Jump to content

Need Help - Caches being destroyed


KDubs

Recommended Posts

Community (and GC.com) we, in Connecticut, need some help...

There are a few people who are smashing caches and videotaping them on instagram (see https://www.instagram.com/thegeosmashers/). They recently destroyed a series that my ten and twelve year old kids set up

 

Here are the caches that we are aware of so far although I think there are many others

- https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC5FXFZ_om-nom-nom

- https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC24VA1_bullets-the-blue-trail

- http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC62XV7_hubbard-park-pavillion-loop-tree

- http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC62XVA_hubbard-park-pavillion-loop-lumber

- http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC62XTT_hubbard-park-pavillion-loop-spikey-fallen

- http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC62XTX_hubbard-park-pavillion-loop-guardrail

- https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC62XV1_hubbard-park-pavillion-loop-waterview

- https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC62XTN_hubbard-park-pavillion-loop-highways

 

We have tried reporting the Instagram account but nothing so far. I know with premiunm caches there is a way to see everyone who has looked at the caches but I am hoping someone from GC.com can do this for regular caches and try to track back similar accounts who logged in to see these around the time they got destroyed and relay that to the police

 

Or any other ideas people have from similar incidents. We are not trying to 'get' anyone so much as see this stop and justice get served.

 

Thanks in advance

Link to comment

The best short term response to cache maggots is to make as many area caches as possible PMO. With those that have been removed, wait a bit, move them some where that's possible, update coords and enable again.

 

I know with premiunm caches there is a way to see everyone who has looked at the caches but I am hoping someone from GC.com can do this for regular caches

 

PMO caches only record accounts who looked at the listing ON GEOCACHING.COM, not, "everyone who has looked at the caches", by using a phone app, by downloading gpx or loc file from a search page or pocket query.

 

It very likely won't help with an account like this, likely using a phone app to find and destroy caches.

 

You may have a username, Geosmashers, but looking at existing accounts using this moniker as the first part, I'm guessing not, The "geosmasher" accounts that I've found are older accounts, looking pretty legit.

 

You can contact Geocaching.com to report the cache maggot, use the Help Center Email for this (I suggest #16, geocacher disagreement, as that's the correct staff set to handle maggots, as far as I understand). If they can deduce a user name (and they may not be able to...) they can lock the account. I'd mention the Geosmasher images.

Edited by Isonzo Karst
Link to comment

I would: disable my smashed cache(s) listing, wait one month (they'll probably get bored by then), put out a new container, perhaps move it a little if possilbe, up the D/T rating so it's above 2/2 (2.5/2.5 or 3/3). All the caches you've listed were 2/2 or under.

 

What's strange is there's 2 women holding an ammo can. I wonder if one of them is the kid's mom. If so, does she know what her kid is doing?

Link to comment

I know with premiunm caches there is a way to see everyone who has looked at the caches but I am hoping someone from GC.com can do this for regular caches and try to track back similar accounts who logged in to see these around the time they got destroyed and relay that to the police

There is something wrong with people who destroy property and brag about it. You often such types in this Forum, too, unchallenged by Mods or Admins. Very disturbing.

 

Go get all those cards. I'd grab a card as soon as possible after it's placed. You may find fingerprints, and even inside the lamination. It would be cool to get those prints. Post them on Instagram. :ph34r:

 

Anyway, as suggested, disable the affected caches (and any others you wish to not get trashed) without fanfare, re-do the ones you wish, and wait a while before placing & activating.

Edited by kunarion
Link to comment

I'm not familiar with the law in your area, but isn't destruction of another person's property a criminal offense, especially when it is repeatedly done and broadcast? Call the police/sheriff and file a complaint.Those custom art-works created by your children, when the values are totaled, may make the amount of damage done in the hundreds of dollars, resulting in a more serious charge possible against the offenders..

Link to comment

That sucks.

