also been left and then discovered at the newly replaced Melin Court Falls cache. It was last seen in its original form last September in Massachusetts USA, so there’s no record of where (if any) it was stolen from in South Wales.

 

The second item I came across yesterday was obviously from the same farm as it bore many of the same hallmarks, was quite different from the pebbles, but also clearly another stolen coin having been replaced by a "replica". This was recently discovered from The Secret Library Cave (GCZFK4) which is very close to Melin Court Falls, this time the coin had been replaced by a small statue of a cave man holding a pebble (common theme?) with the word GPS written on it. Accompanying the statue was a prettily painted tag bearing the coin's tracking number and other details. The original coin I've confirmed was left in Motorway Mayhem - M50 J3 last October. I’ve contacted the owner of this coin too and suspect that this too will be removed from circulation.

 

Although I’ve only personally seen three of these, I’m now convinced this TB thief has created others that are now in circulation. I can sort of understand (but not condone) someone stealing coins for their personal collection but to replace coins and travel bugs with items that have obviously taken time and care to create is quite impenetrable to me. The Africa TB mentioned above would have no value to anyone except the young person who originally bought it and sent it out so why steal it and then replace it?

 

I’m sure this has happened elsewhere but it’s disappointing to know that there is a thief in our midst who seems to be stealing items with little or no intrinsic value apart from the sentimental and personal value placed in these items by the people who originally sent them on their way.

Edited March 23, 2008 by Eclectic Penguin

[+Jaz666]

An interesting take on the problem; but bear in mind this person is doing it because they crave the attention, and discussing the problem in an open forum, or on cache pages is playing right into their hands.

 

We had a theft problem in West Yorkshire last year, so we setup a private thread on the Yorkshire forum to discuss the problem. We quickly identified the person, and because his/her exploits were no longer being discussed out in the open, they soon grew tired and stopped.

[+Eclectic Penguin]

An interesting take on the problem; but bear in mind this person is doing it because they crave the attention, and discussing the problem in an open forum, or on cache pages is playing right into their hands.

 

I did conisder the fact that this may have been the work of someone trying to get some attention. It's the fact that they created elaborate replacements for the original items that made me wonder though - if I hadn't come across the original coin I suspect I wouldn't have thought anything more about the two items I found yesterday (apart from the fact that the ugly neanderthal claimed to be a coin when it clearly wasn't).

[+Von-Horst]

I can sort of understand (but not condone) someone stealing coins for their personal collection but to replace coins and travel bugs with items that have obviously taken time and care to create is quite impenetrable to me.

 

You're right. Stealing trackables is one thing but this is just, well, its plain wierd!

 

I think that we're dealing with someone who enjoys the act of 'recreating' the travel items and then, presumably, gets a kick when a cacher logs the item and moves it on without relising that it is an imposter.

 

I don't think that this person is a thief per se - their elaborate and time consuming 'replacements' suggest another (bonkers!) motive, as does the fact that they (she?) take both coins and TBs.

 

The 'thief' appears to be quite well off if one of the items was last logged in Massachusetts...

 

I wonder if this person is also a mainstream cacher?

 

Will keep an eye open in our corner of Wales.

 

Mike

Edited March 23, 2008 by Von-Horst

[+The Blorenges]

From July 2007 and on into the autumn, geocachers in this SE corner of Wales and up the Wye Valley became aware of geocoins "disappearing" from local caches. I have kept a list of 11 of these vanishing coins and there were a few others as well. A little research back through the logs on the relevant caches soon brought to light "a common factor". I don't know whether TBs were also disappearing at the same time - I was concentrating on the geocoins because one of mine disappeared, and two other coins disappeared from one of our caches.

 

Whether these disappearances are related to your observations there further to the west I don't know, but I will let you have details of my "Vanished Coins List" if you are interested.

 

MrsB

[+Eclectic Penguin]

What's the best way of taking a coin out of circulation? When I discovered the original Labrynth coin, I asked the cache owner to mark it as missing after the owner asked me to remove it from circulation but it's still there listed as being in Glanrhyd Plantation cache.

