ive been GROPED

[+gdot]

i have recieved an email today that someone has found 2 of my caches but to my horror this is what i found....

 

Log Date: 5/5/2010

We're back ;-) in actual fact really we never went away. We're just *very* patient....

 

***

This has been "groped" (GROup for Environmental Protection). The container and it's contents have been removed and destroyed.

 

Your environmental vandalism will NOT be tolerated.

 

Before any of you morons bleat on about us removing this "geolitter" (your phrase not ours!), remember that dropping LITTER (ie these pathetic containers) is a CRIMINAL offence punishable by a fine up to £1,000.

 

So please, feel free, go into the police and make a complaint.

***

 

64 and counting....

 

and if you call that a signpost you must have fun trying to drive anywhere, tosser.

 

this was by someone calling themselves blairdonny, has anyone else come accross this before and is there anything that can be done about people like this, i dont know if he is a premium member or not so im not sure if even making my caches members only would work

[Mr.Yuck]

i have recieved an email today that someone has found 2 of my caches but to my horror this is what i found....

 

Log Date: 5/5/2010

We're back ;-) in actual fact really we never went away. We're just *very* patient....

 

***

This has been "groped" (GROup for Environmental Protection). The container and it's contents have been removed and destroyed.

 

Your environmental vandalism will NOT be tolerated.

 

Before any of you morons bleat on about us removing this "geolitter" (your phrase not ours!), remember that dropping LITTER (ie these pathetic containers) is a CRIMINAL offence punishable by a fine up to £1,000.

 

So please, feel free, go into the police and make a complaint.

***

 

64 and counting....

 

and if you call that a signpost you must have fun trying to drive anywhere, tosser.

 

this was by someone calling themselves blairdonny, has anyone else come accross this before and is there anything that can be done about people like this, i dont know if he is a premium member or not so im not sure if even making my caches members only would work

 

Yes, the person or persons calling themselves GROPE in The UK have been discussed in these forums.

 

"Feel free to go to the Police and make a complaint"? Well, I can't speak for The UK, but a guy in Rome, NY, USA did actually get arrested for stealing caches. The complaint will probably be dismissed, but he had to shell out a couple thousand dollars (just a guess) for a lawyer, and be embarrassed in front of his friends, family and community.

[+Snoogans]

Only 64? Must be some pimple faced school boy on a bicycle.

[4wheelin_fool]

Make it a fairly easy members only puzzle for starters.

 

They may try to triangulate the puzzle coords and get frustrated at "ground zero".

[+Graculus]

This crowd have been around for sometime in the UK and are set on destroying caches. They are after publicity and seeing the effect of what they do has on us cachers. So may I suggest that discussing it in these forums will only give them what they want. Hard though it is the best thing is just ignore them. Disable any caches you've had taken and if you are a premium member then make any other caches you are worried about members only caches for the time being which will stop them (hopefully) from finding them. They are vandals and have no authority for what they do. If they did then they would be the ones going to the police.

Banning their accounts is not effective as they just create another one.

 

Chris

Graculus

Volunteer UK Reviewer for geocaching.com

UK Geocaching Information & Resources website www.follow-the-arrow.co.uk

Geocaching.com Knowledge Books

[Andronicus]

Quick question. What the cache in a Natural area or environmentaly sencitive area?

 

***This question in not intended as an accusation, or as a excuse for theft.

 

Editied to add question mark.

Edited May 5, 2010 by Andronicus

[+gdot]

Quick question. What the cache in a Natural area or environmentaly sencitive area?

 

***This question in not intended as an accusation, or as a excuse for theft.

 

Editied to add question mark.

 

no one was i a pub car park and the other was on a signpost on a public road

[+ihorn]

This crowd have been around for sometime in the UK and are set on destroying caches. They are after publicity and seeing the effect of what they do has on us cachers. So may I suggest that discussing it in these forums will only give them what they want. Hard though it is the best thing is just ignore them. Disable any caches you've had taken and if you are a premium member then make any other caches you are worried about members only caches for the time being which will stop them (hopefully) from finding them. They are vandals and have no authority for what they do. If they did then they would be the ones going to the police.