We had a similar problem around here with a cacher who called himself "the rain of terror". He would pee in caches. We had out a large cache with a really cool log. He peed and #2 in the cache container. I archived the cache and then told my daughter who helped set it up about it. She was not cool with letting him win and us archiving the cache. I was unsure what to do. Others had contacted me about how he had done this to there cache and they archived them.

Well we came up with a plan. We changed out the cache for a toilet seat with markers to sign. ( I realize now that isn't really a container but if we had even put a ziplock baggie on it he could have peed in it) A couple of weeks went by and I got a log saying there was a letter left for us. We went out and checked it out. It was a long letter with many pictures drawn on it. Must have taken a long time to make. It had some bad words in it but overall it was saying how funny it was. I think somehow we earned there respect. It is now back to a regular sized container and it hasn't had any problems from them and I have not heard of anyone else having problems with them. It has been a couple of years now.

I don't think something like this will help you out but it is something we did and it somehow worked.

I wish you all the best of luck!

-WarNinjas

Link to comment

We had a similar problem around here with a cacher who called himself "the rain of terror". He would pee in caches. We had out a large cache with a really cool log. He peed and #2 in the cache container. I archived the cache and then told my daughter who helped set it up about it. She was not cool with letting him win and us archiving the cache. I was unsure what to do. Others had contacted me about how he had done this to there cache and they archived them.

Well we came up with a plan... -WarNinjas

Darn !

Was kinda hoping it had something to do with electric fences... :laughing:

Link to comment
They recently destroyed a series that my ten and twelve year old kids set up

 

Unfortunately, this is an opportunity for your children to learn that there are petty and malicious people in the world who deserve to be hit in the face with a baseball bat.

Link to comment

Of the caches linked to in the OP, one person reported the problem more than anyone else. This person has 1 find listed. Then in one of his/her logs, points fingers at 2 other people who have more than 100 finds each. I know, innocent til proven guilty but,,, it does look kinda fishy.

Link to comment

Of the caches linked to in the OP, one person reported the problem more than anyone else. This person has 1 find listed. Then in one of his/her logs, points fingers at 2 other people who have more than 100 finds each. I know, innocent til proven guilty but,,, it does look kinda fishy.

 

Looking through the logs I see the person you are referring to. I would bet money that is your culprit. One find a couple months back, a few months go by and a couple of dumb teenagers start talking about geocaching that one of them did one time, Before you know it they have hatched an alias and a plan.

Link to comment

I'm not from your area, but this pisses me off to no regard.

 

It looks to me like the culprit goes by the GC handle "aaronzehren" - he usually reports the caches as vandalized, and once even blamed it on the people in the log below him. He has one find and has been registered since January.

 

Definitely reports this to your area reviewers and geocaching.com - they will ban him and hopefully send the police after him.

 

Why do people have to destroy caches? It's just a game, but come on.

Link to comment

I'm not from your area, but this pisses me off to no regard.

 

It looks to me like the culprit goes by the GC handle "aaronzehren" - he usually reports the caches as vandalized, and once even blamed it on the people in the log below him. He has one find and has been registered since January.

 

Definitely reports this to your area reviewers and geocaching.com - they will ban him and hopefully send the police after him.

 

Why do people have to destroy caches? It's just a game, but come on.

Reviewers can't ban. Only Groundspeak after they investigate.

Link to comment

I'm not from your area, but this pisses me off to no regard.

 

It looks to me like the culprit goes by the GC handle "aaronzehren" - he usually reports the caches as vandalized, and once even blamed it on the people in the log below him. He has one find and has been registered since January.

 

Definitely reports this to your area reviewers and geocaching.com - they will ban him and hopefully send the police after him.

 

Why do people have to destroy caches? It's just a game, but come on.

 

Um, at least 3 of the 8 caches had no log from him on them and all (including the one with the calling card) the caches he did are in the same area / park. Its very likely the same person discovered them. I remember being the first person to find like 10 caches in a row gone on the way to GCD. Was not a fun walk but I felt I needed to make sure they were all gone, one by one and then I posted a DNF/note on each one, I guess I was the culprit by that logic. Am not saying this person is not the person but there is not evidence here to say, yeah, he did it.