 

Aside from the fact that I myself am having problems marking a coing as missing from one of my caches, is the best thing to do, to mark it as a find then "deposit" it in one of my own caches along with a note stating that it's not really there then mark it as missing? I suspect I could then archive the note that marked the coin as being deposited there...

 

There may be a way for the coin owner to disable their coin but I can't find it and to be honest some people probably won't do it thus leaving a ghost coin logged at various caches which no longer contain the coin.

 

For reference, there was a Pooh Bear TB listed in my very first cache but had gone missing shortly before. To this day, it's still listed there...

 

Thanks for any responses. Not a good day of caching for me so far. A den built within 2 metres of one of my nano caches so I had to go out to disable that temporarily, and I've just been told that

[+Munkeh]

What's the best way of taking a coin out of circulation? When I discovered the original Labrynth coin, I asked the cache owner to mark it as missing after the owner asked me to remove it from circulation but it's still there listed as being in Glanrhyd Plantation cache.

 

 

either the coin owner or the cache owner should be able to change its location to unknown

[+Eclectic Penguin]

Thanks for the fast response - it's as I expected.

 

Can anyone let me know what I'm doing wrong? I go to the cache page which has the missing coin listed on it. Click on the coin and its page turns up - to the right is an option to "Mark Item Missing". I click on the Go button and this option disappears.

 

However, when I go back to the page a few minutes later, the coin is back on the list.

 

Any suggestions?

[+Eclectic Penguin]

Delete last message - I didn't spot the "are you sure" at the top of the screen. I know it's not immediately obvious but I should have spotted it...

 

[+keehotee]

Just a thought - are you sure the originals are all missing, and not just "somewhere else"?

It sounds almost as if somebody is making their own coin-substitutes and tb's , without realising each has a unique number........and may be putting the originals back into circulation in another cache???

[+Eclectic Penguin]

That could well be true - but every one without exception went out of circulation towards the end of last year and are now slowly turning up as copies - and some with completely revised missions.

 

I found another one today... details to follow once I've contacted the owner.

[+Eclectic Penguin]

As mentioned previously, I've come across another pebble masquerading as a coin this afternoon. This time it was Deego's Everest "Geocoin" (TBP4TT).

 

This one's stranger than the rest as not only does it fib about being the Geocoin - it actually goes as far as claiming that it's actually a pebble found at Gorak Shep Everest Base Camp.

 

Pictures of the pebble have been put on the relevant web page.

 

I alredy know that this is a replacement as I personally have held the original coin last year. This one went missing from Beware Falling Rocks (not a million miles from Melyn Court Falls and also a very very similar location to Melyn Court Falls).

 

As with the others, I've contacted the owner to see what they want to do with the impostor. So far, only one has asked for the replacement to go back into circulation.

[+keehotee]

As mentioned previously, I've come across another pebble masquerading as a coin this afternoon. This time it was Deego's Everest "Geocoin" (TB ).

 

You might want to edit your post to remove the tracking number of the coin in case it ever comes back.....

Edited March 24, 2008 by keehotee

[+Eclectic Penguin]

As mentioned previously, I've come across another pebble masquerading as a coin this afternoon. This time it was Deego's Everest "Geocoin" (TB ).

 

You might want to edit your post to remove the tracking number of the coin in case it ever comes back.....

 

That's not its trackable number. It's the "waypoint" that you can freely pass on to describe the item. Anything that starts with TB.... can be quoted as you can go to the coin's entry but can't do anything else like log it as a find etc.

 

I've been VERY careful not to give out the trackable number in all these cases and have pixelated it in all images.

[+vw_k]

It's so sad when trackables go missing, they are usually items of little value but which bring alot of pleasure to their owners, I've heard of TBs belonging to children getting stolen, imagine how those kids feel.

 

If these people are stealing geocoins because of their monetary or collectors value, just think of how much money you'd spend on petrol or public transport getting to geocaches to steal these items. Do these thieves really think they cannot afford the less than £10 it would take to buy their own coin?