Banning their accounts is not effective as they just create another one.

 

Chris

Graculus

Volunteer UK Reviewer for geocaching.com

UK Geocaching Information & Resources website www.follow-the-arrow.co.uk

Geocaching.com Knowledge Books

 

Couldnt you try banning the I.P. Address that these people are using from the servers? That way atleast they couldnt create new accounts. Other boards I am a member or Global Moderator for have the ability.

[+R.Boles]

Some people are just.... uhg....

[+Cptnodegard]

If you have their IP you can contact their ISP and report the IP is being used for illegal activities

[+DragonsWest]

Couldnt you try banning the I.P. Address that these people are using from the servers? That way atleast they couldnt create new accounts. Other boards I am a member or Global Moderator for have the ability.

 

That would be an up-hill battle. They could just go from internet cafe to internet cafe and have a unique IP each time. Banning their accounts could help, but they could just create more sock puppets to find these.

[+AuntieWeasel]

While it's certainly a bummer for you to lose a cache and container, I've come to look on these sorts of cache maggots as not entirely a bad thing. It just means new hides, new smilies in old locations. It certainly isn't going to slow down the game at all, is it?

 

Me, I'd write back and thank them for opening up new opportunities in your area. Bonus, it's the reaction that will make them the least happy.

[+Cptnodegard]

Lol that might indeed be the best way. Maybe even add a list of caches that they should focus on first, to add insult to injury

[+keehotee]

Couldnt you try banning the I.P. Address that these people are using from the servers? That way atleast they couldnt create new accounts. Other boards I am a member or Global Moderator for have the ability.

 

Static IP's are a bit of a rarity for domestic accounts in this country, so all it would take would be to reboot the router and get a fresh IP

Edited May 5, 2010 by keehotee

[knowschad]

While it's certainly a bummer for you to lose a cache and container, I've come to look on these sorts of cache maggots as not entirely a bad thing. It just means new hides, new smilies in old locations. It certainly isn't going to slow down the game at all, is it?

 

Me, I'd write back and thank them for opening up new opportunities in your area. Bonus, it's the reaction that will make them the least happy.

Great attitude! I like it.

 

 

By the way, do you realize how odd it looks to see eyeglasses on an animal?

[+J the Goat]

I like the idea of thanking these morons. What baffles me is that they spend the time to look up caches online, go find them, log it, but I'd also bet that these same people aren't spending time on the beach with trash bags picking up actual litter.

[+nativtxn]

How about give them the list of the caches that "Need Maintenance" - rusty containers, cracked containers, leaky containers, etc.? Put them to work without them really knowing it.

[GOF and Bacall]

I had a thought the other day when this was being discussed about another area. AuntyWeasel suggested placing caches in there honor. I thought "Why not take it a step farther?" go out to their hunting area and hide about 100 micros titled "In honor of GROPE" #s 1 to 100. No need to worry about proximity just place them far enough apart that they don't stumble on them while doing their deed. Only post one at a time. Any time they steal one go ahead and list the next one. I think it would be an interesting experiment. Test their resolve.

 

I also wonder how many of these folks are actually committed to their principles and how many are just using it as an excuse because they get their jollies wrecking the fun of others.

[+brittany19]

 

I also wonder how many of these folks are actually committed to their principles and how many are just using it as an excuse because they get their jollies wrecking the fun of others.

 

i think it would be fair to guess that people like this can't have fun themselves so they ruin others. I mena, if they were all that enviromentally friendly, couldn't they find a handful of things that would actually make a big difference in the enviroment? JMHO.

[+9Key]

I also wonder how many of these folks are actually committed to their principles and how many are just using it as an excuse because they get their jollies wrecking the fun of others.

Agreed.

[aniyn]

I like the idea of thanking these morons. What baffles me is that they spend the time to look up caches online, go find them, log it, but I'd also bet that these same people aren't spending time on the beach with trash bags picking up actual litter.

