I deliberately lied to this guy - was I right in doing so?

[greensinestro]

I had a guy the other day who set up internet service. Part of the call was assisting with his username/e-mail address. After taking a few minutes to think, he wanted to have his username as "predator". I had to make up a quick lie on that, saying it was not available, but not actually telling him someone else had it. (Truth was, nobody had this username). After that was not available, he wanted "stalker" to be his username. Again, I told him it was not available for use, only telling him this is what the system said. He finally came up with one, "smokinjoe" or something like that.

It was a pretty uncomfortable call. It's possible this man was just an innocent person trying to have a tough sounding username, but with all that's happening in the world right now, I felt I was using good judgment. I also mentioned this to my supervisor, who was OK with it as well. What do others out there think?

[Boozy]

An actual internet predator or stalker wouldn't pick those usernames. This guy probably just thought those words sounded cool, and is unaware of internet culture and the nuances of those words on the web.

You saved him from some embarrassment with a thoughtful white lie. I think it was a courteous thing to do.

[greensinestro]

An actual internet predator or stalker wouldn't pick those usernames. This guy probably just thought those words sounded cool, and is unaware of internet culture and the nuances of those words on the web.

You saved him from some embarrassment with a thoughtful white lie. I think it was a courteous thing to do.

You could be right, but I still think I did the right thing. Even if this guy meant no harm, I'm sure he would not want his friends and family, let alone complete strangers wondering what he was thinking if he had either of those names.

[Boozy]

You could be right, but I still think I did the right thing.

Oh yes, I completely agree that you did the right thing. I apologize if that was unclear in my first post.

Like you said....he was probably harmless, but that username may have led people to believe otherwise.

[iradney]

Ayup. You did the right thing. Back when I was chatting alot, a male friend of mine had the nick "nawty". You have no idea how many guys tried to cyber him coz he had that nick. Rather funny, actually. "Predator" or "Stalker" are a little OTT, IMO...

[JustADude]

Closest I'd ever come to one of those names would be Yautja (big cookie for whoever gets that one).

I agree with everyone else. He sounds like he just wanted a cool handle and didn't think about what it would imply.

[Tigress]

This reminds me of a time I was chatting with a guy in the cesspools of IRC. His nick was harma_42. After a few whois queries, I saw that this guy was a regular in some of the more... intense S & M channels on the server. Then he started telling me, in graphic detail, all the things he wanted to do to me, including a very unhealthy obsession with physical abuse on "dangerous" women that he thought "deserved" it.

Lead me to believe that he picked the "harma" part on purpose as a pun for kharma. It was obvious that this guy had serious issues with women and thought that S & M was all about women enjoying being physically abused and degraded. I very rarely fear for my own personal safety when chatting with someone online, but I ended up killfiling this guy rather quickly.

Good call in the OP.

[angelicafire]

Closest I'd ever come to one of those names would be Yautja (big cookie for whoever gets that one).

Oh, I know, I know! Universal name for Predators, I believe. I haven't seen that movie, but my roommates have and talk about it a lot.

[NightAngel]

I don't know why but I'm going to guess he plays video games and these are character names. It was the first thing that popped in my head. I agree with Boozy- a real predator/stalker probably wouldn't outright proclaim it. They'd want something unassuming.

I think you did the right thing- definately.

[greensinestro]

Glad to see most people agree with me. Being that I had no idea who this man was and/or is, I felt it was better not contributing to this whatsoever. And, someone mentioned that internet predators and stalkers normally are not obvious, but I think a few of them can be. With "Dateline" and "Perverted Justice" working to expose these guys, there have been a few usernames (which I won't post here) that should have been red flags to the ISP's. With that said, this is why I used what I considered good judgment all around.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

I dunno, I'm firmly of the belief that if a guy is that much of a clueless yob, let him learn the hard way.

He want's "predator" or "stalker" as his handle? Fine. He'll learn.

I mean, no, of course I wouldn't let him walk around with toilet paper stuck to his shoe, or his pants unzipped, or whatever. But he's volunteering for this. Let idiots announce themselves, I always say. Helps the rest of us to identify them early on and before they cause trouble for us.

[Boozy]

But RK, you're just assuming that someone who wants the username "predator" is an idiot. He could just be someone who thinks its a cool-sounding name and is not familiar with the climate of the internet. There is a difference between stupidity and naivete.

Wandering into a chatroom with the username "predator" and not realizing that it may be construed as offensive/dangerous is the cyberspace equivalent of wandering back to your table at a restaurant trailing toilet paper from your shoe.
(If not worse.)

Of course, that argument is thrown to the wind if this guy really did know exactly what he was asking for. In which case, you'd be right. But personally, I like to give everyone the benefit of the doubt.

[Rapscallion]

Names like that are amusing for the moment for the person wanting to use them, but wait until they have to give them to their employers...

Rapscallion

[JustADude]

Oh, I know, I know! Universal name for Predators, I believe. I haven't seen that movie, but my roommates have and talk about it a lot.

Close enough.

[Kiwi]

An actual internet predator or stalker wouldn't pick those usernames.

That isnt true, I was stalked by a nutjob when I was 16 and he changed his online name to *insertmyname's_stalker*

It got so bad I had to have the police internet section come and examine my computer for evidence although no charges where laid. He made death threats and found out alot of personal information, he made me terrified for months.