Watch out for predators

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  • chris_in_cal
    chris_in_cal Posts: 2,853 Member
    Alatariel75 wrote: »
    Sooooo many scammers, pretty much every friend request I get it just another one.

    I guess one good thing about changes MFP has made, MFP "Friends" are now not really functional. We can remove all of our friends, never add any new ones, and this current MFP experience will be identical.

    Sad, but MFP "Friends" no longer adds anything for us users.

    Sorry to hear you getting targeted....I wonder if it is a bot, or a illegal company, rather than one individual person.
  • claireychn074
    claireychn074 Posts: 1,876 Member
    I got a weird one asking for pictures of my lats 😳🤣
  • anxietyfairy
    anxietyfairy Posts: 169 Member
    I think I got that exact message from someone, which is funny because I don't have any pictures of myself on this account.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 37,353 Community Helper
    megd44 wrote: »
    That is the BEST @Alatariel75 I accepted the first one without a thought then wow. Accepted a couple of others just to see and it is amazing what they come back at you with if you give a three word answer. They all seem to be American widowed men working in the middle east to improve the lives of their teenage daughters.

    IME, looking across various social network sites, there seem to tend to be a lot of military or retired military (generals, often but officers for sure), engineers, doctors. :D

    Couple of niche regular guy sex chat types on here, though . . . one seemed to want me to lift weights and send pics of it or something like that, and the other asked if I wanted "to wrestle". :D:D:D

    Catfishers and other scammers seem to be more smooth-typing and wordy (even though I suspect English isn't always the first language), the sex-chatters sometimes barely literate.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 37,353 Community Helper
    edited December 2024
    claireychn074 wrote: »
    I got a weird one asking for pictures of my lats 😳🤣

    @Claireyychn074: It wasn't me. ;):D
  • claireychn074
    claireychn074 Posts: 1,876 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    claireychn074 wrote: »
    I got a weird one asking for pictures of my lats 😳🤣

    @Claireyychn074: It wasn't me. ;):D

    🤣🤣
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 9,866 Member
    claireychn074 wrote: »
    I got a weird one asking for pictures of my lats 😳🤣

    Laughing so loud my husband just came from downstairs to investigate what’s so funny!
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 37,353 Community Helper
    SurferGirl1982 wrote: »
    Oh, I guess to report them, you can go to help and "Submit a Request"?

    Or email them at emailing support at support@myfitnesspal.com. Note that they may not tell you what they did, but in my experience they do take action, like I've seen the badly-behaved profile suddenly disappear, and I think they may also investigate what other nonsense the ID has gotten into, though I'm less certain of that.
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 19,169 Member
    SurferGirl1982 wrote: »
    @AnnPT77 Thanks! I came back to say that I haven't actually received messages from these people. But, I get a lot of friend requests (always from men). I even think the same man keeps coming up with a different user name. And, it usually says they joined MFP just a day or two before.

    Did you see my question about why discussions like this are never listed in "Recent Forum Topics"? It seems like it's almost always the same discussions. To me it gets a bit boring. I am using the web version. I have some issues with my eyesight and using my phone is a bit difficult.

    OH, I've noticed this - there was one the other day about removing the 'adding friends' stickies etc because having friends is now pointless without the feed, and it wasn't coming up in the recent list despite having new responses.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 37,353 Community Helper
    SurferGirl1982 wrote: »
    @AnnPT77 Thanks! I came back to say that I haven't actually received messages from these people. But, I get a lot of friend requests (always from men). I even think the same man keeps coming up with a different user name. And, it usually says they joined MFP just a day or two before.

    Did you see my question about why discussions like this are never listed in "Recent Forum Topics"? It seems like it's almost always the same discussions. To me it gets a bit boring. I am using the web version. I have some issues with my eyesight and using my phone is a bit difficult.

    I'm sorry. I saw your question, but I don't have any idea what the answer might be. I never use that. I skim the forum topic areas to see if any new posts interest me, and use the notifications bell icon to see what updates there have been on posts I already posted on, commented on or bookmarked.
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 9,866 Member
    SurferGirl1982 wrote: »
    I have a question...I use the web version and on the homepage, it lists "Recent Forum Topics". How come topics like this are not listed on the homepage. It seems like it's almost the same five forum topics daily. Hmmm?

    Do you have your search set to “category” or to “discussions”. Categories puts them order of type of post, like welcome, nutrition, getting started.

    Discussion lists them by most recent post. Some of the chit-chat posts get tons, so if it’s set that way, you may be getting the same few threads with a lot of “fluff”.

    Just a thought. I never use the web version so I don’t know if you can set your search type.
  • chris_in_cal
    chris_in_cal Posts: 2,853 Member
    SurferGirl1982 wrote: »
    I don't know how to block them

    This is a great point. Nearly all current social media platforms have 'muting' and 'blocking'

    For instance if some MFP user constantly is a 'reply guy' to nearly every post, a good social media platform would allow me to simply block them, and mute any replies.

    I don't want to be constantly pursued here by a user who comments on nearly everything I write. I know I can be chased away and just leave (and sometimes I do leave for awhile) but @SurferGirl1982 even better and making all of us more safe would just be a simple button that allowed me to mute another account.

    Nothing more onerous than just clicking a button.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 37,353 Community Helper
    chris_in_cal wrote: »
    SurferGirl1982 wrote: »
    I don't know how to block them

    This is a great point. Nearly all current social media platforms have 'muting' and 'blocking'

    For instance if some MFP user constantly is a 'reply guy' to nearly every post, a good social media platform would allow me to simply block them, and mute any replies.