 

Electric Penguin described the replacement pebbles as "elaborately painted". No offence to you, Pengiun, but at least one of them seems to be a pebble with a computer print out glued to it and varnished and the others aren't exactly going to win a Turner prize! If the theif is doing it for the attention of his artistic abilities I'd suggest he'd be better off going to the Early Learning centre and getting a colouring book and packet of crayons to practice with! If someone wants to create their own hand made trackables then they can go ahead (The clay "Tiki Tiles" are particularly good) but don't replace someone elses property with your own creation.

 

The only other reason I can think of for this happening would be that the culprit is incredibly confused as to how trackables work, if this is the case we can only hope a more experienced cacher will put him/her right soon.

[+TheWhoUK]

EP contacted me today about all above. I picked up 2 of these Coins from areas concerned. no this got me looking into history of some of these.

 

The africa coin was dropped off in State Line Motel GCCD3D in the USA as stated in log September 3, 2007 by Team Proline (1081 found)

 

reading further into the log it looks like the cache has been muggled which would suggest the coin went missing there.

 

How someone has picked up on this in S wales and re created the coin beats me ( call Muldy and Scully!)

 

The other one Dusk till Dawn has been confirmed as being a "Coin" by jamesandellen which they left in Motorway Mayhem - M50 J3

 

Both coins had to double logged by me as they were not logged as being where I found them.

 

TheWhoUK

[+Eclectic Penguin]

Electric Penguin described the replacement pebbles as "elaborately painted". No offence to you, Pengiun, but at least one of them seems to be a pebble with a computer print out glued to it and varnished and the others aren't exactly going to win a Turner prize!

 

I agree - they're not exquisite works of art for sure, but the tag on the Dusk to Dawn monkey was well drawn - far better than I could have managed, and the drawing on the Labyrinth pebble matched the puzzle on the coin itself - again something my un-artistic fist could manage

 

However, as you say - the Everest pebble which seems to have been the most recently placed one based on a conversation I had tonight was just printouts stuck to a pebble and then painted with what smells like glue. Getting sloppy perhaps?

 

Oh - and no offence taken as we're all brothers and sisters in arms here in Geocaching! It's ECLECTIC, not Electric!

 

[+Eclectic Penguin]

deleted - double post caused by my PC crashing...

Edited March 24, 2008 by Eclectic Penguin

[consean]

Hi EP

Thanks for contacting me over this issue.

I came across the TC "TeamSP's Tools of the Trade Geocoin " a few months ago in barry and moved it on to breacon. I have now got a lump of rock from Everest base camp with the same tracking number as this coin that I found at Llantwit Major.

[+*mouse*]

I'm concerned to hear that coins in South Wales are disappearing, paticularly Deego's Everest coin as I was the last legitmite person to drop if off, and I did so in good ernest. I regularly travel along the M4 and I often move coins and TB's between S.Wales and S.W England, but given E.P's posts I think I might have to consider stopping doing this for the time being.

 

This is all very disappointing, over the years I have come to feel as if I know many South Wales cachers quite well, as we regularly email or chat on forums etc... obviously there is someone amongst us with more sinister motives. Question is, how can we as a group stop this kind of thing happening???

[+Eclectic Penguin]

This is all very disappointing, over the years I have come to feel as if I know many South Wales cachers quite well, as we regularly email or chat on forums etc... obviously there is someone amongst us with more sinister motives. Question is, how can we as a group stop this kind of thing happening???

 

I'm also very disappointed as I now have a pile of pebbles in my possesion that used to be coins that have no desire to be travelling any more.

 

Can we do something? To be honest, no. Geocaching by its very nature is letting our and other people's possesions go into other's hands - whether it be the caches or the trackables. That's what the hobby is about.

 

From time to time, caches get muggled and trackables get stolen. And as things go, for whatever reason a single theif can do quite a bit of damage in one fell swoop without any rhyme or reason to anyone else. They have their own reasons I'm sure - sadly, we have to live with their strange .. well. whatever their minds think.

 

I may sound negative - but I also live for the positive of finding something hidden by someone else, purely for the very nature that it was hidden to be found, even if there's alaways a small chance someone else who doesn't understand what it's about has in the mean time removed it - that's also the nature of Geocaching.

