User spamming false logs

[+GBandBob]

I'm not going to name names, but there is a certain Geocaching user who has been doing nothing but spamming false logs. Every so often, he will post anywhere from 60 to over 100 "Found It" logs on different caches in a single day, all with exactly the same generic message. The caches he logs spread all across both Washington state and southern British Columbia. As further proof, I've looked at the physical logbooks of some of the caches they "found", and there is no message.

 

Is there anything to be done in this situation? This person has a five-digit amount of finds, and I'm certain that they're all if not almost all fake. These false logs are disruptive and misleading, especially if he "finds" a cache that's actually missing. It's especially annoying when I go to print out a cache page with the 5 latest logs, but one of them is his useless log so I only get 4.

Edited May 27, 2016 by GBandBob

[+cerberus1]

By "no message", are you saying their signature's not in the log?

Pain-in-the-can for info sure, but unless it's happening to your cache (and an easy delete...), really, why not just consider the source.

These are the kinda people folks chuckle over at events - especially if they show up.

 

The few times I come across one of those "cachers", a pic of the log was added with others and my Found It.

Eventually someone notices, word gets out, finds get deleted, and that "cacher" often either straightens their act, or quits the hobby.

Edited May 27, 2016 by cerberus1

[+MartyBartfast]

If they're your caches then delete the logs.

If they're someone elses, then I can see how it can be a pain when you're looking through the logs but there's not a lot you can do about it. You could try reporting it to Groundspeak via the contact link, but whether or not they do anything about it is another matter.

[+Mudfrog]

I'd be doing some deleting if the bogus logs were on my caches. As far as other cacher's caches, i might email a few of the affected COs to let them know. I'm not usually one to "look the other way because it doesn't affect me" but for something like this, not sure i would worry about it too much. People who do things like this are goofy and as someone above said, good for an eyeroll and a chuckle!

[+narcissa]

A while ago someone tracked one of these accounts and posted notes to the affected cache owners. I thought it was a nice thing to do.

[vipond33]

A while ago someone tracked one of these accounts and posted notes to the affected cache owners. I thought it was a nice thing to do.

 

I was one of those like minded people. Last summer I noticed fake logs on 10 of my caches and with a little physical look around on some of my previous finds - many more.

Looking then through his logs I counted 1360 "finds" in Ontario and the northern US over a 30 day period (the cacher lives in the Maldives). After contacting him to no avail, I wrote Geocaching HQ. They said I needed more evidence from other members, so I wrote messages and emails to about 80 of them. 31 people eventually replied showing that they had deleted over 250 of his cheats after manually inspecting their logs. Sending this information back to HQ resulted in absolutely nothing. From them:

 

"Hi Eugene,

 

Thanks for writing in to us. If people report Mcassis has couch-logged their geocaches, we can delete them.

 

Regards,

Alex

Community Manager"

 

This and after a handful of my contacts had sent them a note too.

 

I enjoy the placing hides for other peoples pleasure, and finding a few of my own when I have time, but there doesn't seem to be any point to our parent body if liars like this are simply ignored.

 

I have read the standard response before that "they're only hurting themselves". I don't buy it. You cannot help but be hurting the game, and at the same time ratcheting down the world.

[+narcissa]

A while ago someone tracked one of these accounts and posted notes to the affected cache owners. I thought it was a nice thing to do.

 

I was one of those like minded people. Last summer I noticed fake logs on 10 of my caches and with a little physical look around on some of my previous finds - many more.

Looking then through his logs I counted 1360 "finds" in Ontario and the northern US over a 30 day period (the cacher lives in the Maldives). After contacting him to no avail, I wrote Geocaching HQ. They said I needed more evidence from other members, so I wrote messages and emails to about 80 of them. 31 people eventually replied showing that they had deleted over 250 of his cheats after manually inspecting their logs. Sending this information back to HQ resulted in absolutely nothing. From them:

 

"Hi Eugene,

 

Thanks for writing in to us. If people report Mcassis has couch-logged their geocaches, we can delete them.

 

Regards,

Alex

Community Manager"

 

This and after a handful of my contacts had sent them a note too.

 

I enjoy the placing hides for other peoples pleasure, and finding a few of my own when I have time, but there doesn't seem to be any point to our parent body if liars like this are simply ignored.

 

I have read the standard response before that "they're only hurting themselves". I don't buy it. You cannot help but be hurting the game, and at the same time ratcheting down the world.

 

That's frustrating. I think I noticed that account at some point.

 

It's one thing if someone logs a find on a ziptie that should have been a DNF and the owner lets it go.

 

Someone who logs thousands of bogus finds like that is up to something, and they are abusing the website's services to do it.

[+colleda]

There may not be anything more GC can do and are reliant on COs to check their logs. If the fake logs had been done while the cacher was still in the Azores maybe you would have a case but there are no Azores logs for the period he/she/they were in Canada/US. Looks as though quite a few may have been PTs or series where, perhaps, they find the first and/or last then log finds for the rest. Been done before.