Online Imposters: How Would You Identify Them?

by Scully 102 Replies latest members adult

• 

  ozziepost

  Scully,

  Good points and very interesting info given on the Munchausen by Internet.

  I know well what you call of past experiences on JWD. What happened there were several posting identities all run by one person i.e. he had several identities, all of them participating on the board, lives full of dramatic episodes, gaining much sympathy from good-hearted members of JWD. The truth is that we are so used to the assaults of the Borg, that we are ready to offer support to others who have also suffered. Therein we can become gullible.

  You ask what to 'look for' and I'd answer by giving a hypothetical example:

  Both Mrrs Ozzie and I are registered posters on JWD. Mrs Ozzie has not posted for a long time but many will have noticed that I often speak of her. The question is, Does she exist? Is she a 'real' person or is she simply a figment of my imaginative posting?

  I choose to remain fairly anonymous and so I never post a photo likeness of myself, nor of Mrs Ozzie. So, are we frauds? Could be.

  Of course, many here do know us in real life and many here know more of our personal lives and know what we look like.

  Still, there's a possibility that I could have concocted these identities long ago. I would think though that it would be too difficult to maintain.

  The Munchaussen by Internet you mention lists things such as this:

  Under the guise of illness, they can also join multiple groups simultaneously. Using different names and accounts, they can even sign on to one group as a stricken patient, his frantic mother, and his distraught son all to make the ruse utterly convincing.

  With this inevitably comes 'crunch time' as we found in a previous experience on JWD i.e.how are such episodes resolved? The story comes to an impossible point when the fraudster is simply unable to write the story any further.

  The clues to detection are interesting (we've seen it before!) particularly this:

  there are continual dramatic events in the person's life, especially when other group members have become the focus of attention;

  and

  others apparently posting on behalf of the individual (e.g., family members, friends) have identical patterns of writing

  In short, regrettably perhaps, it's a case of "let the buyer beware" as far as internet relationships are concerned.

  Be absolutely sure that your friend is who they say they are before you divulge personal information.

  A photos certainly helps. If its like Mrs Ozzie and I, then get a photo of the pair of us together.
• 

  Mary

  I've always been leary of getting too close or friendly with those I 'meet' on the Net. Those Nigerians scammers are easy as hell to pick out though. I get their stupid emails at work and generally respond with a "GET LOST YOU MAGGOT".

  Occassionally, I'll receive a PM from someone on here that I don't know. In that case, I'll check their posting history. I got one last week from someone wanting to "get to know me". I checked their posting history and it came up blank. No posts, no threads. Not even one. So guess what they got? No reply.

  As for the Munchausen syndrome, hell I knew several people at the Hall like that. One of them a former close friend whose wedding party I was in years ago. In order to get attention, she would 'slit her wrists' although she never drew blood or actually did any serious harm. She'd then go to the Psych Ward for a 'vacation'. Whenever she and her husband would argue, she'd pull this crap so I stopped hanging around her. I have little use for anyone who exagerates their mental or physical illnesses in order to 'get attention.'

  One thing that concerns me is when people on-line ask elderly people for money for this, that or the other. That just pisses me off to no end. If anyone ever asked me for money on-line, that's a red-flag and there's no chance at all they'd get one penny out of me. I'm just very suspicious of anything like that.
• 

  Scully

  funkyderek:

  Wow. All I can say about that link you posted is "WOW". Thanks for posting it - I've added it to my collection of favorites.

  I'd heard about things like this happening, usually from places like the Dr Phil show or some other talk show rife with sordid tales of woe and such, and I did see something very similar happening once in a chatroom on AO-Hell (not a pretty thing to watch, I assure you).

  Some of the more notable characters on JWD who have been found out doing this kind of thing have been

  • caspian
  • Danni
  • Dutchie

  All really really super nice folks. Just big time fakes. When they were found out, or exposed themselves as hoaxsters as Danni did, they up and left and were never heard from again.
• 

  purplesofa

  Happy Harvester~~~

  purps
• 

  Scully

  Here's another question that I'd like your input on:

  In the rare event that a hoaxster / imposter / fraudster is found out here on JWD,

  1. would you want to know about it?
  2. would you want an opportunity to confront the individual(s) yourself?
  3. how would you think it would be best to expose the individual(s)?
• 

  Finally-Free

  In the rare event that a hoaxster / imposter / fraudster is found out here on JWD,

  1. would you want to know about it? Yes
  2. would you want an opportunity to confront the individual(s) yourself? Yes
  3. how would you think it would be best to expose the individual(s)? Post the imposter's picture so we can all have fun photoshopping it.