This is what it boils down to. These people don't actually care, they're referred to in video games as "griefers". They're just doing it to be jerks.

 

If they actually cared you could make them cito for you by hiding caches in places with garbage, or threaten them with the "for every cache you take I'm going to rehide 2" routine. But they don't really care.

[+StarBrand]

...

Me, I'd write back and thank them for opening up new opportunities in your area. Bonus, it's the reaction that will make them the least happy.

I like this idea!!

 

I notice that the morals they try to cram on others still allows them to tramp on over to the cache site further crushing any nature nearby. Thus forcing the owner to go out and check on said cache in the same spot - thereby crushing more nature........

[+DragonsWest]

Remember the people who looted your lunchbox, coat pockets and desk while you were at school assembly, in art class or otherwise outside the classroom?

 

These are the chronologically aged equivalent, free of the effects of maturity.

 

Were they to have a legitimate gripe they would work with geocachers, but they think they are clever and just in their actions, same goes for the Forest Defender in a different thread. They're, as my friend Will puts it, members of The No Fun Club - nobody has any fun if they aren't having fun.

[+geodarts]

There was apparently an article about them in the English magazine Country Walker last year. I like the comment that if they believe in environmental protection, they would not throw caches into ponds.

 

But I also like the idea of a GROPE series of caches. It has a certain ring to it, some people talk about groping for caches. But you would not want people to think you are encouraging sexual harassment, which for some reason is the first thing that came to my mind when I saw this topic listed in the forums.

[knowschad]

I had a thought the other day when this was being discussed about another area. AuntyWeasel suggested placing caches in there honor. I thought "Why not take it a step farther?" go out to their hunting area and hide about 100 micros titled "In honor of GROPE" #s 1 to 100. No need to worry about proximity just place them far enough apart that they don't stumble on them while doing their deed. Only post one at a time. Any time they steal one go ahead and list the next one. I think it would be an interesting experiment. Test their resolve.

 

I also wonder how many of these folks are actually committed to their principles and how many are just using it as an excuse because they get their jollies wrecking the fun of others.

Great idea but for one point... DO worry about the proximity guideline. Worry about it in a big way. Make the guy do some serious driving, burn some serious gasoline (or peddle like mad) to get the next one with his "name" on it.

[+briansnat]

I also wonder how many of these folks are actually committed to their principles and how many are just using it as an excuse because they get their jollies wrecking the fun of others.

 

Being that according to he OP his stolen caches were in a pub parking lot and on a road sign, I don't see how any environmental principals are involved, so it is obviously a bunch of jerks out to destroy the fun of others.

[+jilliancad]

That sucks. I'm sorry.

[GOF and Bacall]

I also wonder how many of these folks are actually committed to their principles and how many are just using it as an excuse because they get their jollies wrecking the fun of others.

 

Being that according to he OP his stolen caches were in a pub parking lot and on a road sign, I don't see how any environmental principals are involved, so it is obviously a bunch of jerks out to destroy the fun of others.

 

Actually that part of my comments was meant more about cache thieves in general that just this one instance. Sorry for the confusion.

[Mr.Yuck]

Couldnt you try banning the I.P. Address that these people are using from the servers? That way atleast they couldnt create new accounts. Other boards I am a member or Global Moderator for have the ability.

 

Static IP's are a bit of a rarity for domestic accounts in this country, so all it would take would be to reboot the router and get a fresh IP

 

Yup, this Country too. Not to mention Proxy servers, going to the Library, Internet Cafe's, your Mother-in-law's house etc...

[+Nathan Wert]

What I find is interesting is they registered the same day the "found" this cache. They even took the time to mark that they "moved/discovered" the three travel bugs that were in the cache.

 

It's the ONLY cache they've found. Could it be someone that wanted to place a cache in the area and was upset that there was already one there?

[+Proud Soccer Mom]

What I find is interesting is they registered the same day the "found" this cache. They even took the time to mark that they "moved/discovered" the three travel bugs that were in the cache.

 

A maggot with travel bug ethics?

