Member Safety

[Yin717]

Now I know you hear this all the time and that I ain't the best explainer but I must tell you people this. Although you may feel safe you never our. You must remember that guests can read everything we post as well. People I am urging you to be careful with what tyou post. There are people out there who will do damage to you and your life. Now you may feel that it might be alright to post something as it'll get dleted. So what. What if a moderator dosen't come on for ages? The biggest other worry is PM. You can talk about anything and this is where people give away their information. Although you have free will to do so this dosen't mean your safe. What if the person on the other end isn't who they say their are? This world is have cyber crime increase rapidly and I don't want it to happen to you. So people please be more careful about what post. If you feel worried that somebody is trying to get to much information talk to an Admin. If you want to talk to somebody about internet sfaety more talk to me, a mod or an Admin. Together we can stop this. If any mods or admins want to add any info please do.

Cheers
Yin717

[clarky241]

Spot on Yin, well done

[Yin717]

That's only a brief view. The admins and mods can be much more detailed.

[Mud Master]

Still That Gives Out The Point Clearly

[Yin717]

I thought I had done it badly. I'm glad I am getting the point across.

[clarky241]

Well the more basic it is, the easier it is to understand

[Yin717]

I guess so. So remember guys. Be careful on the web.

[jenjen94]

Yeah, Yin has a good point. Another growing problem is also cyber bullying, be careful what you post when talking to other people and try to be nice. I saw a column in the paper where a person killed themself because they were being bullied.

And thanks Yin for posting this :) Its good for unaware members.

[clarky241]

Of course, everyone should know most of it by now

[Yin717]

But you'll be surprised how much people ignore it. They did this test on people once and over 50% gave away their personal details and their bank details and stuff to people they thought they were getting out of Africa. Of course it was scam and at least 25% of those people didn't understand what they had done! it's an increasing and dangerous problem and the goverment can't do anything. It's your details you need to keep them safe. The goverment may be able to track some people down and block some things and stuff however in the end your the one who's giving out the details not the goverment.

[clarky241]

Well that just shows how ignorant people can be

[danny boi]

i think i can look after myself and am clever enough to not tell anyone online where i live exactly

[clarky241]

Still, it's important to put the message across to less experienced users

[Yin717]

i think i can look after myself and am clever enough to not tell anyone online where i live exactly

That's what you think but you really don't know what these people are like. There have been many stories of kids being killed because they gave out there information. You may think your safe. But trust me. Your not.

[Cheetah]

Very good reminder, even for those who feel they are already being safe.

Here is an example of how one person was able to find a kid just from posts on a site like this (a forum).

* The kid signed up to the site

* Included the state she lived in on her profile

* Her introduction thread included her first name (let's say it was Samatha)

* A few days later she was responding to a thread about school and she included her schools name (let's say Washington Jr. High)

* The same day she responded to a thread about school sports and mentioned that her school mascot was a beaver.

* A day or two later she posted a picture of herself in a thread where other members where sharing their pictures.

* Later she posted about her school band and that she played the trumpet and they were asked to play at the state capital next week, she was very excited about that.

* The following week she spoke about her older sister who was a grade above her in school, the 8th grade, and how she was upset because her sister always acted like a jerk to her.

* After about a month on site she was feeling pretty comfortable with the members and her participation. She had started a thread asking members how they felt about their teachers. She had a favorite teacher, whom she named (let's say Ms. Turner) who she felt was nice to her and her friends.

* During this time she had become rather friendly with one of the new members, they added each other to their friends list and often PMed back and forth. He had said he was a 7th grader in Minnesota but had visited Washington once and asked what City she lived in. She told him, not thinking anything of it, after all they were friends, right?

About two weeks later, Samatha was found killed after being sexually assaulted.

She had given her killer the city, state, name of her school, the knowledge that she often stayed after school (band practice), he knew who her favorite teacher was - by name - and had even spoken to her telling the teacher he was her uncle and how much Samatha enjoyed her classes. He said he was picking her up after school and had a stuffed toy to present to her (a beaver) to congratulate her on her success at the State Capital. The teacher felt he was a very nice man and directed him toward band practice, and he waited outside for her (he had her picture so could easily pick her out from the other band members leaving school).



