Fake Profiles

I've noticed a few profiles with pictures and similar bios that have been known to try and "scam" people on other forums I'm on. I do not if it's same people, so I won't mention names.

It's stressed on the site everywhere not to give out personal information.

I also want you be aware (especially young teens) there are people that make up fake profiles, use fake pictures to "attract the eye", and come up with these terrible back stories to trick the vulnerable into "helping" them. It can include asking for money, wanting you to kill off people using spells (usually to make their reason for being on the site more legit. They may not post in the forums, but will target people individually. They may post every once in awhile to attract more attention to their profile. If someone messages you randomly and immediately start telling you these horrible problems such as being abused, tortured, or afraid someone is trying to kill them tell them to inform their parents or authority Asap.

Just be careful when talking online to people you don't know.

definitely not cool, thanks for the heads up

We cannot emphasis this enough. Do not give out personal details. Do not, under any circumstances, pay for spells, advice, or readings. Only send money if you are buying something from the SoM shop.

It angers me to see that people will do such things on a site such as SoM, which is dedicated to helping people on their spiritual journeys and practise sacred traditions which would otherwise be forgotten over generations.

They sre lucky it was you, if it was me, I would send them extremely harsh messages and then expose the names... if that is within site rules, that is...

Yes, always report any spam you find. We do see and delete a lot of spam. The problem is that they then create another account in a new fake profile. But they are easily spotted.

Face it...we all love our internet. It has been a great place to gain information on a wide variety of subjects. And it has let us meet other people of like mind from all over the world. It's fun. It's entertaining. It's educational.

And it can be deadly!

Police are finding that sex offenders are using the internet as a way of finding new victims. On another board that I post to it was just learned that someone considered a regular was sending e-mails to younger members trying to solicit sex from them. And here in Tennessee we just had a young teen raped and murdered by someone that she met through Myspace.com.

The fact of the matter is that you can't tell anything about the person on the other side of that screen other than what they want to let you know about them. Are they really what they say they are? Who knows. But it is important to remember that some of the people who come to boards like this are not looking for a Pagan community to contribute to, they are looking for young, impressionable individuals that they can hurt.

We've had someone on this board show up trying to get teens to send them their personal contact information and offering to teach them. And on another board I post to, someone tried much the same thing. Perhaps these people are on the level and truly want to help younger posters. But there is no way to know that for certain. That's why Mods on responsible boards such as this try to keep an eye out for potential dangers. We feel a certain responsibility to protect our members from danger or harm.

But the person who can do the best job of protecting you is you yourself. Never, ever give out personal information such as your real name and/or address to someone on the net. Be cautious in giving out your e-mail address...it can be traced to you. And be very careful about offering to meet with someone you meet on-line. Always remember that there are predators out there who prey on the unsuspecting.

I don't mean to scare anyone with this post, but a little fear is good...it will make you more careful. We don't want to see people getting hurt.

I really agree with Lark, a few days ago a friend of mine had the police at home because his eleven years old daugher happened to be in contact with a pedophile with a fake profile on the facebook that, luckily, was already being tracked down by the police.
The girl was intelligent enough not to give her telephon number to this person, but one of her friends did. I don't know what has happened next, but I suppose this person has been arrested.
Everyone should really be carefull when dealing with random strangers over the internet.

Yup. Thats the first thing everyone thinks of when they hear about that new app. The one that takes any foto and tells you where it was taken in the world. Thats one of the reasons preditors choose their victims. They have an image they cant get out of their head. Its good to be careful. ~god and godess, please protect the innocent from predators~

Great post, I agree. I've stickied this for now. I think it's something many people here should read.

it's hard to tell with some profiles. some people who have been kicked off the site will make a new account and use the same bio from their old account. plus they also will use the same profile picture from their old account.