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I received a suspicious message from someone with zero finds


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I just received a message in the Message Center by someone with zero finds.  The message was: "you got a nice profile and i really like your profile and i feel it would be nice to get to know you more better."  (The person then left their Yahoo email address here.) " I have something very important to discuss with you privately. hope to hear from you soon."  (The person then left a non-geocaching name.)

 

Has anyone else received a message like this?  I am not sure what to do about this, if anything.

 

Thanks!

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I haven't received anything like that, but I would probably report it.  HQ can probably see if they sent similar messages from their Profile to other Users.  At a minimum, it could be construed as spam and violates the TOU.  Definitely has a high creepy factor from what you describe.

Edited by Touchstone
edit grammar
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7 minutes ago, HockeyHiker19 said:

Has anyone else received a message like this?  I am not sure what to do about this, if anything.

 

Sure.  Just spam.  The few times I received them,  notified Groundspeak and they already were on it.

I feel much better now.  Mine were much racier than yours.      :D 

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17 minutes ago, J Grouchy said:

I got this the other day.  Maybe they need to add a "report message" function. 

 

image.png.76414b76b661e66684ac1a619f08dd28.png

That's why I wish people wouldn't leave money in hides. It can give some people the idea to find caches just for the money. Many times I have found coins and often I have removed them. Not for the value, but because people shouldn't leave money.

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6 hours ago, Goldenwattle said:

That's why I wish people wouldn't leave money in hides. It can give some people the idea to find caches just for the money. Many times I have found coins and often I have removed them. Not for the value, but because people shouldn't leave money.

I doubt that cache pirates have gotten excited by the foreign coins I've left in caches. I bought them by weight from the junk bin at a local coin shop.

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8 hours ago, HockeyHiker19 said:

 I would like to report the spam message to HQ, but there is no such option under the 18 topics in the Help Center. 

I suppose I'll just submit one under the "My Account" category.

 

That's what I've done.  Maybe I just assumed it was sent in email from my profile link.      :)

 - But I agree, a "spam" or similar line  probably could/should  be added these days, when it happens often...

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4 hours ago, Goldenwattle said:

No, not foreign coins, but the local coins, sometimes several dollars worth. One time paper money.

Is it just local money that causes a problem? What about valuable trade items, like a new mobile phone, in the box, complete with all accessories? Or a working GPS, complete with accessories? Gift cards?

Edited by niraD
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14 minutes ago, Goldenwattle said:
15 minutes ago, niraD said:

I've found the phone and the GPS. Actually, I've found a couple GPS devices. I haven't found gift cards, but I have heard of them being left as FTF prizes.

And I thought a FTF badge was special :)

 

The only FTF "prize" I've ever scored was a TB themed to the cache, but it was just to move on, not to keep.

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We used to leave gift cards for a local coffee shop/donut chain in our caches as FTF prizes.  But we had the same 2 or 3 people getting all the FTFs so we stopped subsidizing their breakfasts.  Then we switched to unactivated trackables as FTF prizes for our puzzle caches.  More variety in FTFers and I like to think people appreciate the coins.

 

As far as stuff we've found as FTF, I think a $5 bill was the biggest monetary prize.  I don't recall ever seeing a new phone or GPSr as a FTF prize, although I do hear of people leaving them behind at caches from time to time.

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10 hours ago, niraD said:

I've found the phone and the GPS. Actually, I've found a couple GPS devices. I haven't found gift cards, but I have heard of them being left as FTF prizes.

Veering OT, but...

We've left a couple GPSrs as FTF prizes (working older models).  We usually left gear as prizes, rather than cards or lottery tickets.

The other 2/3rds left binoculars and Leatherman multi tools in most of her "woods" hides.

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I reported the spam message to HQ and promptly received a reply that I did the right thing in reporting it and that they would deal with the matter appropriately.

As to money in caches, we have a local who likes to leave $2 bills in his caches as FTF prizes and I have left dollar coins as FTF prizes in my few hides.  In my very early days of caching (10 years ago), a cacher would hide 10 caches at a time in a large "treasure hunt" series and the FTF prize was a special geocoin made just for the series with the cache's number engraved on it and it was in its own little treasure chest at a separate location from the cache itself.

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40 minutes ago, rdrayeriii said:

This topic has taken an interesting rabbit trail. I have been asked numerous times about what type of treasures that I find in geocaches. When you state that it is just random things of no value, they just don’t get it. 

Part of the problem is describing geocaching as a "treasure hunt". That sets up the wrong expectation.

 

I find that describing geocaching as a "scavenger hunt" communicates better what it's really about.

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17 hours ago, niraD said:
18 hours ago, rdrayeriii said:

This topic has taken an interesting rabbit trail. I have been asked numerous times about what type of treasures that I find in geocaches. When you state that it is just random things of no value, they just don’t get it. 

Part of the problem is describing geocaching as a "treasure hunt". That sets up the wrong expectation.

 

I find that describing geocaching as a "scavenger hunt" communicates better what it's really about.

 

"Like an Easter egg hunt with GPS" also does the trick.

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On 3/8/2019 at 9:24 PM, The Jester said:
On 3/8/2019 at 12:16 PM, hzoi said:

"Like an Easter egg hunt with GPS" also does the trick.

Except the EGG is left in place, unlike Easter Hunts

Depends on how well it's hidden.  One of my old instructors had a favorite expression: "You're as lost as last year's Easter egg."  

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That I would be wary of. I however received a message from a 0 finds also asking about a cache I found up in northern California. I thought it suspicious as well, but I answered his message. It turned out it was a producer from the science channel who was doing some research for an upcoming episode of "Unsolved mysteries". I ended up being in the show! He never even heard of geocaching but had to sign up to message me.

 

The show was regarding a cave that had potential hidden gold in or around it. The cave was near the cache I found. The mystery intrigued me, so I did some follow up research and additional trips back to the cave. Somehow in his fact finding mission, he came across some of my work. With that he found the log I had written logging the cache as a find, and followed up on the web site to contact me. 

 

So glad I did not put TFTC! as my log, or he would never have known I found that while in the area looking for real gold lol. 

 

 

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On 3/4/2019 at 5:37 AM, Goldenwattle said:

That's why I wish people wouldn't leave money in hides. It can give some people the idea to find caches just for the money. Many times I have found coins and often I have removed them. Not for the value, but because people shouldn't leave money.

 

I left a Where's George? dollar once.  Two birds with one stone!

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