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Travel Bug Piracy

Gargoyle

By Gargoyle
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Gargoyle

+Gargoyle

Posted
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Beware... there were 6 or 7 travel bugs found in northeastern PA recently that are attached to homemade round brass tags with TB numbers punched (engraved) in. I have found three of them and I have already found out that two of them are DEFINITELY "pirate bugs". The number that was punched in belongs to a REAL travel bug that has not been released yet (or is considered inactive). I know of two other fake tags that are in the hands of cachers that actually belong to active travel bugs but aren’t the real bugs. I have sent out a few emails trying to stop these fakes from being circulated. If they continue to travel and be logged they will mess up the log pages for the real bugs.

 

My theory is that a small group of people from somewhere in Northeastern PA may have tried to start their own tracking system and created these bogus bugs... but they stupidly decided to use the same 6 digit number system that Groundspeak was already using... that is really pretty stupid... but the numbers coincided with a few bugs that were already issued to caches...

 

There are also a few REAL travel bugs from the PA area that have been released with the same type of tags. These should continue to travel as usual.

 

If anyone finds a travel bug with a round brass tag (probably bent from hammering in the numbers)... and that number corresponds to a real travel bug... contact the owner of the real travel bug to find out it the bug is real or not.

 

UPDATE: I managed to track down one of the bug owners who has not cached in over a year. He was a little confused as to which of his travel bugs was I was referring to because he had one of his bugs pirated before...

 

Apparently there was some dude called the “Bug Resuscitator” who was finding inactive travel bug tracking numbers and bringing the bugs back from the dead... so to speak... He apparently had 20 travel bug finds but had not found any caches... interesting trick. Well maybe this “Bug Resuscitator” is the key to this problem.

 

Now I just need to find out who he is. Thanks for listening.

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AuntieWeasel

+AuntieWeasel

Posted
Posted
Apparently there was some dude called the "Bug Resuscitator" who was finding inactive travel bug tracking numbers and bringing the bugs back from the dead... so to speak.

How very strange. You almost have to admire the deviant inventiveness of the human mind -- wherever there's a game, someone, somewhere will work out a bizarre way to play it wrong. It's cheering, really.

 

Only, I'd be seriously cheezed if it was a bug number of mine.

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Gargoyle

+Gargoyle

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One theory is that someone... maybe in northeastern PA... decided to create their own travebugs and tracking systems... but the idiots decided to use the same numbering format as GC. I was leaning towards this theory till I heard about the bug resuscitator.

 

The only characters that appear on the piratetags are T B and the the 3 digit tracking number: "T B 123456". I also checked the "www.travelertags.com" site and these numbers dont correspond to any of their travelers.

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Gargoyle

+Gargoyle

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I have found two more fake bugs... both with the round brass tags... these two were both dropped into the Travelbug Graveyard and then were found as fakes in Pennsylvania. One of these was placed back in the graveyard. I would like to get all these fake tags sent to me. So that I can start making notes on the bug pages that they are pirates.

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Gargoyle

+Gargoyle

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Its not costing the pirate any money... it is someone in PA (probably) and they are just punching the numbers of inactive travelbugs on tags... sticking them on junky little toys... and dropping them in area caches...

 

I have found three more... still coming out of the sae part of PA...

 

If a person has the tags... which ar quite cheap... and the tools for punching the numbers... then there would only be a tiny cost. The person doing this may also think that he (or she) is doing a good deed but in the case of a few of these bugs... it is creating a problem... (e.g. The Peace Pole TB). The pirate bug is with a cacher in NJ and the oringal was just placed in a cache in Northern California.

 

Im sorry that I seem to be the only person concerned about this.

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geographer-pam

+geographer-pam

Posted
Posted
Im sorry that I seem to be the only person concerned about this.

Well, I don't know enough yet to be "concerned" but I am following this thread with interest to see what happens. It seems pretty sad that people would do this but I'm just not sure how BAD it is yet - like I said, I'm just too new to know whether or not to be worried! <_< I think though if it is of concern to you, then I would pursue it...it obviously sounds not-normal and that is always a bad thing, in my book.

 

I just didn't want you to think no one else was watching the thread!

 

pam :blink:

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Gargoyle

+Gargoyle

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Thanks... here is what I posted in my SEPAG forum... and this is what I really think...

 

"There are more pirate travelbugs being found in PA... what seems to be happening... are that travelbugs either end up in the Travelbug Graveyard or go missing from caches around the country... In some cases some of these bugs have had pictures taken of them showing tracking numbers. I get the idea that whomever is making these pirate tags are doing it with good intentions and not realizing that they are actually STEALING in some cases and messing up bug reports for the bugs that aren't actually missing. In a way it is interesting but permission should be acquired before resurrecting these bugs."

 

So far there are about 15 or so of these fakes... when it involves the bug that have gone missing then I guess its not so bad... but some of these pirates ARE effecting some of the bugs that actually aren't missing.

 

And personally... if one of my bugs goes missing I do all I can to confirm that it is gone. When I know that it is gone I will release the copy tag. If that copy tag went missing then I would either accept the fact that the bug is gone or I would create a new bug for it myself... I wouldn't want someone else doing it without asking.

 

And if the person is no longer an active cacher then it would be a natural process that his or her bug eventually would go missing forever... and it should be left that way... at least that is my opinion.

