When do Groundspeak clean cheat accounts?

[+dartymoor]

EDIT: Oops - seems I've discovered a bug. The actual find dates for these caches are spread over a long time, somehow they're just being shown wrong by the website! I withdraw the cheat allegation!

 

= Original for context, I can't delete the whole message =

 

I've only just discovered http://project-gc.com which is AMAZING for a stats nerd like me, and spent and enjoyable hour playing with various lists. Best karma, comparing, other top lists. It's great!

 

However, on looking at both "Top caches" and "Top points" (Combined cache count multipled by D/T) for the UK, one account is at the top and it is clearly fraudulent, recording 1097 finds in a single day. A look at the stats for this user show the rest of their find history is ones and twos, so it has to be fraud, and possibly a scripted autologger (This total doesn't include the logs deleted)

 

http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?u=nolongeused

 

It's not active, I don't know the story, but shouldn't it be deleted or at least that day's finds nulled so it doesn't break overall uk stats?

Edited July 3, 2012 by dartymoor

[+Munkeh]

ah that could explain the multiple armchair logging of coins/tbs just make a load of codes up and fire and forget

[+Munkeh]

apparently donegal is in the north east of england

[+dartymoor]

Actually, on looking further still, I was right the first time. This is a cheat, not a bug. Will Groundspeak fix it, I wonder, and allow those who've genuinely done high figures not to be outplaced by a cheater logging over a thousand finds in several counties in one day...

[+The Blorenges]

Have you told Groundspeak about it?

 

Send the full details of the problem and the link to the account to

 

contact@geocaching.com

 

 

MrsB

[+MartyBartfast]

Actually, on looking further still, I was right the first time. This is a cheat, not a bug.

 

I would say it's a mistake rather than a cheat. If you look at some of their logs for April 18th 2009 they say something like "Found this cache previously when part of another caching team", so they probably went round relogging their old finds on April 18th but didn't backdate the found date. As far as Geocaching.com is concerned this is a mistake but isn't cheating. You're concerned about what some other statistics site does with those numbers, I can't imagine Groundspeak would see it as their responsibility to make the stats on someone else's site add up, so I doubt they will do much about it as a blanket operation, but if it really gets your goat then contact GS direct and ask them to sort it out.

 

Personally I'd rather they spend their time fixing the site bugs and developing enhancements.

[+Cache! Eh?]

I think you will find that verifying finds of caches is the responsibility of cache owners, and not Groundspeak.

[Deceangi]

I'm not going into the details of the whose and whys behind the account. But it was someone who had found the caches previously. And wished to retain all the finds, whilst caching under a completely new account, breaking ties with the original account. However by logging them all in such a short period, several members linked the original and the new account together, making the purpose of the new account defunct.

 

Deci

[+dartymoor]

Blorenges; yep - and they've responded saying they'll look into it.

 

Deci - thanks. My only gripe is that it skews the genuine results for everyone. I couldn't care less otherwise!