 

Being realistic now - I hope this spate of coin swapping has stopped as the harm isn't to us in South Wales in the main, it's to the indivduals who placed the coins, especially those with sentimental value placed in them...

[+Jonovich]

Since one of the first things replaced was a hand made TB by a child, is it at all possible that the person doing this doesn't realise how TB's work and thinks that they should all be replaced with new handmade items? Would be a rather interesting take on a TB actually, in order to move it on, you replace the tag item... Bit like a Polymorph, see what it changes into as it moves around?

 

J

[+Eclectic Penguin]

I came across another one today after a conversation with CaptainCrazy on the way up to a newly published cache (we bumped into each other as we were parking up for the trek up to the cache). He described an item with all the hallmarks of the other ones I've seen that he'd seen in a nearby local cache so I popped over on my way home. It did appear to have all the hallmarks of the same person.

 

It seems no items, replaced in this nature have gone missing since December last year - at the moment, these are all travelling items that have gone missing between October and December last year.

 

This item's details including the pictures of the rather crudely decorated pebble can be tracked at: TB1D1FG (its waypoint, not its trackable number).

 

One new development in this case is that there was another item in the cache that had some of the hallmarks of this TB replacer - but it wasn't a trackable. This was a smaller pebble with the picture of a skull laminated on one side and the slogan "Never mess with a Geocacher...... They know ALL the best places to hide a body!!" on the other. While appearing mildly sinister (I took it as the joke I suspect it's meant to be rather than sinister), this is otherwise a normal cache item in that it hasn't "stolen" the identity of another item.

 

Almost all of the items I've discovered over the last 3 months (5 pebbles and a statue) will be available for inspection at the South Wales Event III cache next week.

[+mollyjak]

Discovered yesterday that our Isle of Man coin has been affected as it was in a cache in the Neath area and a 'stone' has reappeared in its' place and was picked up at a cache in Rome. No idea how and when it got there!!!

[+Eclectic Penguin]

Looks like we have two more cloned travelling items to add to the list of items that have been created/stolen, that follow some of the same traits as the ones reported here earlier on this year.

 

Going through the logs of my Between The Lakes (GC13RXE) cache, I came across a coin (TB1KVNE) that vanished from there around the same time window as other TBs went missing in this area, only to reappear 8 months later in Gillian au Roma cache (unknown location) and then to travel in Cataluña. Subsequent log entries talk about innovative design and "heavy" coin - all point to another trackable replaced by a pebble to me.

 

Then, over the weekend, preseli discovered a trackable that had gone missing in 2006 in New Jersey, Jost for Fun (TBHYQK) in Library in the Woods cache (again, the connection with the upper Neath valley). This one was good. The only giveaway (apart from the find location and the fact that it had been missing for over 2 years from the other side of the Atlantic) was the fact that it looked completely different to its photo. Instead of a dog tag, it had a copper plate on which its name, number and owner had been stamped. Looking quite weather worn, the givewaway that it was probably created comparitively recently was the fact that there was no corrosion where the hole had been stamped for the cable-tie that connected the tag with the cork. I've posted a photo of the new item on my TB entry for Jost for Fun (which the cloner has renamed Jost for Fun 2).

 

If this is indeed a clone item, I wonder if the cloner ever saw the original? Perhaps they tried random numbers until a valid trackable that had gone missing a long time ago appeared and "brought it back to life". If so, this is an interesting twist in the story as in this case, the original TB hasn't been deliberately removed from circulation by the cloner.

 

I wonder how peolpe would feel if a trackable that had definitely been lost in the field be resurrected by a third party in this way? It's not an outright theft of an item, however I guess the trackable number was bought and owned by the original owner... any thoughts?

 

The coin is almost certainly part of the original batch produced in the first quarter of this year - the cork could have been placed in Library cache at any time and only now discovered as the cache container is the biggest I've seen - its a cave and the cork could well have been placed there 6 months ago only now to be discovered. In both cases (as with the others) the coins had been dropped into a cache without logging.

