+Spacemann Spiff Posted July 6, 2020 Share Posted July 6, 2020 (edited) How do we report a fraudulent user? I've been searching in the Forums & couldn't find an appropriate/active thread. "owlcoconut" is a fake/armchair geocacher & is logging fake finds. Currently at 110 & still rising for today alone. Including caches known to be missing. Thanks. Edited July 6, 2020 by Spacemann Spiff Quote Link to comment
+Max and 99 Posted July 6, 2020 Share Posted July 6, 2020 16 minutes ago, Spacemann Spiff said: How do we report a fraudulent user? I've been searching in the Forums & couldn't find an appropriate/active thread. "owlcoconut" is a fake/armchair geocacher & is logging fake finds. Currently at 110 & still rising for today alone. Including caches known to be missing. Thanks. At the bottom of every geocache page is a link to "contact us'. 1 Quote Link to comment
+cerberus1 Posted July 6, 2020 Share Posted July 6, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, Spacemann Spiff said: How do we report a fraudulent user? I've been searching in the Forums & couldn't find an appropriate/active thread. "owlcoconut" is a fake/armchair geocacher & is logging fake finds. Currently at 110 & still rising for today alone. Including caches known to be missing. Curious, is it possible that someone created a new account for one of their kids ? Granted, most times it's explained somewhere in a log, and back-dated so folks aren't guessing... Odd that their first cache logged says, "Anyone know spaceman spiff he keeps harassing my 11-year-old daughter ..." How would that person have known of you from their very first cache logged? That doesn't seem possible. Thanks. Edited July 6, 2020 by cerberus1 Quote Link to comment
+Max and 99 Posted July 6, 2020 Share Posted July 6, 2020 (edited) 15 hours ago, Spacemann Spiff said: How do we report a fraudulent user? I've been searching in the Forums & couldn't find an appropriate/active thread. "owlcoconut" is a fake/armchair geocacher & is logging fake finds. Currently at 110 & still rising for today alone. Including caches known to be missing. Thanks. Could they be a co-finder with the person you continually call a cheater in your logs? Is that what they mean by you harassing their daughter? Their very first Found It log mentions you! The Contact Us link is on every page. Edited July 6, 2020 by Max and 99 Added Found It log. Quote Link to comment
+TmdAndGG Posted July 6, 2020 Share Posted July 6, 2020 7 hours ago, Max and 99 said: Their very first log mentions you! Not exactly. The write note was posted a day after the found log on owlcoconut's first find. 1 Quote Link to comment
+lee737 Posted July 6, 2020 Share Posted July 6, 2020 15 hours ago, Max and 99 said: Could they be a co-finder with the person you continually call a cheater in your logs? Is that what they mean by you harassing their daughter? Their very first Found It log mentions you! The Contact Us link is on every page. Gee, it might be 'owlcoconut' hitting the 'Contact Us' button at this rate! 1 1 Quote Link to comment
+frostengel Posted July 6, 2020 Share Posted July 6, 2020 If the user owlcoconut wouldn't just post single words "awesome" or mostly just smileys (e g. https://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LUID=25fc35ce-e968-40d8-a7ad-120f17792281) it might be possible to read from the logs if she/he/they found the cache or not. :-( I think it is easy. Did they log any cache of you? No? Great, ignore them. If the owners of those caches get active - let them. Did they log one? Look into the logbook and if you don't find their name you might delete the log. Or report the cacher if you want to but simply deleting the log might work. Have you contacted them yet? Quote Link to comment
+Harry Dolphin Posted July 6, 2020 Share Posted July 6, 2020 Wow! 112 finds in one day! Quote Link to comment
+ecanderson Posted July 6, 2020 Share Posted July 6, 2020 24 minutes ago, Harry Dolphin said: Wow! 112 finds in one day! Especially easy if it's someone just splitting accounts. I encountered something similar once -- nearly all of my caches found in 1 day by a person who would have had to cover some serious ground. Turned out to be a shared account that was being split into two accounts. All re-logs of all of the original finds for the 2nd account. The problem with frostengel's 'check the log' is that when this happens, the owner of the new account doesn't always make clear the original logging name. The only solution is to contact the person creating the new logs. Quote Link to comment
+Isonzo Karst Posted July 6, 2020 Share Posted July 6, 2020 Reads to me as if an 11 year old opened account and has been logging in a silly childish manner. Or, an 11 year used parent's account to log in a silly childish manner. Either way, said 11 year old has received some messages from the OP that have made parent and child unhappy. It can be hard to reach out to novices when they're logging inappropriately. I've done it over finds on challenges, where "finder" only has 3 logged finds, or "Found it!" on first stage of an 8 mile hiking multi. I try to be very gentle, factual, non-judgmental. It's really tough with kids. 1 Quote Link to comment