So you see .. you may think you are always being safe ... and you may feel we (staff at CM) are picking on you at times, but our rule of keeping private and personal information to yourself and not posting it has a very good reason behind it ..... we care about you and your safety!

[Mud Master]

Wow That's Telling Everyone
Good Job Cheetah ;o

[Kisuke]

Very good reminder, even for those who feel they are already being safe.

Here is an example of how one person was able to find a kid just from posts on a site like this (a forum).

* The kid signed up to the site

* Included the state she lived in on her profile

* Her introduction thread included her first name (let's say it was Samatha)

* A few days later she was responding to a thread about school and she included her schools name (let's say Washington Jr. High)

* The same day she responded to a thread about school sports and mentioned that her school mascot was a beaver.

* A day or two later she posted a picture of herself in a thread where other members where sharing their pictures.

* Later she posted about her school band and that she played the trumpet and they were asked to play at the state capital next week, she was very excited about that.

* The following week she spoke about her older sister who was a grade above her in school, the 8th grade, and how she was upset because her sister always acted like a jerk to her.

* After about a month on site she was feeling pretty comfortable with the members and her participation. She had started a thread asking members how they felt about their teachers. She had a favorite teacher, whom she named (let's say Ms. Turner) who she felt was nice to her and her friends.

* During this time she had become rather friendly with one of the new members, they added each other to their friends list and often PMed back and forth. He had said he was a 7th grader in Minnesota but had visited Washington once and asked what City she lived in. She told him, not thinking anything of it, after all they were friends, right?

About two weeks later, Samatha was found killed after being sexually assaulted.

She had given her killer the city, state, name of her school, the knowledge that she often stayed after school (band practice), he knew who her favorite teacher was - by name - and had even spoken to her telling the teacher he was her uncle and how much Samatha enjoyed her classes. He said he was picking her up after school and had a stuffed toy to present to her (a beaver) to congratulate her on her success at the State Capital. The teacher felt he was a very nice man and directed him toward band practice, and he waited outside for her (he had her picture so could easily pick her out from the other band members leaving school).



So you see .. you may think you are always being safe ... and you may feel we (staff at CM) are picking on you at times, but our rule of keeping private and personal information to yourself and not posting it has a very good reason behind it ..... we care about you and your safety!




*Applause*

Prime example. If you want to give out a little info to who you are, BE AS VAGUE AS POSSIBLE! meaning do not be descriptive just the general details, lets say, I live in California, My name is John, I go to a Technical Design Academy, I'm 15. Easy enough? you give info out but not enough to ID you, and you should never post your picture anywhere!

PS: Those aren't my real details :p

[clarky241]

Even easier, just don't say anything

[Lukario]

If that's the case, then my name isn't William and I DO NOT live in Los Angeles, CA.

But seriously, cyber stalking, or whatever you want to call it, is serious business. Believe it or not, the scenario Cheetah described happens all the time. The worst part is, it happens to adults, too. Say the adult goes on a dating site, finds someone she's interested in, they hook up, and then choose to meet. The guy wants to go somewhere secluded so they can have some time alone to look at the sky. Next day she's missing, and there's nothing they can do to trace back to whoever she met up with, because he used false details, a fake picture, and a proxy to browse the site.

Prudence is the best way to repel possible predators, Don't personally chat with people you do not know, and do not give out details past your location and non-indentifyable (such as favorite game and such). Never post your real picture unless you don't really care who sees it, or you are responsible enough not to talk to anyone who may ask about it.

Thanks,
Lukario

[Yin717]

Cheetah is totally right and guys this is all serious buissness! In Britain they even put up adverts telling kids to be careful! This is erious stuff! Thankfully I don't know anyone who has suffered this stuff because there well secret but the best thing to do is to say nothing. And trust me. Cheetah metnioned the sexual assualt. You may think your a child and wont be sexually assualted. I can tell you that alot of teenage girls who were murdered were likely to of been sexually assualted by either a raper or a pedifile (however you spell it). Please people. Take more care. The moderators are here to help you out with your personal safety whenever you need them. There not just there to delete stuff and keep you on topic, there here to help you. Use them!