[+narcissa]

The number of people playing the game fairly and nicely vastly exceeds the maggots who do this sort of thing. Just ignore them as best you can and cache on.

[GOF and Bacall]

What I find is interesting is they registered the same day the "found" this cache. They even took the time to mark that they "moved/discovered" the three travel bugs that were in the cache.

 

A maggot with travel bug ethics?

 

No. They claim to have destroyed the bugs. At any rate the bugs still show up in their inventory.

[knowschad]

What I find is interesting is they registered the same day the "found" this cache. They even took the time to mark that they "moved/discovered" the three travel bugs that were in the cache.

 

A maggot with travel bug ethics?

Naww... just a cache thief*** with an overactive ego that wants to let as many people know what he has done.

 

*** I detest the term "maggot". I think that use of the term makes us look worse than the cache thieves.

[+brslk]

What I find is interesting is they registered the same day the "found" this cache. They even took the time to mark that they "moved/discovered" the three travel bugs that were in the cache.

 

A maggot with travel bug ethics?

Naww... just a cache thief*** with an overactive ego that wants to let as many people know what he has done.

 

*** I detest the term "maggot". I think that use of the term makes us look worse than the cache thieves.

 

I actually like the term "maggot" to describe them.

I cannot think of a better term. Thief shouldn't apply because they didn't just steal them for gain.

Vandal really doesn't apply because they didn't just ruin them or mar them.

 

Perhaps "destroyer" might be good.

 

*** Just rambling***

 

My word(s) for them would be POS but that wouldn't fly here.

[knowschad]

What I find is interesting is they registered the same day the "found" this cache. They even took the time to mark that they "moved/discovered" the three travel bugs that were in the cache.

 

A maggot with travel bug ethics?

Naww... just a cache thief*** with an overactive ego that wants to let as many people know what he has done.

 

*** I detest the term "maggot". I think that use of the term makes us look worse than the cache thieves.

 

I actually like the term "maggot" to describe them.

I cannot think of a better term. Thief shouldn't apply because they didn't just steal them for gain.

Vandal really doesn't apply because they didn't just ruin them or mar them.

 

Perhaps "destroyer" might be good.

 

*** Just rambling***

 

My word(s) for them would be POS but that wouldn't fly here.

I just think that calling a cache thief a term that essentially implies that they are below life itself... something to step on and squash without remorse... makes us look bad to others. I think that, no matter our emotional response, should rise above those that would stoop to such methods.

[+brslk]

What I find is interesting is they registered the same day the "found" this cache. They even took the time to mark that they "moved/discovered" the three travel bugs that were in the cache.

 

A maggot with travel bug ethics?

Naww... just a cache thief*** with an overactive ego that wants to let as many people know what he has done.

 

*** I detest the term "maggot". I think that use of the term makes us look worse than the cache thieves.

 

I actually like the term "maggot" to describe them.

I cannot think of a better term. Thief shouldn't apply because they didn't just steal them for gain.

Vandal really doesn't apply because they didn't just ruin them or mar them.

 

Perhaps "destroyer" might be good.

 

*** Just rambling***

 

My word(s) for them would be POS but that wouldn't fly here.

I just think that calling a cache thief a term that essentially implies that they are below life itself... something to step on and squash without remorse... makes us look bad to others. I think that, no matter our emotional response, should rise above those that would stoop to such methods.

 

While I agree with you that if others were reading these forums, we should rise above that. I think it is pretty much only Geocachers and the people that destroy them that are here.

 

If this was a more widely read forum I would temper my words more.

 

It's like the people I work with... mostly men. They tend to use crude words so I adapt my speech to that.

I would never talk the way I do at work in the general public. My wife swears more than I.

 

(I didn't exactly get my words out right or the way I wanted to but I have a massive headache and I'm confident the dog with glasses will read through my muddled post and figure it out)

 

*** May edit later for clarity***

[+Too Tall John]

I had a thought the other day when this was being discussed about another area. AuntyWeasel suggested placing caches in there honor. I thought "Why not take it a step farther?" go out to their hunting area and hide about 100 micros titled "In honor of GROPE" #s 1 to 100. No need to worry about proximity just place them far enough apart that they don't stumble on them while doing their deed. Only post one at a time. Any time they steal one go ahead and list the next one. I think it would be an interesting experiment. Test their resolve.