  W
• 

  Insomniac

  Everyone, I really need to say something here. Please hear me out.

  Regarding another matter, in a couple of different threads, I made two statements about another poster which seemed to be contradictory. Never mind the other person's name, as it's a topic we've all covered pretty comprehensively and I'd just as soon not belabour it anymore. Anyway, I wrote that he and I are fairly well known apostates. Elsewhere, I wrote that local witnesses seem not to have heard of him. To clarify, we are both fairly well-known in the apostate community- our fellow apostates. However, I was telling the truth when I said that in our locale, witnesses I know claim not to have heard of him.

  I failed to make myself clear. Another poster, seeing what loked like a lie, cut and pasted my comments from the different threads to point this out to others. While it's better to handle such matters privately until we're sure of the facts, I truly think this person was only trying to do the right thing, and preserve the integrity of our discussion board. I will try to be more clear in the future to keep mixups like this from happening again. For that's what it was, a mixup between two well-intentioned individuals.

  I love this board,and consider many of you here to be my friends. The past couple of days have been very tense around here. Can we please put bad feelings behind us and go back to being friendly to one another? That'd really make me happy.
• 

  restrangled

  Scully,

  Its ironic that you brought this subject up. There is someone I want to start a thread for and am waiting for their permission.

  They are fairly new but I feel they have been a tremendous help to others and JWD members have posted just that.

  The people my husband and I have helped in the past on this board have been legitamite and it does the heart good to contribute when able. I am also a firm believer in the old saying "What goes around, comes around"

  I think true colors eventually show through and everyone has to be careful.

  If someone was discovered to be a fraud, I would certainly want to know and it be posted on the forum for all to be aware.

  r.
• 

  nvrgnbk

  Thanks for that explanation, Insomniac.

  The perceived disparity was sure to make me a fellow insomniac.

  LOL!
• 

  Namaste

  In the rare event that a hoaxster / imposter / fraudster is found out here on JWD,

  1. would you want to know about it?
  2. would you want an opportunity to confront the individual(s) yourself?
  3. how would you think it would be best to expose the individual(s)?

  I'm still new here, but not new to message boards. I generally give people the benefit of the doubt online unless something raises a big hairy flag with me. I met my husband online 12 years ago and we were completely honest with each other so I started off with a good experience.

  I've met local people online that I have formed friendships with that have then become in person friendships. I think I've been lucky so far.

  I participate in a large message board that I feel has been damaged quite a bit by the "imposters" and the subsequent hunt for them and outing of them. The drama that they created was damaging to to the community in terms of people losing trust, feeling like they were cheated out of money, and taken advantage of in terms of support and friendship.

  Once that all occured, then came the ongoing "hunt for trolls" with everyone newbie viewed with suspicion until they proved themselves. People new to the board were coming in very vulnerable and asking questions and getting pounded on by the "veterns". The oldtimers would dissect their posts looking for any inconsistencies and call them out in public. It's gotten so bad that they are several "sub-boards" where people go off and form their own community to talk about people and what is happening on the main message board. ?!?!?!?!

  Having been through and currently going through that experience, it is a little difficult to answer your questions.

  1. Yes I would want to know. Help save the time and efforts of other people that may be taken in by the imposter.

  2. If I was dealing with the imposter on a 1-on-1 basis, I would confront/communicate with them off the board. Or....on one board I'm on, they use a seperate forum for people to call each other out so that it is not in the general chat. I haven't needed to participate but I've seen it be effective for resolving differences or if the person truly doesn't belong there...they leave and/or are banned.

  3. Exposing, in my mind, is the tough part. How is it done without creating a lot of chaos? Nothing worse than having a known imposter on the board and having 10 people follow that person around posting after them, attempting to call them out and being general jerks about the whole thing. I think that causes more harm than good. I lean towards the one thread, let's get this settled with this poster deal and hopefully that keeps the calling out confined to one thread and can be used as a reference in the future if needed.