+Max and 99 Posted July 7, 2020 Share Posted July 7, 2020 2 hours ago, ecanderson said: I encountered something similar once -- nearly all of my caches found in 1 day by a person who would have had to cover some serious ground. Turned out to be a shared account that was being split into two accounts. Grrrrrrrrrr. Quote Link to comment
+ecanderson Posted July 7, 2020 Share Posted July 7, 2020 Hey, it's what happens when splits occur and the 2nd finder doesn't take the time to use the calendar and properly antedate all of the logs. Personally, if I was the one playing 'catch up', I'd try to match up the dates, too. Also makes it clear what the original account was. 1 Quote Link to comment
+Spacemann Spiff Posted July 7, 2020 Author Share Posted July 7, 2020 Hello, all. I am the starter of this thread. To address some of the comments above-- Yes, I contacted the person before I ever made the original post. One single message. They replied back with multiple, snotty emails, and started the line of crap about "harassing my daughter," etc. I chose to ignore them. Not worth getting into a continued argument with an obvious abuser/cheater. And, as TmdAndGG mentioned above, the user went back and added the log that mentions me, AFTER I sent my one-and-only message to them, in an effort to deflect from their cheating. Again, I sent them ONE single message. Not harassing. They in turn sent MULTIPLE (harassing) emails to me for having called them out. Guilty much? At this point, I don't care. As others have mentioned above, it's not worth the effort to worry about. Am I annoyed by lazy armchair geocachers who have nothing better to do that cheat at a game? Yes. Am I going to worry about it further? No. Let them be their pathetic selves. Thanks to those who offered helpful comments. 5 Quote Link to comment
+ecanderson Posted July 8, 2020 Share Posted July 8, 2020 @Spacemann Since I've been in a similar situation in the past, please bear with me. Looking back at your original post, and your last one, I would posit that there may be an entirely legitimate reason, already discussed above, for what you saw. Let's assume that parents + daughter geocached together. Let's further assume that, as often happens, the kid decides she wants her own account. Kid starts logging the previously found caches under the new account. Kid doesn't know to, or doesn't bother to back date the logs when re-logging the caches found together with parents. Suddenly, you see a flurry of logs by a new finder, including caches that couldn't possibly be found now. You message the finder regarding your issues. Daughter makes note of this to parents. While she is logged in, parents use messaging to reply to you, complaining of harassment. I find the above a perfectly reasonable explanation for what happened. As I say, I had something similar happen here when a boy chose to break off onto his own account vs. continuing with a 'family' account. This may or may not be the case, but many in this thread, yourself included, seem unwilling to accept that more than one explanation exists, and that one of them includes no 'cheating'. 3 Quote Link to comment
+ecanderson Posted July 8, 2020 Share Posted July 8, 2020 FWIW, this scenario has also been known to occur when spouses/partners split up. 1 Quote Link to comment
+Max and 99 Posted July 8, 2020 Share Posted July 8, 2020 spacemanspiff: My concern is that even IF they are cheating (which there is no evidence of), the content of your logs may get YOU into trouble for harrassment! 1 Quote Link to comment
+CAVinoGal Posted July 8, 2020 Share Posted July 8, 2020 On 7/6/2020 at 2:49 PM, frostengel said: I think it is easy. Did they log any cache of you? No? Great, ignore them. If the owners of those caches get active - let them. Did they log one? Look into the logbook and if you don't find their name you might delete the log. Or report the cacher if you want to but simply deleting the log might work. 12 hours ago, Max and 99 said: spacemanspiff: My concern is that even IF they are cheating (which there is no evidence of), the content of your logs may get YOU into trouble for harrassment! Looking at the caches that were logged as "Found" on July 5, I see none owned by Spacemann Spiff (unless they are hidden under a different account - but I see several different CO's among the caches found), so I'm puzzled by his concern over the logs on others' caches. There may be a legitimate reason for the slew of logs in one day, as others have pointed out. I would deal with the logs on my own hides by contacting the finder, and either deleting or letting the log stand, and let the other CO's deal with the logs however they see fit. Somebody fake logging is not an issue that I would risk harassment charges - just let it go. 1 Quote Link to comment
