Disturbing Email

[billoneil]

We received an email this morning stating that people have been detained and arrested while geocaching. Is this true? It seemed like an innocent activity.

 

Bill and John

[FunkMaster-T]

No...there is another thread somewhere where this is being debated ad nauseum...seems someone has been sending them out to lots of people as a trolling activity...GS is aware of it as I believe it has been forwarded to them a million times or so by now...T.

[+hesslv]

Your not the only one.

Check here:

 

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=257897

[+Panther&Pine]

We received an email this morning stating that people have been detained and arrested while geocaching. Is this true? It seemed like an innocent activity.

 

Bill and John

 

It is a spammer. What user name got you?

 

Yes, the cops do some times ask what you are doing and that does count as being 'detained'. Be upfront and use common sense and you'll be fine.

 

There is an ongoing thread in the "Geocaching Topics" about this.

 

What part of NM do you live in?

[+CanDMan47]

I haven't received the email, but it sounds like many people have. Here is a link to another thread on it.

 

Warning to n00bs.

 

It sounds like someone is trying to scare people. Police will question you if you appear suspicious, but geocaching is not something illegal or to be arrrested for (barring trespassing).

[+Bear and Ragged]

There's a thread in the other section(Geocaching Topics)

 

link

 

A few cachers have had the email, me too!, user/users are getting banned as Groundspeak learn about them.

 

Don't worry about things.

[billoneil]

Thanks. The email I received came from someone named suenpete. It suggested sending an email or visiting the forums so I came here.

 

I guess we will disregard it since we really only went out the one time with our grandson. We thought about trying it some more on our own but I think we'll wait now.

 

Thanks again.

 

Bill and John

[+Panther&Pine]

Thanks. The email I received came from someone named suenpete. It suggested sending an email or visiting the forums so I came here.

 

I guess we will disregard it since we really only went out the one time with our grandson. We thought about trying it some more on our own but I think we'll wait now.

 

Thanks again.

 

Bill and John

 

Don't worry about it.

You live in Farmington. The cops have bigger things to worry about then you looking at things in bushes.

 

I live in Durango, but work down in Farmington.

 

Good caching in this area.

[+Bear and Ragged]

Thanks. The email I received came from someone named suenpete. It suggested sending an email or visiting the forums so I came here.

 

I guess we will disregard it since we really only went out the one time with our grandson. We thought about trying it some more on our own but I think we'll wait now.

 

Thanks again.

 

Bill and John

 

... And that means that the now banned user has won.

 

DON'T let it put you off.

Geocaching is not Illegal.

Yes, cachers have been stopped and questioned by the Police. We can 'look suspicious' at times.

If you don't feel comfortable about being on property that 'may be' private, don't cache there.

 

I've been stopped and questioned by the Police responsible for looking after the Royal Family.

Parted on friendly terms after the officer had gone through the rigmarole of questions*, and verified the car driven by my girlfriend wasn't stolen.

 

* If it's a 'Stop and Search' in the UK, the officer has to fill in a form, which takes around 5 minutes, to prove he's asking the correct questions, and isn't discriminating on Race, Religion or Gender issues! The form filling takes longer than the questioning.

[jholly]

Thanks. The email I received came from someone named suenpete. It suggested sending an email or visiting the forums so I came here.

 

I guess we will disregard it since we really only went out the one time with our grandson. We thought about trying it some more on our own but I think we'll wait now.

 

Thanks again.

 

Bill and John

 

Then this lowlife spammer has won. Go out and enjoy yourself and go find some caches.

[+JasNBex]

I too got an email from someone like that, I ignored it. I know enough about Geocaching to know where to place caches, where to hunt for them and what to do if you come in contact with Law Enforcement.

[imwithstupider]

Hey man, <potty language removed> that. Cops will hassle you for all kind of things. Don't let that stop you from doing something you enjoyed.

Edited August 22, 2010 by Motorcycle_Mama

[+Coldgears]

...

Edited August 23, 2010 by Coldgears

[+michigansnorkelers]

If you're REALLY that worried about it, why don't you take a short drive and find geocaches hidden on public land? You have lots to choose from within a 30 - 60 minute drive. Sure beats the city.

 

[+briansnat]

While it is true it is a very rare occurrence. Geocachers in urban and suburban areas tend to look suspicious and often draw the attention of police. In many instances they have been questioned, but since they aren't doing anything wrong it is no big deal. Usually once they explain what they are doing the police leave them be and in some instances have actually been known to help with the hunt.

 

In some cases caches are inappropriately placed on private property without permission and searchers could conceivably be arrested. You could probably count the number of times this has actually happened on one hand with a few fingers left over (with over a million active caches and cache hunts that probably number in the hundreds of millions this is obviously quite rare).

 

Most of the time the worst thing that happens is that you are asked to leave. In those cases you should mention what happened in your log and either log a "needs archived" or contact your local reviewer and alert him.

 

Bottom line is that if you are uncomfortable hunting a cache, you probably should move on to the next one.

 

Since this is already being discussed here, I'm closing this duplicate thread.