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Fake travel bug logs


gwendy

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This morning I had a discover log come in for a bug that could not possibly have been found. Several years ago I mailed this brand new bug to my mom, who didn't see the bug in the package and it was lost forever. I figure it's either floating around the post office somewhere or in a land fill. Likely the latter.

 

About an hour later I get discover logs for 7 more of my bugs from this same user. The user's account was created yesterday and they've logged over 500 travel bugs since then.

 

Needless to say I deleted them all. But I'm curious: how do they get the numbers? I get that there may be ways to get the numbers of bugs that were logged at some point, maybe someone posted them or shared them somehow. But that couldn't have happened in the case of my bug that never saw the light of a Geocache. Are they just typing in random numbers hoping to find bugs? Using some kind of hacking computer program? Has this happened to anyone else?

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Check the gallery of each of your Travel Bugs. Not all, but some of the show the tracking numbers.

 

That is my suspicions -- in that they logged only some of them.

 

Access to your profile gives one access to all your TB's, in turn they have access to all of the photos.

 

You need to delete photos that show a tracking number -- even if difficult to read as they can be enhanced.

Edited by Gitchee-Gummee
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several years ago...Tb tag numbers were just numbers (no letters). Anyone can just search a sequence of six digit numbers until they find one that is activated.

 

This make more sense. I have had bugs "discovered" that I know do not exist. My bug numbers never were shown in any photo. Today I have had someone discovering my bugs... so I just delete the log.

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Would that be new user TravelerHuntter? I’ve had 3 bugs logged twice today. 2 went missing in 2004 the other is my personal travel bug. All had just numbers for their IDs.

 

He had 490 bug logs this morning now he is over 600. I did refresh his profile and the numbers went down. Looks like people are deleting his logs.

 

Wonder why he would sit there for hours guessing numbers and posting false bug logs?

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Would that be new user TravelerHuntter? I’ve had 3 bugs logged twice today. 2 went missing in 2004 the other is my personal travel bug. All had just numbers for their IDs.

 

He had 490 bug logs this morning now he is over 600. I did refresh his profile and the numbers went down. Looks like people are deleting his logs.

 

Wonder why he would sit there for hours guessing numbers and posting false bug logs?

 

Looks like. Several TBs on my watch list have been logged by him, one 3 times. All are old TBs and most have been missing for years, one has only one picture and the tag doesn't show at all. None of my own have been hit, yet.

 

I don't think he is actually sitting there guessing--probably has his computer generating random number combinations until he gets a hit.

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There are false "Discovered" logs for a TB I retrieved on the 23rd of september (TB Little Dragon). The TB was with me all the time, I didn't show it to other players and there is no picture of it on the website. The 4 users who falsely logged it logged hundreds of TB's <_< I think that some players use send the TB numbers by mail to their friends, so they can all log it ...

Edited by Yelna
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Would that be new user TravelerHuntter? I've had 3 bugs logged twice today. 2 went missing in 2004 the other is my personal travel bug. All had just numbers for their IDs.

 

He had 490 bug logs this morning now he is over 600. I did refresh his profile and the numbers went down. Looks like people are deleting his logs.

 

Wonder why he would sit there for hours guessing numbers and posting false bug logs?

 

Looks like he is enjoying it.... let it be! really does it matter?

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Would that be new user TravelerHuntter? I've had 3 bugs logged twice today. 2 went missing in 2004 the other is my personal travel bug. All had just numbers for their IDs.

 

He had 490 bug logs this morning now he is over 600. I did refresh his profile and the numbers went down. Looks like people are deleting his logs.

 

Wonder why he would sit there for hours guessing numbers and posting false bug logs?

 

Looks like he is enjoying it.... let it be! really does it matter?

He didn't sit there for hours. He wrote a bot that goes to the website, inputs a number, takes action based on response and then loops backup for the next number while he has a cocktail.

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I had a discovery on a coin that's never been circulated or photographed!

 

I deleted the log

 

Looks like he is enjoying it.... let it be! really does it matter?

Yes, it really matters. Lying always matters. These false reports mislead anyone that wants to know where this bug is and how it's doing.

 

Thank you. I agree, lying always matters...

