When Someone Takes Your Picture as Their Avatar... (Be Careful Out There!)

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Wait, so Kim she saw your avatar, complimented you on it, then stole it and accused YOU of stealing it from HER? And she thought nobody on the whole forum would notice? How naive...

But yeah, that would be a bit worrisome. Glad it got resolved.

Anybody wants to steal my avatar... it's not mine to claim so I guess I can't keep them from taking it. It's a wikipedia stock photo.
 
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Lynx said:
Wait, so Kim she saw your avatar, complimented you on it, then stole it and accused YOU of stealing it from HER? And she thought nobody on the whole forum would notice? How naive...

But yeah, that would be a bit worrisome. Glad it got resolved.

Anybody wants to steal my avatar... it's not mine to claim so I guess I can't keep them from taking it. It's a wikipedia stock photo.
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Nice avatar. I really like it. It’s mine. Why did you steal it? I’m taking it back. Besides, I don’t believe it really is you. LOL
 
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Send them my way! They’ll get so bored that they will give up on even trying to contact anyone else! Lololol
 
AuntieAnt said:
Nope. Not a good idea. Don't be messin' with my family. (n)



(I know you're joking, seoulsearch.) ;)
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It's definitely a joke but the thread would almost be by request, AuntieAnt. :D

Every time we have a discussion about these things, Melita always says none of the "excitement" ever happens to here. Some of us here are willing to share! :)
 
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If I knew the secret of how to keep the stranges away, I would share it! Even as a single person, I wouldn’t get the weirdo messages.

I’m thinking I’m boring :/ lol!
 
Lynx said:
Wait, so Kim she saw your avatar, complimented you on it, then stole it and accused YOU of stealing it from HER? And she thought nobody on the whole forum would notice? How naive...

But yeah, that would be a bit worrisome. Glad it got resolved.

Anybody wants to steal my avatar... it's not mine to claim so I guess I can't keep them from taking it. It's a wikipedia stock photo.
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Just to clarify...

The person who messaged me was using an avatar of a young guy (I'd guess to be mid-to-late 20ish) without a shirt on (pictures of half-clothed people are usually a warning as it is, but I didn't want to judge prematurely), and his profile claimed to be from the UK. I doubt any of those things were actually him--and I'm guessing it was a him, since several other ladies have said he tried to message them too--but of course, you never really know.

After about 2 exchanges of small talk, he complimented my picture, and the next thing I knew, it was my own avatar that was answering me back. When I checked his profile, he had changed it to my picture. I then asked him to change it and to not use my picture.

This is when he started saying repeatedly that I must be using a fake picture or I wouldn't make a big deal about it, and that I wouldn't have changed my avatar in response. I'm guessing that he was going to attempt to try to manipulate me into sending pictures, getting on camera, or sending some kind of other personal info in order to try to "prove" who I really am.

For anyone who isn't familiar with these kinds of games, please don't fall for it. You don't owe strangers you don't know on the internet any kind of information about yourself.

However, then there is also the flipside of catfish--people who claim to be someone they're not, or won't give you any proof that they are who they say they are when you've developed a "close" friendship or relationship with them, but... that's an entirely different discussion.
 
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This is why I really wish we could delete our pics later if we don't want them up permanently (the ones posted in threads). Now I regret posting my pic :(.
 
seoulsearch said:
Hey Everyone,

Just to let you know--I had someone contact me via the new instant message system here who complimented me on my picture and then almost immediately put my picture up onto his/her profile as THEIR avatar picture.

I have asked them twice to please change their avatar, and their first response was to accuse me of using a fake picture, and their second is to ignore me when I asked them to change their picture.

Via CC site policy, I won't name a name because I believe that's against the rules.

I am now in the process of getting this mess cleaned up.

It's so discouraging because it would be nice to share pictures here, but obviously, some people will abuse it, so now I'm torn about ever wanting to show pictures here again.

Please, be careful out there!!!

And, if you see any posts that are using the picture I had up, PLEASE, make sure it's really me before being duped into believing someone else's words who is just using my picture.

Be safe out there and God bless!

I probably won't post much until this is taken care of.
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That was once a fun game people played here. They would steal each other's avatar for awhile just to be funny and throw people off but it was a very close knit bunch in here back then and everyone knew everybody.
 
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It's really a sad thing that the internet can be such a place of abuse and mistrust. :(

I would love to share more pictures with my CC family but have been very cautious about doing so. I'm always trying to find the balance between common sense, wise discernment, and utter paranoia.

I'm by no means an expert, but another problem I've heard about is that people can take your photo and then put your face onto other images, such as in situations you'd rather not have your image be associated with. And there are plenty of people out there who will do that, whether a stranger with too much time, or someone you might know who acts out of spite (such as a disgruntled co-worker.)

Just imagine having your boss, co-workers, family, or even strangers looking at pictures of "you"--in photos that would not only be embarrassing (because there will always be some people who don't know any better or want to believe it's true), but could cost you your job and reputation.

Does anyone else out there have stories of internet scams or things that they've dealt with?

I would really like to hear your stories, along with any tips or advice you have regarding internet safety.
 
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Next time I get the urge to post my pic again, I will post this instead....:sneaky:

nacho-libre.jpg
 
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There's a reason that pictures of me online are difficult to find (and the ones that are there are one's where it's difficult to identify me).
 
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