Edited by lamoracke
Link to comment

Ignore them...

 

 

And dont feed the trolls.

 

There is some real wisdom in this.

 

When I was showing up in the "Off topic" forums daily, we had a thread, I forget what it was called, but it was for trolls, people who were trolling the regular forums trying to rile people up.

 

All of a sudden, someone showed up and started posting photos. Really bad photos. I won't describe him (and please don't) because that still feeds him, and we started reporting it in that thread.

 

Things went on and it got worse and worse with these photos showing up all over and Groundspeak personnel manning the forums 24/7 to erase them as fast as they could. These were far from family friendly.

 

SO one day a wise old dog said that perhaps this guy was feeding off of our thread that was talking about him and he wanted to close that thread, but wanted to ask us first.

I was immediately against it, but the more I thought about it the more it made sense, so I voted it be closed. In the end it was unanimous and the thread was closed.

The guy disappeared.

 

A similar sort of thing is happening in our nation with crime.

We've been getting shooters lately (a number of them) who have said, "tomorrow everyone will know my name" and then they commit a mass killing.

 

They say small children do bad things for attention because ANY attention is better than none.

 

So people desperate for attention go out and do bad things to get it.

 

Destroying caches is along the same lines I think, especially because it's being posted on instagram. They are trying for fame and trying to rile people up. As long as they are getting attention and getting people to react they will keep on doing it.

 

I agree with any legal action that can be taken, and other than that, outrage only feeds them and makes them do it more.

 

 

If you compare it in terms of people committing mass murder for attention, then destroying caches gets seen in a new light where perhaps a few people can follow up on legal action, and the rest can quietly change their caches to Premium Member caches and change the coordinates just enough so the same ones can't be found.

These are just caches and can be replaced. We don't have to let these guys get to us.

 

It's a thought.

Link to comment

I'm not from your area, but this pisses me off to no regard.

 

It looks to me like the culprit goes by the GC handle "aaronzehren" - he usually reports the caches as vandalized, and once even blamed it on the people in the log below him. He has one find and has been registered since January.

 

Definitely reports this to your area reviewers and geocaching.com - they will ban him and hopefully send the police after him.

 

Why do people have to destroy caches? It's just a game, but come on.

 

Um, at least 3 of the 8 caches had no log from him on them and all (including the one with the calling card) the caches he did are in the same area / park. Its very likely the same person discovered them. I remember being the first person to find like 10 caches in a row gone on the way to GCD. Was not a fun walk but I felt I needed to make sure they were all gone, one by one and then I posted a DNF/note on each one, I guess I was the culprit by that logic. Am not saying this person is not the person but there is not evidence here to say, yeah, he did it.

 

 

I helped replace the Ape cache replacement one time when it was stolen, and at the same time we replaced a ammo can so big it would fit a small child in it.

 

There was a group of 4 of us who carried these HUGE ammo cans up this long forest trail up a hill.

 

We rigged a way to carry single-file up this trail and kept switching off and taking turns.

 

It actually really was a lot of fun.

 

At the time I clearly and loudly posted how much fun we had replacing those caches.

 

They only win if they rile us up.

 

It really was a good time.

 

I'll help replace a cache if you need help. It was bonding and adventurous, and just a lot of fun.

Link to comment

I agree with the general approach: no public attention to trolls.

 

We had similar situation. Lots of caches were stolen. Many offensive logs appeared. Cachers received rude email messages. The troll virtually pressed all buttons to attract attention. He even blamed others for destroying his caches (!). He also declared he was an ecological activist. And so on, and so on. He multiplied his actions against geocaches (and geocachers) as long as the community paid attention. Once ignored, he desperately repeated his attempts but finally get bored and switched to something else.

 

I'm also witnessing such anti-caching troll in other geocaching community. He's got a good portion of public attention and now he makes impression of a psycho who terrorizes everyone whom he dislikes with offensive messages, threats, lie and quarrels at any point where moderators left to have a cup of tea.