The first one you put out should be #100, then count down from there. The promise of having to return to the same spot 98 more times after they retrieve the first two and see the countdown might discourage them.

[+brslk]

I had a thought the other day when this was being discussed about another area. AuntyWeasel suggested placing caches in there honor. I thought "Why not take it a step farther?" go out to their hunting area and hide about 100 micros titled "In honor of GROPE" #s 1 to 100. No need to worry about proximity just place them far enough apart that they don't stumble on them while doing their deed. Only post one at a time. Any time they steal one go ahead and list the next one. I think it would be an interesting experiment. Test their resolve.

The first one you put out should be #100, then count down from there. The promise of having to return to the same spot 98 more times after they retrieve the first two and see the countdown might discourage them.

 

Excellent idea! Even better would be to have CITO kits in every cache and see if the enviro-nut uses them (of course they won't) but it would make an even stronger argument as to who was more concerned about the area.

[knowschad]

What I find is interesting is they registered the same day the "found" this cache. They even took the time to mark that they "moved/discovered" the three travel bugs that were in the cache.

 

A maggot with travel bug ethics?

Naww... just a cache thief*** with an overactive ego that wants to let as many people know what he has done.

 

*** I detest the term "maggot". I think that use of the term makes us look worse than the cache thieves.

 

I actually like the term "maggot" to describe them.

I cannot think of a better term. Thief shouldn't apply because they didn't just steal them for gain.

Vandal really doesn't apply because they didn't just ruin them or mar them.

 

Perhaps "destroyer" might be good.

 

*** Just rambling***

 

My word(s) for them would be POS but that wouldn't fly here.

I just think that calling a cache thief a term that essentially implies that they are below life itself... something to step on and squash without remorse... makes us look bad to others. I think that, no matter our emotional response, should rise above those that would stoop to such methods.

 

While I agree with you that if others were reading these forums, we should rise above that. I think it is pretty much only Geocachers and the people that destroy them that are here.

 

If this was a more widely read forum I would temper my words more.

 

It's like the people I work with... mostly men. They tend to use crude words so I adapt my speech to that.

I would never talk the way I do at work in the general public. My wife swears more than I.

 

(I didn't exactly get my words out right or the way I wanted to but I have a massive headache and I'm confident the dog with glasses will read through my muddled post and figure it out)

 

*** May edit later for clarity***

So, its OK to sound like a barbarian if you believe that civilized people aren't watching you? The measure of a man is how he acts when he believes that nobody is watching him. Let's call 'em "maggots" here, implying that we'd step on them and grind them into the dirt without a second thought, just because maybe nobody that really matters is here to see us? No. They are cache thieves and need to be dealt with as thieves, but they are not maggots.

[GOF and Bacall]

I had a thought the other day when this was being discussed about another area. AuntyWeasel suggested placing caches in there honor. I thought "Why not take it a step farther?" go out to their hunting area and hide about 100 micros titled "In honor of GROPE" #s 1 to 100. No need to worry about proximity just place them far enough apart that they don't stumble on them while doing their deed. Only post one at a time. Any time they steal one go ahead and list the next one. I think it would be an interesting experiment. Test their resolve.

The first one you put out should be #100, then count down from there. The promise of having to return to the same spot 98 more times after they retrieve the first two and see the countdown might discourage them.

 

My idea is not to discourage the twit. I want to encourage the to return, again, and again, and again.

[+bittsen]

So, its OK to sound like a barbarian if you believe that civilized people aren't watching you? The measure of a man is how he acts when he believes that nobody is watching him. Let's call 'em "maggots" here, implying that we'd step on them and grind them into the dirt without a second thought, just because maybe nobody that really matters is here to see us? No. They are cache thieves and need to be dealt with as thieves, but they are not maggots.