+Ellteejak Posted July 8, 2020 Share Posted July 8, 2020 its impossible to call out fake players on other caches (not your own). Its a flaw and feature of geocaching. Many just say they went to the cache location and never opening cache, and no log signed. 1) Have taken to logging the cache myself, and then posting a note after with a photo of my signed log. The owner can then delete the photo (and over half do) of the log. If you want to contest and compare to others, then you will need to just accept that there is much lacking in this game for beginners. You can keep your own journal of caches found, with a cross reference to pictures (save pictures to dropbox). 2) you can also create a secret blackbook/ blacklist journal of folks you know have reduced integrity in the games. Easy to test that by just asking them (email note) to describe the log, and cache back to you; as you mixed up the notes about which cache. You can look at their DNF and if its non existent, you know the truth is out there. LOL Most decide its not worth comparing to others, that seem to never get it. Also need to understand that many play this game by just getting to within ten feet, and never log a DNF. Quote Link to comment
+Harry Dolphin Posted July 8, 2020 Share Posted July 8, 2020 I remember the drive-by cacher, who logged all the caches he drove close to. (Including some belonging to a reviewer.) This was discussed in the fora. I checked those of mine that he had logged, and he had not signed the logs. Eventually, all his logs were deleted. 1 Quote Link to comment
+cerberus1 Posted July 8, 2020 Share Posted July 8, 2020 2 hours ago, CAVinoGal said: I would deal with the logs on my own hides by contacting the finder, and either deleting or letting the log stand, and let the other CO's deal with the logs however they see fit. Somebody fake logging is not an issue that I would risk harassment charges - just let it go. Yep. If mine, I'll fix it if needed. Others, that's up to them. Simple. When a cache page starts to turn into an ugly forum, sometimes a few folks might get in a bind. Quote Link to comment
+hzoi Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 (edited) Since none of these are your hides, there's not much to be done other than contacting Groundspeak and leaving it to them to determine what, if any, action to take. In other words, I get to trot out my meme from my favorite urban micro: Edited July 10, 2020 by hzoi 2 Quote Link to comment
+Max and 99 Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 1 hour ago, hzoi said: Since none of these are your hides, there's not much to be done other than contacting Groundspeak and leaving it to them to determine what, if any, action to take. In other words, I get to trot out my meme from my favorite urban micro: I'm hoping to take my own photo of those vehicles this summer so I can use it when I want to! Quote Link to comment
+hzoi Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 5 minutes ago, Max and 99 said: I'm hoping to take my own photo of those vehicles this summer so I can use it when I want to! Stop by our earthcaches in Medicine Park when you do. I love that little town. Quote Link to comment
+Lebears&cubs Posted July 26, 2020 Share Posted July 26, 2020 I have been spammed in the message center. With "Do like my breast?" and a web link. How do you block/report them? Quote Link to comment
+Max and 99 Posted July 26, 2020 Share Posted July 26, 2020 (edited) 39 minutes ago, Lebears&cubs said: I have been spammed in the message center. At the bottom of every single geocaching site page is a contact us link. Contact them. Edited July 26, 2020 by Max and 99 Quote Link to comment
+ecanderson Posted July 26, 2020 Share Posted July 26, 2020 See this thread >> Has already been a major problem earlier in the month. 1 Quote Link to comment
+x10u8tr Posted July 26, 2020 Share Posted July 26, 2020 On 7/5/2020 at 8:58 PM, Max and 99 said: At the bottom of every geocache page is a link to "contact us'. Got an inappropriate message from a fake user as well. Don't see how to delete the message or way to report other than contacting support via email. Quote Link to comment
+Max and 99 Posted July 26, 2020 Share Posted July 26, 2020 Just now, x10u8tr said: Got an inappropriate message from a fake user as well. Don't see how to delete the message or way to report other than contacting support via email. Click the "Contact us" link at the bottom of every page. That's how you report them. You can block them on GC messaging so you don't see the messages, but otherwise there's nothing you can do except let HQ know. 1 Quote Link to comment
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