Scammer Alert

[Rapscallion]

Hi all

Of late, we've come under the cosh of a protracted attempt to slur the name of CS.com.

Details will have to be scarce for legal reasons, but suffice it to say that we have logs to defend our name should it become required.

The short version of events is that an attempt to request fiscal assistance from the membership was made against our rules, and after some explanation the attempts to garner assistance was brought within what we consider acceptable boundaries.

Various attempts were made by said person to portray us in a poor light elsewhere, each mention of this being a rather skillfull attempt to have us cast as the bad guys and to add in requests for assistance. We ignored that.

The rules that had been clearly explained were violated once more by extra links to donation-request pages, and we enacted a temporary ban. After seeing this person's comments reacting to this elsewhere, I enacted a permanent ban. There was blatant and malicious misrepresentation of the facts of the matter at that point in order to garner sympathy, each one accompanied by requests for more financial aid.

Whilst I have every sympathy with the person for the problems they claim to be suffering, I do know that their claims about us in this matter are false.

If you feel like commenting, please do not mention any names of those you suspect to be involved.

This is the court of public opinion and we're likely to come out second best, but I really don't care any more. I've had enough with this person.

Rapscallion

[Ree]

Just as an FYI to the members, moderators can and do share PM's with each other when a message is sent in a moderator capacity. That is NOT a violation of privacy.

I don't know about other mods, but I do save most of my PM's so that I have something to refer back to.
If a person is going to make a claim about something that happened via PM, then they better darn well get the facts right and not embellish, because there is usually a copy somewhere of what actually went down.

[fireheart]

I think I know who you are referring to. (after reading the post and doing some Googling, I was able to put two and two together and came up with )

I doubt you folks will come out second best. You have a strong following. While the internet might rule against you, I think it might actually have the opposite effect to what the member's intentions might be. If anything, you might bring some MORE people from that area who are curious.
(I just checked the pages I googled: only a few comments from chronic followers on said pages).

[Pimento]

I just hope said problems were legit since I know some people are very generous and have probably donated.

[fireheart]

I just hope said problems were legit since I know some people are very generous and have probably donated.

If it's who I think it is, unless the images on said person's pages are stock images from the net (is there a way to find this out?) they're genuine.

[iradney]

Whether their cause was genuine or not is not the issue. But the fact that they have chosen to deliberately misrepresent the site and blatantly lie about what was said and done, is the issue.

Unfortunately, due to people like that, I do not donate anything to people I do not know. Donations go to established foundations that have a proven track record and I know where my money is going.

[ArcticChicken]

stock images from the net (is there a way to find this out?)

As a point of information, it is possible to search with an image. Open google images, and just click and drag the image you want to search into the search bar.

[Ree]

I have no doubt the person is legitimate, and I do feel quite badly for them.
That's why we were a little more flexible in allowing the solicitation of money from the members, even though we have had a clear policy for ages about that kind of thing, and that's why I was so understanding and sympathetic in my messages to this person.

That's what upsets me.
So many concessions were made, and all we asked was that they stay within the rules that we ask all of our members to follow, but they played fast and loose repeatedly when it came to posting links to their begging pages.

Time and again, messages were sent explaining our policies and asking for cooperation.

When the final straw was laid on, and a temp ban was issued, this person spread the most vile lies about me in particular, and posted what was allegedly a quote of my words, but they were rather badly twisted and paraphrased so that it looked like I had said something else entirely. They attacked the site and the management.

I posted a rebuttal with direct quotes of all that had passed between us, and it was removed. The site was again being publicly trashed, so the ban was made permanent.
Now, the site is being trashed and maligned even more, and libellous comments are being made about me.

If a person could lie so easily about something so small as what was told to them by site moderators, then I really have to question the legitimacy of the stories posted, and just how financially desperate a person claims to be.

[fireheart]

If a person could lie so easily about something so small as what was told to them by site moderators, then I really have to question the legitimacy of the stories posted, and just how financially desperate a person claims to be.

I won't go too far into this, but I am wondering if some of the claims made were half-truths. Which really, when you think about it, is the most hurtful of all.

(no I did not donate anything except my knowledge )

I had another look on the pages that I think relate to the matter at hand. There are very few followers. While I am aware of the snowball effect, I followed up on a few of the followers. They aren't spreading the word.

Also, just a thought: if this person went down the route of taking legal action, if they are in that deep trouble as they claim to be, where are they going to find the money or the time for a lawyer??? (Legal Aid generally handle certain cases and they also need evidence of the matter at hand)

[iradney]

They're welcome to try the legal route. Fact of the matter remains, we have proof and they have baseless accusations.

[Ree]

When the final straw was laid on, and a temp ban was issued, this person spread the most vile lies about me in particular, and posted what was allegedly a quote of my words, but they were rather badly twisted and paraphrased so that it looked like I had said something else entirely. They attacked the site and the management.

So, it was pointed out that saying:

So there's a site I visit daily, as I've done so for years, which is basically a forum setup where people can go to write up their personal stories of their recounts with horrible customers. I wont name the specific site, but let's just say cs.com

or

My one outlet. The cs.com site.

is not, technically naming the site, but it's pretty darn close, considering that the link to their page was actually posted here, and that's what started the mess.
Also, this is not technically identifying me

One person even went so far as to say <removing identifying details of situation, but, as mentioned it was supposed to be paraphrased comments I had made to them, but they were very badly twisted to put me in a bad light> I later found out that woman was a mod/admin on the site.

but, again, it's pretty darn close, considering that I had actually messaged the person with a slightly similar message, but with an entirely different meaning than what was ascribed to them.
Why wouldn't I post the actual message to clarify what I had truly said, since I knew to whom the comments were referring? Also, since the message to the member had my name with "Moderator" as my title, why was it only later that they found out I was a mod if they had been coming to the site daily for years?
See? Playing fast and loose with facts and truths.

[Ophbalance]

Just a suggestion? I had a feeling as to who this was, as the requests for help seemed to be the primary goal with a little bit of posting to make it seem legit. However, if you hadn't seen that over the last few month(s), you'd probably have a hard time guessing who this is. Searching for posts and seeing a deleted account seems to confirm it. I'd suggest maybe removing the references to the gender of this person in the comments on this post as it narrows things down a fair amount as to their identity.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Looks like somebody is about to live the second part of my sig.

[Ree]

I had a feeling as to who this was, as the requests for help seemed to be the primary goal with a little bit of posting to make it seem legit.

Well, to be fair and accurate, this was not a new member who joined simply to beg for money. They had been a member for a while. However, they had not posted on the site in well over a year, until this terrible personal situation arose for them.

What saddens me in this whole thing is that so many concessions were made for this person, and they would still be here, posting and having an outlet and community support. All they had to do was stick to the request to stop directly soliciting and link in their signature to the approved site request only.
Just a simple request that we would expect from all the other members of the site.

The whole thing is such a terrible mess.

I'm very sure this person doesn't need all the added stress.
That being said, when one is given a break and special concessions, then don't go crapping all over a place when it gets pointed out that you've overstepped.

[Ophbalance]

Well, to be fair and accurate, this was not a new member who joined simply to beg for money. They had been a member for a while. However, they had not posted on the site in well over a year, until this terrible personal situation arose for them.

Totally get that. And I empathize with the situation. My wife and I went through (the same) issues as well early on in our marriage
It just seemed... over the top, the postings for help. To me. I realize I've not been a member overly long, but I've been a long long (loooooooong) time lurker. If my memory isn't completely gone, this site had an incarnation in the late 90s that I used to visit. I had left retail at that point and just lost track of this site until the last year, maybe year and a half.