 

I think I remember Zetetic telling me that he too discovered a pebble clone in one of the Ystradfellte caches (just off the Neath Valley) a coulpe of months ago.

 

(note, the numbers quoted for the trackable are not the trackable's tracking number, they're the alternative reference number that can freely be published as you can't do anything more than look at the entry with that number).

[+dizspell]

Thank you Electric Penguin, for letting us know that our Wyken Wizard coin TB1KNE is possibly a pebble. It was really strange, as you say, it went into the ‘Between the Lakes’ cache then eight months later it suddenly appears in Spain and is now in Germany even though its goal is to travel around the UK.

As you point out, some of the comments state that the coin is ‘inventive’ and ‘heavy’. Well it’s not that heavy at just over an ounce in weight and 1 7/16 inch diameter. We might ask the next cacher that picks it up to let us know if it is something other that a geocoin.

Keep you posted

[+jenandberry]

Sorry if this is a daft question, but how can the person producing these TBs be changing the name and / or mission of them? Is that not only something the owner can do, or have I got the wrong end of the stick

[+Bear and Ragged]

Sorry if this is a daft question, but how can the person producing these TBs be changing the name and / or mission of them? Is that not only something the owner can do, or have I got the wrong end of the stick

 

If the original traveller goes out with a mission tag attached, a new tag can be attached with a new mission...

[+Happy Humphrey]

A very baffling case this one. To add a little to the knowledgebase, this travel bug of mine was rather cheekily replaced. It had taken Mrs. Humphrey quite a while to find a suitable "mascot" for this one and she'd been very excited to obtain exactly the right toy to attach. So it was disappointing that a totally non-suitable item replaced it.

But at least the perpetrator admitted the act, and even e-mailed me to let me know (but didn't ask first!). As it was a fait accompli I didn't object at the time, on the basis that the replacement would be suitable (it wasn't).

I'm not suggesting that the pebble-swapper is similarly motivated, but it's interesting to see various takes on the idea of what to do with a travelling item...

[+Cushie Butterfield]

I can't believe the cheek of that! Maybe they need to say no to their 7 year old a bit more often

[+Eclectic Penguin]

Most of the missions and descriptions remained largely the same, but TBP4TT, Deego's Silver Everest Seven Summit Geocoin had a note stuck on the pebble claiming that the pebble was from an Everest base camp!

 

In this case, the actual coin had passed through my hands a few months before, so I knew with certainty that it was a clone.

[+Eclectic Penguin]

I've just heard from the owner of TBHYQK - the good news is that he'd like the clone to stay out in the wild as the original has almost certainly long gone, and has updated the TB's page to reflect the change.

[+jenandberry]

If the original traveller goes out with a mission tag attached, a new tag can be attached with a new mission...

 

Arr, ok. That makes sense - I was thinking the TB web page had been somehow changed.

[+Jacobite]

The person who is doing this is a very strange individual! A lot of work has gone into the making of the fakes. It's obviously an attention something...................the mind boggles really

[+Dorsetgal & GeoDog]

Sounds like the work of a very sad person who is obviously craving attention.

[+vw_k]

A very baffling case this one. To add a little to the knowledgebase, this travel bug of mine was rather cheekily replaced. It had taken Mrs. Humphrey quite a while to find a suitable "mascot" for this one and she'd been very excited to obtain exactly the right toy to attach. So it was disappointing that a totally non-suitable item replaced it.

But at least the perpetrator admitted the act, and even e-mailed me to let me know (but didn't ask first!). As it was a fait accompli I didn't object at the time, on the basis that the replacement would be suitable (it wasn't).

 

 

That is one spoilt child! They will pay in the long run.

 

Do these parents not teach their children the difference between owning their own toys and stealing somebody elses property?

[+SkiBums (UK)]

well thats just wrong. Here's hoping they don't find one of my TB's and fall in love with it.

[+Simply Paul]

Smacking children would be compulsory, if I had my way

The odd clout never did me any harm. Except for the facial scarring.

[+careygang]

A very baffling case this one. To add a little to the knowledgebase, this travel bug of mine was rather cheekily replaced. It had taken Mrs. Humphrey quite a while to find a suitable "mascot" for this one and she'd been very excited to obtain exactly the right toy to attach. So it was disappointing that a totally non-suitable item replaced it.

