What's with these "bogus" discoveries of my coins????

[+Goldenwattle]

https://www.geocaching.com/track/details.aspx?tracker=TB3J298

I dropped this TB off in 2016, and it went missing shortly after. Now it is getting Discovers. The latest from little-leggs with 3,647 Caches Found compared to 47027 Trackables Logged, "whilst we're in lock down" by their own admittance.

Other 'discovering' this TB since it went missing:

(SOA)

307 Caches Found

16326 Trackables Logged

 

7EVENCachers

3,133 Caches Found

17525 Trackables Logged

 

hennes196911

12,914 Caches Found

31274 Trackables Logged

[+Goldenwattle]

JMVonFange is blatant enough to admit where they 'discovered' this.

https://www.geocaching.com/track/details.aspx?guid=361f2c1b-e563-4d8a-93b2-963a6cf1fd59

"

08/Apr/2020	JMVonFange discovered it	Australian Capital Territory, Australia	Visit Log
Discovering these from Nebraska after finding them on various websites - pinterest, geocaching, twitter, instagram, facebook and other various sites from geocachers. Also, may discover multiple times because of being seen in multiple spots."

[+CarSim97]

Team MSBMS just logged an other one of our TB's for which the code was posted today on the infamous FB page. Log text: "Découvert durant le confinement du Covid-19.
Bonjour du Nord de la France. Merci pour le partage."  TB locked, log deleted.
 

[Keystone]

You will see that swift action has already been taken regarding this most recent bulk logger.

 

Happy Blue Switch Day.

[+CarSim97]

13 minutes ago, Keystone said:

You will see that swift action has already been taken regarding this most recent bulk logger.

 

Happy Blue Switch Day.

Yes, just received two other emails from logs of them on our tb's. And when I wanted to delete the last one, the log was already deleted. Thx Groundspeak for the quick action taken. 

[+The Klever Boys]

47 minutes ago, Keystone said:

You will see that swift action has already been taken regarding this most recent bulk logger.

 

Happy Blue Switch Day.

Yes, 13 of mine have now been discovered and the logs are still coming in, but thanks for the prompt action.

I would hope that the account gets locked rather than just logs deleted otherwise they haven't really lost anything...

[+steben6]

I am so appreciative of the quick action HQ takes in these cases.  All the logs on my coins were deleted and the loggers account locked.  Thank you!
Happy Blue Switch Day!

[+CarSim97]

Was just browsing my FB timeline, and turns out there are more of these FB groups to share TB codes. (How naive I was). Since I'm a member of a geocoin group on FB, it was suggested to me as something I might have interest in. Mind you, these groups haven't shared our codes (yet), but something annoyed me in their group description, which is private by the way, so don't know what and how much they have shared (it started in 2018):

 

Quote

This group is to share trackable codes with other geocachers.
The trackables on this group are not all owned ... some are ones that have been found on our journey.
If a TB owner wants their TB removed ... the owner must send the TB code to be removed.
This group is not to start controversy but rather to share the love of TBs

 

This is the other way round. Not only can't I check if my codes are on there, also when it's posted their, since it's private and can't see the posts, but I shouldn't even have to. Why not share your own TB codes only in that group if you want to? Why should a group member decide to post my code there if they may have seen me in the "wild" and they took a picture of or scribbled down one of my trackable garments?! Since it's a private group I can't contact them to ask them this vary question and don't feel like becoming a member.

 

One other thing:

The infamous public page on FB for which we have had several bogus logs, has this website mentioned on their FB page details: logthemall.org. When you go to that website you can bulk log trackables and at the bottom it reads: Authorized developer for the Groundspeak API, which links to the geocaching profile of Cano. Doubt however that this geocacher knows this FB page link exists and doubt if (s)he wants to be associated with this page....