 

I would just as soon see them arrested as ground into the dirt. They are maggots to me.

 

For the OP.

You have a couple choices.

1) Ignore them and hope they go away

2) Set a trap and then let your conscience be your guide if, and when, you catch them.

 

 

***This post is rhetorical only. It is not intended to suggest any illegal course of action.

 

(edited for typo and to add obligatory disclaimer)

Edited May 6, 2010 by bittsen

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

Maggots in reality are good things. They have medicinal qualities. They eat rotted flesh but leave live tissue stay.

 

Thieves on the other hand, have no redeeming qualities.

[+popokiiti]

Maggots serve a useful purpose on this earth - thieves do not. Sad to hear that this is happening in Northamptonshire as well as over here. Now is the time for cachers to unite and grope the gropers. Heck, with a group name like they chose....makes you wonder where their brains are. I like the Grope Series of caches idea. Add a few notes, DNF's....and place them where the gropers can be observed stealing. Or should I have said "groping?"......

[oakenwood]

Excellent idea! Even better would be to have CITO kits in every cache and see if the enviro-nut uses them (of course they won't) but it would make an even stronger argument as to who was more concerned about the area.

I totally agree. I've done more to clean up litter in my CITO activities than those punks have done with their thefts of caches.

 

If they really cared about litter, they wouldn't walk right by all the plastic bags and bottles just to destroy a hermetically sealed metal box. They'd be cachers promoting CITO activities.

 

Do they ever show us how much litter they picked up on the way to the cache? Of course not. I have. I agree that they're just griefers. They're immature sadists that enjoy inflicting suffering on undeserving people.

[+BlueDeuce]

They are only looking for attention. Ignore them and replace your cache a bit harder to find.

 

All work and no angst make troll go away.

[knowschad]

I don't like the term, "cache maggot" because it implies the lowest form of life that we can think of. We wouldn't think twice about snuffing out the life of a maggot... its not even a FLY yet, for Pete's sake! We swat flies without a second thought, so much less a maggot. I'm sorry folks, but to equate any human being for any offense to the status of a mere maggot is unconscionable to me, and makes me look like less than a mere maggot. Calling someone a thief is enough. A thief deserves punishment. A maggot deserves to be squashed. These are game pieces that we are discussing. Let's keep this in perspective!

[+brslk]

I don't like the term, "cache maggot" because it implies the lowest form of life that we can think of. We wouldn't think twice about snuffing out the life of a maggot... its not even a FLY yet, for Pete's sake! We swat flies without a second thought, so much less a maggot. I'm sorry folks, but to equate any human being for any offense to the status of a mere maggot is unconscionable to me, and makes me look like less than a mere maggot. Calling someone a thief is enough. A thief deserves punishment. A maggot deserves to be squashed. These are game pieces that we are discussing. Let's keep this in perspective!

 

I think you are taking the word "maggot" a little to literal.

I don't know anyone that goes out of their way to step on a maggot.

They may swat a fly if it annoys them.

Would you find "cache-fly" more acceptable?

 

I understand what you are saying but you are taking it a bit too literally.

 

It's just a word. No one is using the word to incite violence against them.

 

It's just a term of disrespect.

 

I for one do not respect anyone who would do that.

[BCProspectors]

How about give them the list of the caches that "Need Maintenance" - rusty containers, cracked containers, leaky containers, etc.? Put them to work without them really knowing it.

That's a great idea, really.

[jholly]

I don't like the term, "cache maggot" because it implies the lowest form of life that we can think of. We wouldn't think twice about snuffing out the life of a maggot... its not even a FLY yet, for Pete's sake! We swat flies without a second thought, so much less a maggot. I'm sorry folks, but to equate any human being for any offense to the status of a mere maggot is unconscionable to me, and makes me look like less than a mere maggot. Calling someone a thief is enough. A thief deserves punishment. A maggot deserves to be squashed. These are game pieces that we are discussing. Let's keep this in perspective!

 

How about dirt bag? Or slime ball?