But at least the perpetrator admitted the act, and even e-mailed me to let me know (but didn't ask first!). As it was a fait accompli I didn't object at the time, on the basis that the replacement would be suitable (it wasn't).

I'm not suggesting that the pebble-swapper is similarly motivated, but it's interesting to see various takes on the idea of what to do with a travelling item...

 

As WayFarer has been missing for so long, you should mark it as missing to clear it out of the cache.

 

Go to your trackable's home page, and on the right side under the tracking number is a box with 'recalculate distance'. Click in that and one of the options is to 'Mark Item Missing'.

[+careygang]

Though they logged in back in August, they haven't cached for over a year. Perhaps their little Brat told them they couldn't go anymore...

[+Bear and Ragged]

Though they logged in back in August, they haven't cached for over a year. Perhaps their little Brat told them they couldn't go anymore...

 

Or they got fed up of him "Wanting" everything in the cache!

[The Washers UK]

Hiya Is Pembrokeshire affected ?

Edited September 23, 2008 by The Washers

[JackiePenn]

From July 2007 and on into the autumn, geocachers in this SE corner of Wales and up the Wye Valley became aware of geocoins "disappearing" from local caches. I have kept a list of 11 of these vanishing coins and there were a few others as well. A little research back through the logs on the relevant caches soon brought to light "a common factor". I don't know whether TBs were also disappearing at the same time - I was concentrating on the geocoins because one of mine disappeared, and two other coins disappeared from one of our caches.

 

 

Is that still going on? And wasn't 1 or 2 of my caches in the middle of it? I seem to remember logs to that effect between parties concerned, in which case the responsible party is revealed in them.

[+Captain Gore-tex]

From July 2007 and on into the autumn, geocachers in this SE corner of Wales and up the Wye Valley became aware of geocoins "disappearing" from local caches. I have kept a list of 11 of these vanishing coins and there were a few others as well. A little research back through the logs on the relevant caches soon brought to light "a common factor". I don't know whether TBs were also disappearing at the same time - I was concentrating on the geocoins because one of mine disappeared, and two other coins disappeared from one of our caches.

 

 

Is that still going on? And wasn't 1 or 2 of my caches in the middle of it? I seem to remember logs to that effect between parties concerned, in which case the responsible party is revealed in them.

 

Ahhh, slightly off topic but..... Stonefisk, we have missed your cache placing recently, any chance of a come back?

[+kawaherp]

For some time someone in the neath area of south Wales is ripping off caches, coins and TB's ect

I’ve had 2 caches taken and a number of coins taken from my caches as well other caches near to mine have been ripped off as well someone with a gps is doing this.

 

any one who places a cache in the neath area be warned as this has been going on for some time I have started to mark all my cache containers to stop anyone taking them and using them for their own cache.

 

Maybe we should keep an eye on caches near to our homes in an attempt to cache the person responsible for taking them

[+Graculus]

You might want to visit the newly setup South Wales Geocachers forum. This subject is already under discussion there.

 

Graculus

Volunteer UK Reviewer Geocaching.com

South Wales UK

[Keystone]

I am moving this thread from the Geocaching Topics forum to the United Kingdom forum.

[+The Brat Pack]

You might want to visit the newly setup South Wales Geocachers forum. This subject is already under discussion there.

 

Graculus

Volunteer UK Reviewer Geocaching.com

South Wales UK

 

Any idea what has happened to the South Wales site - it appears to be down.

[+Matrix]

You might want to visit the newly setup South Wales Geocachers forum. This subject is already under discussion there.

 

Graculus

Volunteer UK Reviewer Geocaching.com

South Wales UK

 

Any idea what has happened to the South Wales site - it appears to be down.

 

It is/was down because we had a registration type attack with a few thousand spammer bots trying to register and as its a free hosting thing the providers shut it down. We were not the only ones to suffer and it is back now (9pm) but it may be moving somehwere paid for soon to hopefully avoid any problems .

 

Mike