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Armchair TB logging is becoming strangely popular nowadays it seems. Larger events that handled lots of TBs started keeping lists then passing them out to folks who signed up for such a list; that way people could browse the TBs table without writing down every single # yet still log them. Those with large geocoin collections would sometimes hand out a list to someone who browsed their geocoin folder to save from writing down all the numbers. Some folks started sharing photos of TBs/geocoins via social media. Then someone made a mass logging script to speed up logging. All of those things were intended to facilitate easier logging of legitimate discoveries.

 

At some point things started to get ridiculous: scripts for autologging by brute force and sharing of the TB# lists to people who had never seen any of the TBs in question. With a geocaching power run (even with teamwork, shuffling, etc) you are more or less finding all the caches; with folks like TravelerHuntter they aren't even seeing a photo of of what they discover - just a list of numbers. Trackable finds are required for some Challenge Caches but those seem to be few in number. Bragging rights? Intentional antagonism? Trying to make some kind of statement about the meaninglessness of numbers (i.e. Finds count) mattering? I don't understand it.

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I have something like this happening. someone picked up a geocoin of mine and is going cross country, no biggie when I saw TONS of visited logs. But then I noticed some are 400+ miles away from each other in the same day.. ok so maybe they logged the visits a few days later? THEN I saw some of the logs take place in April...I did not place the coin out until June.

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Armchair TB logging is becoming strangely popular nowadays it seems. Larger events that handled lots of TBs started keeping lists then passing them out to folks who signed up for such a list; that way people could browse the TBs table without writing down every single # yet still log them. Those with large geocoin collections would sometimes hand out a list to someone who browsed their geocoin folder to save from writing down all the numbers. Some folks started sharing photos of TBs/geocoins via social media. Then someone made a mass logging script to speed up logging. All of those things were intended to facilitate easier logging of legitimate discoveries.

 

At some point things started to get ridiculous: scripts for autologging by brute force and sharing of the TB# lists to people who had never seen any of the TBs in question. With a geocaching power run (even with teamwork, shuffling, etc) you are more or less finding all the caches; with folks like TravelerHuntter they aren't even seeing a photo of of what they discover - just a list of numbers. Trackable finds are required for some Challenge Caches but those seem to be few in number. Bragging rights? Intentional antagonism? Trying to make some kind of statement about the meaninglessness of numbers (i.e. Finds count) mattering? I don't understand it.

 

I don't understand it either. What could possibly motivate these people? There are indeed challenge caches that require you to log X number of trackables, but I've never personally come across one. The only reason I know about it is someone once posted right here in this forum if anyone knew how they could get their trackables logged numbers above their find count numbers, and linked to the cache. It was somewhere in New England, if I remember correctly. :)

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I have something like this happening. someone picked up a geocoin of mine and is going cross country, no biggie when I saw TONS of visited logs. But then I noticed some are 400+ miles away from each other in the same day.. ok so maybe they logged the visits a few days later? THEN I saw some of the logs take place in April...I did not place the coin out until June.

 

IngoKnito just happened to find four of my long lost TBs. To much of a coincidence. How did someone who lives in Germany discover four bugs that have been missing for years, that never left the States and all in one day. We need to sick him on locating all the missing bugs out there. He must know something we don't. What a fraud.

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I don't understand it either. What could possibly motivate these people?

Lots of Topics around here are about the freedom to log things. The horrible, horrible freedom. :ph34r:

 

There's a flexibility to click things on the web site, and for many people, there is an irresistible urge to do so.

 

It's particularly horrible, horrible, when they log one of your trackables that's been missing for ages. For a brief moment that flame of hope flickers to brightness... only to be cruelly snuffed moments later when you realise what's occurred. Cruel, oh, so cruel.

 

MrsB

  • Upvote 1
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I don't understand it either. What could possibly motivate these people?

Lots of Topics around here are about the freedom to log things. The horrible, horrible freedom. :ph34r:

 

There's a flexibility to click things on the web site, and for many people, there is an irresistible urge to do so.

 

It's particularly horrible, horrible, when they log one of your trackables that's been missing for ages. For a brief moment that flame of hope flickers to brightness... only to be cruelly snuffed moments later when you realise what's occurred. Cruel, oh, so cruel.

 

MrsB

Yes! Let's remind people that although the web site makes it simple to write a fake log, resistance is useful. :anicute:

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I don't understand it either. What could possibly motivate these people?

Lots of Topics around here are about the freedom to log things. The horrible, horrible freedom. :ph34r:

 

There's a flexibility to click things on the web site, and for many people, there is an irresistible urge to do so.