    I don't want to be constantly pursued here by a user who comments on nearly everything I write. I know I can be chased away and just leave (and sometimes I do leave for awhile) but @SurferGirl1982 even better and making all of us more safe would just be a simple button that allowed me to mute another account.

    Nothing more onerous than just clicking a button.

    You can Block them in the DM function, unfriend them after blocking them, set them to "Ignore" in the Community. That may not be all of the effects you might hope for, but it seems like it's some of them.

    Doing that stuff without reporting their bad behavior to MFP just leaves them free to bother other users.
  • DiscusTank5
    DiscusTank5 Posts: 825 Member
    megd44 wrote: »
    That is the BEST @Alatariel75 I accepted the first one without a thought then wow. Accepted a couple of others just to see and it is amazing what they come back at you with if you give a three word answer. They all seem to be American widowed men working in the middle east to improve the lives of their teenage daughters.

    I would have clicked the laugh button if MFP had one.
  • Adventurista
    Adventurista Posts: 1,618 Member
    edited December 2024
    SurferGirl1982 wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    You can Block them in the DM function, unfriend them after blocking them, set them to "Ignore" in the Community. That may not be all of the effects you might hope for, but it seems like it's some of them.

    Doing that stuff without reporting their bad behavior to MFP just leaves them free to bother other users.

    @AnnPT77 I actually joined MFP to just log my food and weight, etc. I'm not much of a social media person. I only have one friend on my friend's list and it is someone that was in a discussion I was involved with for a while. After posting for months, she sent me a friend request and I accepted. Other than that I've always declined friend requests.

    I really don't know what the DM function is...I don't even have a Facebook account. After getting a few unwanted friend requests on MFP, I set my profile to private (I think). If I have anymore problems, I will try to report them to MFP.

    I really appreciate all of your help. If you need your OS updated or hard-drive replaced, I'm your gal 😀 But, the social media thing is a bit over my head

    I think I'll just go back to logging *LOL*


    @SurferGirl1982 - profile is showing. There are different settings in the private tracking area and in the public forums.

    I use android, may be different for IOS, To change in the public area, click on your pic, go to profile, click on the blue head to edit profile and uncheck public profile.

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  • chris_in_cal
    chris_in_cal Posts: 2,853 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    chris_in_cal wrote: »
    I don't want to be constantly pursued here by a user who comments on nearly everything I write.

    You can Block them in the DM function, unfriend them after blocking them, set them to "Ignore" in the Community. That may not be all of the effects you might hope for, but it seems like it's some of them.

    Doing that stuff without reporting their bad behavior to MFP just leaves them free to bother other users.
    Like clockwork.
  • chris_in_cal
    chris_in_cal Posts: 2,853 Member
    SurferGirl1982 wrote: »

    To be honest, I really don't mind anyone knowing a little bit about me. In fact, I like others knowing my general location, etc. But, I thought it might stop the friends requests. If not, I just won't accept them. Thanks!
    I am glad you got some guidance. There are a lot of great tools here for logging your food and activities. Also finding some peers who are going through similar issues is one of the best parts. Be well.
  • Adventurista
    Adventurista Posts: 1,618 Member
    @SurferGirl1982 - profile no longer showing. Success!

    I use the desktop a lot too, much easier for a lot of things.
  • PaulaWallaDingDong
    PaulaWallaDingDong Posts: 4,648 Member
    I think just about my whole friend list is these dudes 😅
  • LeeDahlen38
    LeeDahlen38 Posts: 156 Member
    While its not a fool proof method? Most predators fall into 2 groups. Looking to hook up or AI generated. I require a personal message (a few lines of intent or background) to accept. When I get a FR I send a quick polite note saying so. Maybe this will help someone.
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 9,866 Member
    edited December 2024
    LeeDahlen38 wrote: »
    While its not a fool proof method? Most predators fall into 2 groups. Looking to hook up or AI generated. I require a personal message (a few lines of intent or background) to accept. When I get a FR I send a quick polite note saying so. Maybe this will help someone.

    People you’ve not already accepted as a friend can’t message you.

    MFP blocked the ability to message random members several years ago, due to a pornbot attack. But, being MFP, they never updated the ability to make it look like you could. 🙄

    You can send a message, and it will give every indication it’s gone through, but the recipient will not receive it unless they’ve already accepted your friend request.

    And for the record, it was me mentioning profile pics and I said to avoid those of men with puppies and kittens. I never said those were real requests. Scammers will do anything they can to get into your inbox, and do so by lowering your defenses with photos of a handsome or buff guy, a guy with animals, in uniform, or in a business setting (I get ones from different user IDs by a scammer using a photo of a bunch of guys leaning over a desk with serious expressions. )
  • Retroguy2000
    Retroguy2000 Posts: 2,108 Member
    springlering62 wrote: »
    MFP blocked the ability to message random members several years ago, due to a pornbot attack. But, being MFP, they never updated the ability to make it look like you could. 🙄

    You can send a message, and it will give every indication it’s gone through, but the recipient will not receive it unless they’ve already accepted your friend request.

    And for the record, it was me mentioning profile pics and I said to avoid those of men with puppies and kittens.
    Really? That's a shame. I don't do the friends thing here, and every time I've received a FR I've sent them a msg saying that's why I'm not accepting, no offense. And they haven't been sent? Well that's unfortunate. I understand not being able to PM non-friends, but that seems an oversight if it includes people who've sent you FR.

    Note my own profile pic :)

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