Fake accounts

[Blowe227]

I’m very sick of getting friend requests from men who have no activity and only female friends. I have reported a Nigerian scammer to Fitbit and was told to block. One other male had near naked photos and again I reported and was told to block. In the past two weeks I’ve been friend requested at least 24 times by similar males. No activity. Widowers. Dog photos. Children. No activity. Only female friends. Others have discussed the blatant sex requests or money requests from males. This is harassment and a clear violation of the Community Rules we all agree to when we set up our accounts. Why is there no fraud investigation group?  I have considered getting out of Fitbit but I have gained so much and love my real friends. Why cannot Fitbit do something to enforce their own rules????????

[ChristinaGraham]

I agree I haven't been on Fitbit very long since I switched from a zip to my Ulta. But I can tell you that I've had several people contact me and tell me that I don't care about my husband and other things which are outright lies I'm on here to get encouragement and meet people in different cities and states and get advice and information and share my knowledge if requested I'm not on here for a dating site

[LanuzaFitbit]

Welcome to the Forums @ChristinaGraham and @Blowe227.

Thank you very much for bringing this up. It definitely sounds like something awful. I will be passing this information on to the rest of the team.

At this moment the best way to go about it is to block those users as @Blowe227 already mentioned.

Please also make sure that you support this suggestion to add a report button on the user's profiles. You can vote for this idea and also comment on it to show your support.

Be sure to read the FAQ if you have any questions in the way the Feature Suggestions board works.

Please let me know if there is anything I can help you with.

[Blowe227]

Blocking is not solving the problem though. I’d like to see FitBit be more proactive. E.g. why allow people to fiend request when they have no Fitbit to sync????  I’m sure there are plenty of reasons from a business perspective. I’m just tired of DAILY dealing with these requests. I’m not alone. I’ve heard from several friends who’ve been friendly only to get harassed. 

Some of of these men don’t even seem to be able to properly talk and spell their ranks when they pretend to be in the military. Some pictures don’t match!  How can you post a run of thousands of steps when you have no recent activity?  Blatant. 

PS. I blocked 5 requests just this morning

[LanuzaFitbit]

Hello @Blowe227.

I definitely understand and see your point. 

Please know that I'll be bringing this up to the rest of the team as I do think it is important. In the meantime, please be sure to support the suggestion I linked to above.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

[Blowe227]

There are numerous blocked males on my account if anyone cares to review them

[digirl28]

I just got one yesterday. I have had them on facebook before and have reported them so their fake accounts are shut down. I have had two men in the past week send me friend requests. Both of them show as being new to fitbit. But they have no steps or anything. And the one from yesterday just sent me 8 messages about being a widow, wife died in car accident, works on a rig in the North Sea, has a teenage daughter....blah, blah, blah. I told him Fitbit is not a dating site. I am blocking him, but that does little to stop the problem!

[Blowe227]

Exactly. I fell into the trap with a man just like that but he posed as a doctor. He turned out to be a Nigerian scammer. Unfortunately Facebook would not shut down his page. Nor would Fitbit. We should not have to continuously put up with it. Waiting for an action plan from Fitbit!

[Alicat2104]

I've never had anything like this and have bee using a Fitbit since May 2015. Strange that you're getting so many, I wonder if there's anything that can be changed in your settings to stop random weirdos from finding you so easily?

[Blowe227]

I have since switched my profile picture to inanimate. Zero requests. I’m active in posting and challenges and hear this issue discussed frequently in those challenges. Consider yourself fortunate. 

[Blowe227]

Two recent feed discussions on the topic. Joy is a Fitbit friend the other is not

[digirl28]

Same here. My picture is available only to those who are my friends. I have only had 2 men become pests, both in the last week, and only one that I believe was truly a scammer. The other one is still on my friend list, Mark B., probably just a lonely guy. Kept trying to get me to give him my number. He didn't know I was nearing 60! When he found that out, he quit bothering me 🙂 The other one is named Frank G.This man said he wanted me. After he flooded my messages, I blocked him. I am on here to get fit, not to date. In my settings, I also do not even have if I am male or female now, until someone is a friend. 

[Blowe227]

Mark B was a huge problem for one of my friends. He was after $$$ from her. I reported and blocked him. I’d be very wary of that one too. 

[Blowe227]

Mark B was a huge problem for one of my friends. He was after $$$ from her. I reported and blocked him. I’d be very wary of that one too. But it may be a different mark B. The one I blocked had truly offensive pictures posted. I didn’t see you on his friends list. 

[Alicat2104]

Oh it's from those activity groups. I rarely posted in them and recently removed them all which will be why I don't get this crap from people. My friends list is only people who I know either in real life or from doing challenges together.

[Ahineline71]

I got the exact same thing only mine was a Nigerian guy who was in The petroleum engineering business from California and also was widowed and wife died in a car accident while another one died of liver cancer.

[Blowe227]

Oh my. And children.....and cute dogs....always an angle. Here’s to FitBit doing some fraud protection for a majority of its members 🤳

[Heather-S]

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@Alicat2104 wrote:

Oh it's from those activity groups. I rarely posted in them and recently removed them all which will be why I don't get this crap from people. My friends list is only people who I know either in real life or from doing challenges together.

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It's sad, I like to post in the activity groups, but then I get a flood of men trying to add me as a friend.  Nothing wrong with that as long as they mind their manners.  I'm happily married.  I've had to block a few guys.

I just ignore the friend request and move on.  But it would be great if FitBit could verify that some of these scammers actually own and use a FitBit.  I absolutely won't add anyone who has zero activity.

[digirl28]

I agree! I have not posted in the activity area. But I do have a lot of friends and acquaintances who have added me after group challenges. Those, I find harmless and we have some great fun with the workweek and weekend challenges. I've received one more request two days ago. This time, I went to look at the man's profile and noted he had just joined about 10 days ago. He had absolutely no activity or steps, so DELETE! Simple enough to avoid the pests 🙂

[emili]

I have had a few too but it usually stops when I say I am very married. I never post in activity groups or in the community feed on the app- if I do it is restricted to my friend list. I think for me the few I get come from here since I am very active. I know it is a hassle, but sadly it is happening everywhere. I remember when Linked In was a place for professionals- now it is like a dating site- which I have happily left. A moderator replied to your post with a promise to escalate- they will. It will not be solved quickly because it takes time, but they will do everything they can to keep the integrity of the community in tact. Don't let this taint the fun and friends you have... best E.