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BlueDeuce

+BlueDeuce

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Im sorry that I seem to be the only person concerned about this.

Well you're not.

 

This does cause confusion and while it may SEEM harmless and even helpful, I consider it bordering on theft.

 

The real question is can gc.com do anything about it or do they want to.

 

And the bug owner has a say as well.

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Gargoyle

+Gargoyle

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Well I found something interesting... there is a cacher known as "Herbert West" who was active between April 18th and May 29th. He made posts on a few travelbug pages that he was removing travelbugs from the travelbug graveyard for an experiment. 2 or 3 of the bugs he posted on were/are pirates. He is from california but actually did visit central PA not too long before the fake bugs were found. If you look at his "found cache" list you can see that he took credit for a find in central PA.

 

For those of you who dont know... HP Lovecraft wrote a book entitled "Herbert West - Reanimator". One of the bugs that the cacher "reanimated" was "Sweetwater Troll".

 

http://www.geocaching.com/track/details.aspx?id=736

 

Please take note...

 

4/16/2004 Sun Flower placed it in Travel Bug Graveyard

 

5/15/2004 Herbert West grabbed it

 

5/15/2004 Herbert West placed it in Brown Bag Bug Swap

 

Also note that the bugpage photo of the Sweetwater Troll CLEARLY shows the TB tracking number. Seems to me since it is only placed in the graveyard... that that tracking number will easily take it out.

Edited by Gargoyle!
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geographer-pam

+geographer-pam

Posted
Posted
Seems to me since it is only placed in the graveyard... that that tracking number will easily take it out.

Hmmm...someone posted yesterday or the day before that it would be so nice to "officially deactivate" a TB once it has accomplished its goal or become lost forever. This now seems like an even better idea now that this has come up - maybe there SHOULD be an option to deactivate it and only the TB owner could bring it back - then these "TB # thieves" wouldn't be able to use it. And then if the lost TB DID come back to life, the finder could email the owner, the owner could reactivate it, and it could go back on...

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fly46

+fly46

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Well, I don't like the idea of it. We set out our bugs with the hope that they may or may not be okay.. If they're not, they're not. And it's not horribly uncommon for missing bugs to show back up somewhere along the line.

 

I'd be irked if someone did that to one of mine, and I'll certainly keep my eyes open for some of those.

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Gargoyle

+Gargoyle

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Well... I will have a couple of travelbugs that are going missing for the second time... I may either revive them WITH MY OWN TAGS SINCE THEY ARE MY BUGS or I will report them missing and just let them go. One thing is for sure... I will not place them in the Travelbug Graveyard and I will make sure that I have not taken and pictures showing the TB numbers.

 

I think a deactivation button (down below the "Mark Bug Missing" button) would be most helpful... thats a good idea!

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Gargoyle

+Gargoyle

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Im sorry to doublepost here... I know that it bothers some people... but I have another person to add to this conspiracy... As I was checking on some other possible fakes I found more references to Sun Flower placing travelbugs in the TB Graveyard... It started to bother me because these bug were not found by her nor owned by her.

 

Here is a thought on what she was up to... I say she... I actually think that she was a he and that he was also Herbert West... but more about that in a second... So here is an idea of what Sun Flower was up to... She would look around for travelbugs that have been inactive for some time... she would then check the bug pages for pictures that showed the TB tracking number. She would then take it upon herself to send that travelbug to the TB Graveyard. At this point Herbert West would revive the travelbug from the graveyard also using the tracking number from the photograph and then place the bug in a cache. Then in one instance... Sun Flower would then retrieve that bug and place it in a cache, actually, an event, in Central PA.

 

Another interesting thing about Sun Flower, she had only been a cacher for a short period of time... her last time online was May 29th... which was also the last time Herbert West was online. I have taken screen shots to prove that fact... incase the REAL person behind these to cachers decides to log them in to just to further muddy up the truth.

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The Bridge Bandits

+The Bridge Bandits

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I seem to have been a victim of this person's handy work. One of my TB's has not moved since it was removed from a cache in Ireland last year, zero miles logged.

An un-logged counterfeit of my bug turned up in a cache in up-state NY. The Geocacher notified me of his find, but was unaware that it was not the real TB I released. After some e-mails and a photo we agreed to disposed of the Counterfeit Bug and post the real Bug as MIA.

 

I have now received an e-mail from the person who originally found the Bug, that it remains in his possession and he will be dropping it off soon? (what's his hurry?, he only has it a year).

 

There are two accounts watching this Bug, one of these I assume is the first finder, and the other I belive is the Counterfeiter looking to see if their handy work is moving around, causing problems or otherwise just been a nuisance. I suppose one way or another, this is just "another hazard" of the game?

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Midway Cafe

+Midway Cafe

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Posted
There are two accounts watching this Bug, one of these I assume is the first finder, and the other I belive is the Counterfeiter looking to see if their handy work is moving around, causing problems or otherwise just been a nuisance. I suppose one way or another, this is just "another hazard" of the game?

Very interesting indeed. You may wish to report this to TPTB, they are sure to be able to root out the ID of the people watching your Travel Bug as well as any others that they may have on their watch list. It could help nip this before it gets out of hand.

 

MC

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