[+cerberus1]

8 hours ago, CarSim97 said:

This group is to share trackable codes with other geocachers.
The trackables on this group are not all owned ... some are ones that have been found on our journey.
If a TB owner wants their TB removed ... the owner must send the TB code to be removed.
This group is not to start controversy but rather to share the love of TBs

 

Wow.  So these freaks think that if you don't contact them, it's perfectly okay to do this.   Arrogant pieces of carp.

I'd really like see every one of these maggots removed from the hobby. 

Makes you want to rush right out and buy another trackable, doesn't it...

[+CarSim97]

And another one of our coins is mentioned on Geocache TB Spoiler Facebookpage. This time our coin is discovered by Schnüffelcarsti. Log deleted and coin locked.

[+Harry Dolphin]

9 hours ago, CarSim97 said:

And another one of our coins is mentioned on Geocache TB Spoiler Facebookpage. This time our coin is discovered by Schnüffelcarsti. Log deleted and coin locked.

 

Yes.  He discovered one of my nephew's geocoins.

[+cerberus1]

Wow.  '18 cacher with over 4000 trackables found (almost 2000 caches too.)   

[+CarSim97]

It was silent for quite a while, but just today had another bogus log on one of our TB's. Discovered by this activity, this FB group is still alive and active.

TB locked, deleted the log.

Team name which logged our TB: Tomboy1

[+Goldenwattle]

On 4/26/2020 at 12:55 PM, Goldenwattle said:

JMVonFange is blatant enough to admit where they 'discovered' this.

https://www.geocaching.com/track/details.aspx?guid=361f2c1b-e563-4d8a-93b2-963a6cf1fd59

"

08/Apr/2020	JMVonFange discovered it	Australian Capital Territory, Australia	Visit Log
Discovering these from Nebraska after finding them on various websites - pinterest, geocaching, twitter, instagram, facebook and other various sites from geocachers. Also, may discover multiple times because of being seen in multiple spots."

I notice that JMVonFange still not been removed. They discovered a TB in Australia from the USA.

"

08/Apr/2020	JMVonFange discovered it	Australian Capital Territory, Australia	Visit Log
Discovering these from Nebraska after finding them on various websites - pinterest, geocaching, twitter, instagram, facebook and other various sites from geocachers. Also, may discover multiple times because of being seen in multiple spots."   may discover multiple times because of being seen in multiple spots

[+thebruce0]

On 8/28/2020 at 1:19 AM, CarSim97 said:

It was silent for quite a while, but just today had another bogus log on one of our TB's. Discovered by this activity, this FB group is still alive and active.

TB locked, deleted the log.

Team name which logged our TB: Tomboy1

 

Got a log from the same user. My first ever mass-logged TB. Emailed hq. I'm opting to leave it unlocked, and maybe 'catch' any other people now.

[+cerberus1]

On 8/28/2020 at 2:13 AM, Goldenwattle said:

I notice that JMVonFange still not been removed. They discovered a TB in Australia from the USA.

"

08/Apr/2020	JMVonFange discovered it	Australian Capital Territory, Australia	Visit Log
Discovering these from Nebraska after finding them on various websites - pinterest, geocaching, twitter, instagram, facebook and other various sites from geocachers. Also, may discover multiple times because of being seen in multiple spots."   may discover multiple times because of being seen in multiple spots

 

What would they be removed for ?   

I've  logged  Discover on trackables I spot on the internet (the last with this latest mars rover thing ...2 of 'em) for years, and similar to this cacher, explain in a lot more detail where I saw it.

We've received a lot of email from folks thanking us for taking the time to help them out.    

So far, most were their own photos showing the code right on their trackable's page.  

 

BTW, a trackable is only "counted" once, even though you may find it years later and log it again and again. 

How many people would remember they saw a common trackable ten years earlier ?

[+Goldenwattle]

On 8/28/2020 at 4:13 PM, Goldenwattle said:

I notice that JMVonFange still not been removed. They discovered a TB in Australia from the USA.

