I was online on Friday to see that the word’s out on another faker (a rare occurrence here)..... Now that I've had a day or two to quell my rage, this is what I think. I am glad he’s been run out of town. I feel empathy for those members who were drawn in by “notthe7.fan” (particularly the girl herself) and the guy whose photos were stolen (which were posted to another site). I want to apologise in person, but then what the fuck does that achieve? The damage is done, and he’s disappeared into the ether. Never to be ‘seen’ or heard from again. No, troglodytes like him, whoever he is, should be left to fulfil their perversities in the hope that they get caught up with at a later stage.
It’s creepy that a person could be so obsessed to want to masquerade as, and as such live vicariously through, another. I have been trying to work out (I’m a consultant criminologist) what kind of person would a) spawn the username of another to endow his own and then b) steal the intellectual property of other members? There is no mitigation in the fact that the stolen materials were posted to another site. If anything, it is more unsettling. It also raises a question that doesn't warrant answering.
Anyway, I’ll get off my soapbox now. The flipside of all of this is that it serves as a timely reminder to all of us to be vigilant. Post verified photos (and as an after-thought, reap the benefits), don’t be too eager to trust, and remember that if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.
I did note at one point, he was using an avatar modelled on a character from the Japanese anime series, Death Note, which is based around a shinigami – a god of death / Grim Reaper-type character – who loses the book in which he writes the names of the people to die. Is it just me, or is there something ironic about that?
To his ‘victims’ (a strong word, I know, but not inappropriate) be thankful that you’re walking away with bruised egos. My burning by a charlatan took months and $$$$ to clear up.
It’s creepy that a person could be so obsessed to want to masquerade as, and as such live vicariously through, another. I have been trying to work out (I’m a consultant criminologist) what kind of person would a) spawn the username of another to endow his own and then b) steal the intellectual property of other members? There is no mitigation in the fact that the stolen materials were posted to another site. If anything, it is more unsettling. It also raises a question that doesn't warrant answering.
Anyway, I’ll get off my soapbox now. The flipside of all of this is that it serves as a timely reminder to all of us to be vigilant. Post verified photos (and as an after-thought, reap the benefits), don’t be too eager to trust, and remember that if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.
I did note at one point, he was using an avatar modelled on a character from the Japanese anime series, Death Note, which is based around a shinigami – a god of death / Grim Reaper-type character – who loses the book in which he writes the names of the people to die. Is it just me, or is there something ironic about that?
To his ‘victims’ (a strong word, I know, but not inappropriate) be thankful that you’re walking away with bruised egos. My burning by a charlatan took months and $$$$ to clear up.