Link to comment
he desperately repeated his attempts but finally get bored and switched to something else.

 

I'm also witnessing such anti-caching troll in other geocaching community. He's got a good portion of public attention and now he makes impression of a psycho who terrorizes everyone whom he dislikes with offensive messages, threats, lie and quarrels at any point where moderators left to have a cup of tea.

 

I got bullied as a kid. I was told to ignore bullies and they would get bored by not getting a reaction and go away.

 

Here's the problem with bullies: some of them take awhile to get bored, just because one bully stops doesn't mean another one won't start soon after, and - perhaps most importantly of all - just because someone stops bullying you they aren't going to stop bullying others.

 

So it is with cache vandals. Destroying geocaches is an effective way to cause grief to alot of people and when one dumb teenager gets bored with it another will inevitably start. More importantly, someone willing to destroy geocaches for LOLZ probably didn't start with geocaches and definitely won't end there.

 

So do all the little steps like PMO and report to the police, but remember at the end of the day the way you stop bullies is to beat the **** out of them so that they learn the hard way that you're not someone to mess with and messing with people for no good reason is liable to take them to a world of pain.

Link to comment

report to the police,

 

This is the second time I've seen this come up in this thread and i do have to ask; what do you expect from the police when you tell them someone is busting up the tupperware you are leaving everywhere?

 

In an ideal world nobody would touch anything that isn't their's but this is far from an ideal world.

Edited by Keystone
Inappropriate language removed by moderator
Link to comment

But, this begs the question:

 

WHAT, can be done about this? Granted, these are "things left out in the public places" but these are people who are destroying the "things" that have been placed by SOMEONE, who agreed to keep-up on these "things".

 

Technically, they aren't trash, they aren't abandoned, they are something that is part of a game.

 

There is a LOT of "evidence"..... and maybe police or authorities attention WOULD feed-the-trolls, as it were. But, if the police did talk to them, ESPECIALLY since there is evidence of them destroying containers, and having their OWN FACES in the videos/pictures, there has to be something that can be done.

 

I agree with the comment that someone should see if there could be fingerprints lifted from one of the cards, but the police would have to do it. Whether they would consider this a "high enough priority", is doubtful, but one never knows.

 

Granted, it's a game.

Granted, it's just "tupperware" or whatever you used.

 

Point being, they are being destructive individuals.... and there should be something that can be done about it.

Link to comment

I've read a story of someone stealing/destroying caches who was contacted by the police, they soon stopped. You have pictures of who these people are and an idea of the area they are based in so perhaps a message from the police to their instagram would be enough to scare them off. They're not hardened criminals, they're just people trying to be a bit naughty for some attention.

 

Other than that I'd say as others have suggested, don't feed them by commenting on their videos, talk to other local cachers and make as many local caches Premium Member Only as you can then stop talking about them online. They'll soon get bored.

 

Here's an advice thread from the UK/Ireland forum a few years ago when we had this problem, trolls are all the same whatever country they are in.

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=257210

Link to comment

Are these premium members only caches being destroyed? I would advise to pick up all your caches until it feels safe to put them out again.

Just a thought. There are security cameras all over the place now-a-days. I know our police have these cameras situated around our city. Maybe you could hide a cache right in front of one. That would be one way of identifying the culprit.

Link to comment
talk to other local cachers

+1

 

I placed some caches in an area devoid of caches, and yeah, bad idea. A local cacher later remarked that no CO can keep caches there, since the neighbors consider that area of the park to be an extension of their property. The OP probably is familiar with the situation in the OP's area, but meeting with the local bunch can't hurt.

Edited by kunarion
Link to comment

report to the police,

 

This is the second time I've seen this come up in this thread and i do have to ask; what do you expect from the police when you tell them someone is busting up the tupperware you are leaving everywhere?

 

In an ideal world nobody would touch anything that isn't their's but this is far from an ideal world.

 

Google Paul Repak

Edited by briansnat
Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...