 

It's particularly horrible, horrible, when they log one of your trackables that's been missing for ages. For a brief moment that flame of hope flickers to brightness... only to be cruelly snuffed moments later when you realise what's occurred. Cruel, oh, so cruel.

 

MrsB

Yes! Let's remind people that although the web site makes it simple to write a fake log, resistance is useful. :anicute:

 

I'm having a hard time understanding your posts, Kunarion. I know what motivates people to create brand new 0 find sock puppet accounts and bot log hundreds of trackables in one day. They're just trying to be a nuisance, and cause an uproar. You could say they're "trolling" TPTB. What motivates active Geocachers with "normal" accounts to pass around lists of tracking numbers, and log hundreds or thousands of TB's they've never handled? Is it the numbers? Is there some kind of perceived prestige involved? Are they doing it just to be a nuisance as well? I'm clueless here.

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I'm having a hard time understanding your posts, Kunarion.

Me, too. Sorry. :anicute:

I was trying to say that the typer needs be certain a log is appropriate -- the site doesn't decide that for him. By design, it's easy type logs on the web site... but it does not follow that people should click things everywhere just because they can.

 

What motivates active Geocachers with "normal" accounts to pass around lists of tracking numbers, and log hundreds or thousands of TB's they've never handled? Is it the numbers? Is there some kind of perceived prestige involved?

Maybe it's simply a compulsion to "collect" as many things as possible. Sure, numbers, I guess. It confuses TB Owners to have their TB "Discovered" when it's still in fact lost. It would be best if everyone could agree (at least in this case) that one may log "Discover" after physically holding a TB, vs. simply knowing a number.

Edited by kunarion
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You need to delete photos that show a tracking number -- even if difficult to read as they can be enhanced.

 

Let's enhance!

 

Yes, enhance. But don't forget to zoom in!

 

Are you suggesting that these TB numbers lists are compiled by international teams of forensic computer experts?

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I have something like this happening. someone picked up a geocoin of mine and is going cross country, no biggie when I saw TONS of visited logs. But then I noticed some are 400+ miles away from each other in the same day.. ok so maybe they logged the visits a few days later? THEN I saw some of the logs take place in April...I did not place the coin out until June.

 

IngoKnito just happened to find four of my long lost TBs. To much of a coincidence. How did someone who lives in Germany discover four bugs that have been missing for years, that never left the States and all in one day. We need to sick him on locating all the missing bugs out there. He must know something we don't. What a fraud.

 

He logged two of my TBs yesterday with:

Log Date: 3/1/2013

Seen a long time ago ... [:)]

Greeting to the Owner [:)]

He seems to find a lot of TBs that have bee missing for quite a while!

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Here's another one. I just received notice on a TB that's traveling with a cacher in Canada. He's been carrying it for over a month. However four other cachers recently discovered it as "found on an old list." Each of them has TB finds 4x their cache finds.

 

I guess the new sport is trolling the net for TB codes to run up your TB count.

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Here's another one. I just received notice on a TB that's traveling with a cacher in Canada. He's been carrying it for over a month. However four other cachers recently discovered it as "found on an old list." Each of them has TB finds 4x their cache finds.

 

I guess the new sport is trolling the net for TB codes to run up your TB count.

 

I stumbled on a profile a few weeks ago where the guy had 4,000 or 5,000 finds, and 16,000 trackables logged. I don't get it. I pay attention to that about as much as I do Benchmarks in mine or anyone else's profile. :laughing:

 

And yes, I believe this is a relatively "new sport".

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Looks like we have another. eikenhofjes 4,016 bug finds and 16,496 cache finds. Wonder how many of those are legit.

 

This is the 3rd time now I’ve gotten a false log on several bugs I released in a group from a cache in 2004. They all went missing within a year. The initial “oh someone found it!” when I get the email is quickly squashed.

 

No computer program is needed for them do this. The early travel bugs were just 6 numbers and they made them consecutively. I just looked up the number following my personal travel bug and got a page where I could log a find, tried the next few numbers and got 2 more I could log plus one that had never been activated. Not sure why someone would want to sit there and do that thousands of times but it can be done.

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Looks like we have another. eikenhofjes 4,016 bug finds and 16,496 cache finds. Wonder how many of those are legit.

