Hi Everybody,

We usually deal with these situations behind the scenes, but this is a case where we feel you need to be warned. There is an Internet troll who has been caught here and banned several times over the years for using the MS facilities to engage in online predatory behavior. This user was apprehended this morning attempting to engage users in his inappropriate behaviors. We have specific information on his activities under these screen names:

charlottesfellow
CharlotteJock8
chaspolojock
Good Fellow
fellow
polofellow
Theophilus
collegejock

Other aliases used by this person are:

adana
charlottejock
chasfellowjock
fellowjock
goodfella
jockfellow
nsnssn

All of these accounts have been permanently banned at one time or another. Please watch out for any user names which seem similar to these. If you see something that strikes you as suspicious please report it to a moderator immediately so we can deal with the situation.

Please bear in mind also that any attempt to hook up with you or take you off-site in a sexual context can never be meant with your own interests and healing at heart. Anyone who does this to you is simply trying to exploit, deceive and manipulate you all over again, and the impact on a struggling survivor can be very serious. This is one of the main reasons why we urge you to refrain from giving or asking for off-site contact details until you have been here at least three months and are getting to know and trust people.

Do be careful, as always when you are online, but at the same time please don't take this advisory as cause for alarm. These cases are few and far between and the ModTeam is experienced in dealing with them. If you have any questions please let us know.

John
For the Mod/Admin team

john, i'm very glad you made this topic sticky. it still boggles my mind from a moderators perspective, how many people just give out their personal info to total strangers simply because someone cozies up to them, makes them feel warm, and acts like their long lost 'friend'. how many of us are so starved for intimacy, that these overtures are sorely welcome?

i reiterate what john said. if anyone approaches you in chat THE FIRST THING YOU SHOULD DO is check their profile! look at their registration date, and see what kind of posts they are making. if there are no posts, then chances are you are taking a BIG risk in sharing your private info with them. How do you know who or what you are getting yourself into? How can these types of offers bring you closer to recovery? it is NOT necessary to meet these strangers off site. our chat module is open 24/7. think about it!

and to reiterate what the guidelines say, it is in your best interest to wait at least three months before exchanging any type of personal info BASED ON THEIR ON-SITE COMMUNICATIONS.

please play it safe, love yourself responsibly. to borrow a phrase, heal well.

ron

Sounds scary enough. I don't see why they just don't leave us alone. I think this is horrible I feel scared enough sharing. I think people like that shoud be locked away for life. I personally wouldn't trust a "survivor" on here with the refference of "jock" to carry a conversation with it just sounds like a personal ad' username. I hope other people think this way to.

Jason,

That is true for me as well. I don't mind guys who are athletic and human. It's the ones that think they're all that and want the world to know it that bug the hell outa me.

There are certain things that just tip a person off that something might be amiss with various users, names containing "jock" being one for many here. A big key to safety on this site is learning how to use care when interacting. You're safe here no matter what unless you give away personally identifiable information about yourself, something we discourage big time and with good reason. Everyone's safety is the first priority.

This site is designed for users to be able to share the things that hurt the most, to speak the unspeakable, to find brothers here who know and understand, and it can be done in total anonymity and safety when users are careful about the kind of information the are willing to give out.

Hi my brothers.

Thanks for protecting us.

For the most part, i feel safe here as this is my home.

Thanks again, John from the "Mod Squad".

Heal well my brothers/friends. Heal well.

"I will take that lost boys hand, I will lead him from the depths of darkness, into the sunlight forever into eternity".

Little Pete & big Pete..but 1 (Irishmoose).

I just want to add my own thanks. Other sites for survivors experience similar situations, no matter how "safe" they like to call their communities. Just goes to show how sick people will go out of their way to get their kicks.

I'm still sorta new here, but even after years of being a member I don't think I could give out personal contact info...even if I feel I can trust someone. It just isn't necessary.

Thanks again for watching over us, not that I would want to hook up with a dude anyway.

Hi, Guys - Mods.

I appreciate coming here knowing I am safe. I did NOT have the same experience at another site. I as very vulnerable at that time.

I use the name DJsport because they are my nicknames. I have been called DJ for 12yrs. My nickname as a kid was "sport". I never associated the word sport with something negative or in an attitude of I am all that.

I have been in chat in the treehouse with a stranger as a friendly ear but, NOTHING more although I could see how my name and then coming into the treehouse would be a cause for heightened concern. One could check out my posts and know I am real and only here for healing.

Thanks for being so deligent.

As long as there are victims there will be perps.

Thanks,
DJ

You'd think that they would at least leave us 1 last place to be free. But the people who are capable of the things they did obviously don't have the common decency to do so.

I'm new here, I just came from a yahoo groups e-mail thing for survivors. It was going great, but one guy kept e-mailing me personally (I made the mistake of adding my e-mail to my post, it usually is all pretty anonymous, you send to host, host sends to all, to keep us safe).

I thought it was okay, but skipping to the end one day he asked if I had a photo of what I looked like when I was young... He said he would trade it for photos of him when he was young. I know it sounds innocent, but he was even adamant about it not being pictures of when I was a teenager but when "all the stuff happened".

I was horrified, changed my e-mail, and never went back there again.

Thank you guys for working hard to keep this place safe.