"

08/Apr/2020	JMVonFange discovered it	Australian Capital Territory, Australia	Visit Log
Discovering these from Nebraska after finding them on various websites - pinterest, geocaching, twitter, instagram, facebook and other various sites from geocachers. Also, may discover multiple times because of being seen in multiple spots."   may discover multiple times because of being seen in multiple spots

I didn't say any of that!

[+thebruce0]

Well, I just came across another 'secret' way of bulk sharing TB codes.  I found this travelbug wherein the owner is hiding private tracking codes in jigidi puzzle solutions.

At least it's not a bulk list like 100's of codes just downloadable and usable. Nonetheless, it looks like people are suggesting TB codes in logs posted to the TB, if not just creating puzzles and linking them there.

 

ETA: smaller scale; but it looks that way. Maybe only a handful here and there. May not be the intent of the TB owner, but posted log content from others.

Edited February 23, 2021 by thebruce0

[+crossseeker77]

If HQ is against virtual TB discoveries, why did they offer the Mars Rover trackable online for everyone to log?

[+thebruce0]

On 5/22/2021 at 11:39 AM, crossseeker77 said:

If HQ is against virtual TB discoveries, why did they offer the Mars Rover trackable online for everyone to log?

Because the intent of that TB was for virtual discoveries.

If a TB owner intends their TB to be discovered virtually, that's okay.

If a TB owner does not want their TB to be discovered virtually and someone makes that possible, that is not okay.

[+CarSim97]

It was silent for a long time again with bogus logs on our trackables, but just today received an e-mail for another bogus log on one of them. Found the TB-code on this FB group again, in an older post this time. It's a wonder we didn't receive earlier logs on it.

TB locked, deleted the log.

Team name which logged our TB: Dromaniax

[+nessie3d & Ynka]

My bogus logs are deleted again before I could even check them.  Well done HQ

 

But this time one log survived, made by OzGeoker

 

I will remove the log and hope not to see the guy logging again

[+nessie3d & Ynka]

An another one, same coin: jarnspeedy 

[+Bhanacharaid]

Furious doesn't begin to describe how I feel today! I've just discovered that geocoins of mine that disappeared years ago have been 'discovered' because they - or their tracking numbers - were posted on Facebook!!!

Cheats! Thieves! How very dare they!!!

The penny just dropped today: I was curious about a Help for Heroes geocoin that went missing in 2010. Suddenly, I've had a couple of 'discovers'. One was a few months ago, but there's been 2 or 3 in recent weeks. I contacted one logger out of curiosity and asked him where he saw it and got a one word reply: FACEBOOK.

 

I've spent hours checking forums etc and found this one most helpful. I'm an old school cacher - been doing it since 2009, don't do a huge amount now (arthritis and a bad fall while caching on my own have limited me at different times and robbed me of some courage). In that time I've released a LOT of trackables - and I think they've all gone now. I need to check them all - but after the revelation about the H4H coin, I checked another that had just resurfaced and realised that it too had just been 'discovered'...

 

AND IN ALL THAT TIME - I'VE NEVER STOLEN A TRACKABLE. Get a grip out there - they don't cost much. buy your own.

 

So I've followed the advice on these pages, locked those trackables and deleted the discoverers. I've also added a rant to the trackables' pages. I knew nothing of this swapping and trading that goes on, so this morning has been an eye-opener. I'm sure that all of you trade ethically - but if you come across a stolen trackable - please tell the original owner and encourage the current holder to either return it to them or send it back on it's way.

[+Dgwphotos]

Looks like there's a pinterest page filled with trackables with unhidden codes.

[+CarSim97]

Here we go again: advokamo logged one of our coins. Deleted the log, locked the coin. Again on an older post on that Facebook group. 

[+CarSim97]

It's been quiet for over a year, but we received an other bogus log again on one of our coins. This time from flowo1985. Again on an older post. Deleted the log and locked the coin.