 

http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?guid=e145c088-baaa-48d2-a1ac-659a31f30ff2

 

You forgot to mention that account owns 50 hides.

 

If you believe that a trackable of yours is receiving false logs, then delete the logs.

 

But be careful about accusing folks being fake altogether.

 

B.

  • Upvote 1
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Looks like we have another. eikenhofjes 4,016 bug finds and 16,496 cache finds. Wonder how many of those are legit.

 

This is the 3rd time now I’ve gotten a false log on several bugs I released in a group from a cache in 2004. They all went missing within a year. The initial “oh someone found it!” when I get the email is quickly squashed.

 

No computer program is needed for them do this. The early travel bugs were just 6 numbers and they made them consecutively. I just looked up the number following my personal travel bug and got a page where I could log a find, tried the next few numbers and got 2 more I could log plus one that had never been activated. Not sure why someone would want to sit there and do that thousands of times but it can be done.

 

Not sure why someone would want to sit there and do that thousands of times but it can be done. That's where the computer "program' comes in. Just start it and let it "do that thousands of times."

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And yet another… aller-aller I deleted 3 of his logs yesterday, today he logged all 8 of my travel bugs. Yesterday he had around 700 bug finds, today he is over 3,000.

 

All of my bugs were purchased in a package of 8 in 2003 so all their numbers are close together. 7 of them have been lost, most over 10 years ago. The 8th is my personal travel bug.

 

Not sure if he is using a program, if he is its rather slow. My numbers are 487 apart from lowest to highest and there is about 20 minutes between the logs. Either way I do not understand the motivation behind false finds.

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Yesterday there were a number of logs from an individual on several of my TBs that have been lost for years.

 

I sent him a message, here is his reply:

 

"aller-aller has sent you a new message.

 

"hey, I found the code on facebook 'geocaching trackable challenge' there is a list with old trackable-numbers that you can use for trackable-challenges... not pretty I know... they claim that owners can delete the codes from the list if that is wanted the list is placed on a website called geocachingchallenge.weebly.com good luck with your search greetings from the Netherlands, Maarten"

 

I deleted the logs, and will be watching.

 

Unfortunately, many of the TBs listed on that site belong to people who have stopped caching, so the cheaters can build their counts and fraudulently earn awards with them.

 

Sites like that should not be allowed...

 

Dave_W6DPS

 

Edit to add: I also used the contact form on that website to express my displeasure with them.

Edited by Dave_W6DPS
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Yesterday there were a number of logs from an individual on several of my TBs that have been lost for years.

 

I sent him a message, here is his reply:

 

"aller-aller has sent you a new message.

 

"hey, I found the code on facebook 'geocaching trackable challenge' there is a list with old trackable-numbers that you can use for trackable-challenges... not pretty I know... they claim that owners can delete the codes from the list if that is wanted the list is placed on a website called geocachingchallenge.weebly.com good luck with your search greetings from the Netherlands, Maarten"

 

I deleted the logs, and will be watching.

 

Unfortunately, many of the TBs listed on that site belong to people who have stopped caching, so the cheaters can build their counts and fraudulently earn awards with them.

 

Sites like that should not be allowed...

 

Dave_W6DPS

 

Edit to add: I also used the contact form on that website to express my displeasure with them.

 

I've scanned this entire topic, rather too quickly I fear, but has anyone reported this guy's activity to HQ?

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I have now deleted 54 fake logs this year. Just went through and got rid of logs from

 

Salzburger

ed83483

eikenhofjes

Atreyu

RRV1982

M.I.Casa

 

I really don’t get the whole challenge thing, especially cheating to complete them. I checked out that website, the list is still there.

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Hello everyone,

 

interesting topic! Check my account and find 44 GeoCaches found,

18 GeoCaches hidden and almost 2800 TravelBugs discovered.

How can that be?!

 

Well, as surveyor I use GPS-technology since the early 1990's

and started "GeoCaching" long before this possibility was given

to everyone. I found this site by coincidence, after having

found several GeoCaches also by coincidence. I became member

just to observe, and after more than a year actively looked

for GeoCaches, but not too many. My fun is to create GeoCaches,

not to find them.

 

As I created some mysteries, I once got the message from someone

wanting the confirmation, that his solution for one of my mysteries

was right. He had it well solved and I answered him "GO". But he

never showed up. So after a few months I wrote him, asking if

everything was ok. Only then he told me, that he was suffering from

a cancerous disease and he could not spend much time outside. His

pleasure was to solve mysteries in the whole world, although never

would have the chance to find them.

And he discovered all TravelBugs he could get grip of.

 

So I started to do the same, always checking:

 

https://www.geocaching.com/track/gallery.aspx

 

I consider people publishing a photo of their TravelBug, showing

the tracking-number, in the official TravelBug-gallery, want it

to be discovered. No one would publish the tracking-number, if

it had to stay secret!!! Or am I wrong?

 

Being attentive one can easily make 400 such discoveries a month.

 

Call it couch-geocaching, but I'm outside all day long, six days

a week, doing some other kind of "GeoCaching", preparing streets

and railways, houses to be built. I enjoy discovering TravelBugs

people have created, some of them are real masterpieces of art.

I read what their mission is, and often realize, that I personally

already have been there. I think those people, publishing their

TravelBugs with photo, enjoy it to share it with someone else.

 

Kind regards, Gubemax.

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I consider people publishing a photo of their TravelBug, showing

the tracking-number, in the official TravelBug-gallery, want it

to be discovered. No one would publish the tracking-number, if

it had to stay secret!!! Or am I wrong?

 

Some people just don't realize that publishing a photo with the tracking number leaves their TBs open to couchlogging. Sometimes the photograph is put online by someone else and then there are "the lists" made by people who enjoy making the "secret" tracking codes public.

 

In any case, if one of my TBs is discovered and logged by someone who didn't actually see the TB his/her log will magically disappear.

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Only photos published by the owner hinmself marked with a hook

"Make this the default image for this Trackable" appear in the

TravelBug-gallery. So it is published willfully by the owner.

 

Of course, some people don't seen to know what they are doing!

But can someone else be responsible for that?

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Only photos published by the owner hinmself marked with a hook

"Make this the default image for this Trackable" appear in the

TravelBug-gallery. So it is published willfully by the owner.

 

Of course, some people don't seen to know what they are doing!

But can someone else be responsible for that?

 

I post on the image of mine that virtual discoverys are permitted.

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Call it couch-geocaching, but I'm outside all day long, six days

a week, doing some other kind of "GeoCaching", preparing streets

and railways, houses to be built. I enjoy discovering TravelBugs

people have created, some of them are real masterpieces of art.

I read what their mission is, and often realize, that I personally

already have been there. I think those people, publishing their

TravelBugs with photo, enjoy it to share it with someone else.

Do you also post a lot of note logs on Gallery TBs that have no tracking number in view yet are "masterpieces of art"? Or do you limit your logs to the ones where the tracking numbers can be seen?

 

Has anybody ever seen a bogus log (a "thanks for sharing" bogus "discovered" on some list), where there was any mantion at all about the TB itself? Because I have not seen that. Ever. :anibad:

Edited by kunarion
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No one would publish the tracking-number, if

it had to stay secret!!! Or am I wrong?

In many cases, the TB Owner has no idea that anyone would make a "Discover" log on a TB upon finding out what the Tracking Number is. The most common reason a TB is purchased is so that it will travel and get logs along its travels. Look at any online shop, and you see that a Travel Bug is to travel. Maybe I should request that the Geocaching shop add "Also, if certain persons find out what the tracking number is (from a photo or even a circulated list), they will have lots of fun with that."

 

Just look at the posts in this Forum and you'll see there are many threads about the frustration of Owners who receive TB logs that have nothing to do with their TB traveling cache-to-cache. Also see TBs that were locked due to having too many bogus logs. You had fun, the Owner lost the ability to track the TB, and especially where Groundspeak locked the TB. Awesome.

Edited by kunarion
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No one would publish the tracking-number, if

it had to stay secret!!! Or am I wrong?

In many cases, the TB Owner has no idea that anyone would make a "Discover" log on a TB upon finding out what the Tracking Number is. The most common reason a TB is purchased is so that it will travel and get logs along its travels. Just look at the posts in this Forum and you'll see there are many threads about the frustration of Owners who receive TB logs that have nothing to do with their TB traveling cache-to-cache. Also see TBs that were locked due to having too many bogus logs. You had fun, the Owner lost the ability to track the TB, and especially where Groundspeak locked the TB. Awesome.

 

I'm glad that Groundspeak no longer will lock TB's for virtual logs and added the lock feature to the owners discretion.

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