Received a Friend request from a stranger

[cyneli]

Today I got an email, supposedly from someone named Earline L.  I don't know this person but the email had a link I was told to click to accept a friend request from Earline.  I don't know Earline and am not interested in Fitbit as social media.  So I thought I'd reply to the email, but the address is:  "Earline L." <messages-noreply@fitbit.com>

   The "no-reply" portion makes me think that my reply will go straight to a trash can.  E-mails that I can't reply to are spam.  I suspect that there is no Earline L, but if there is, how does she even know that I exist and own a Fitbit?  I thought I had privacy settings to prevent this sort of thing.   

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[NotBitFitMayhem]

I am sorry this happens to any of us. Rreporting, blocking, and pressing the ignore option all assist the agents we want eliminated because now they know our accout is active which was only a guess before depending on privacy settings.  There is only one effective solution.  It is not the legitimate users wasting their time even receiving a bogus friend request let alone responding. Fitbit administration must remove the offenders and block their return.  Everything fitbit needs to end this charade is on their own servers.  There are no cotrols over who can enter the database. There are no limits to request countless "friends" even when totally inactive and without a tracker. 

[NotBitFitMayhem]

@Odyssey13 it is not necesary to be a "someone" to bother every userid on the fitbit system without even wanting a friend. Fitbit "friend" request can be made blind with no connection to the intended victim. The pattern of public https://www.fitbit.com/user/****** is a guarantee that Data Harvesting Bots can be at play here far easier than on many other platforms. I am sorry this happens to any of us. "Report"ing, "block"ing, and pressing the "Ignore" option all assist the agents we want eliminated because, now they know, our account is active which was only a guess before, depending on privacy settings.  There is only one effective solution.  It is not the legitimate users wasting their time even receiving a bogus friend request let alone responding. Fitbit administration must remove the offenders and block their return.  Everything fitbit needs to end this charade is on their own servers.  Fitbit chose no comtrols over who can enter the database. Fitbit chose no limits to request countless "friends" even when totally inactive and without a tracker. Fitbit chose that Users that leave the system leave inactive profiles that can be hacked and Fitbit chose that they stay available for all time even when you ask Fitbit suport to remove them for you.  This is not safe, It is not encouraging. It is a distructive lifestyle. 

[Odyssey13]

@NotBitFitMayhem  my post from August 2020 was to tell the poster that Fitbit does not give out their email address. I'm not sure why you're addressing me, as I have only control over my own actions. Fitbit has their rules and as a guest of this forum, I abide by them. I flag profiles and posts as needed to work with the Terms of Service.

[NotBitFitMayhem]

Perhaps, emails are not given per se, but fitbit does give every agent, and without security filter, access to request a "friend" of anyone with a fitbit account. 

[IamMikeT]

Does anyone else notice that their are a lot of user profiles that contain a link to check out a new sports blog? Most of them start with a https://t.co/... address. I'm not sure if these are real users with a active account on the fitbit app or not. I kept seeing this over and over and so eventually I typed the web address into my browser and it turned out to be a link to porn! I'm wondering if this is a hack of some sort or if they are just fake profiles. I get friend requests, then after i accept the request I check out the profile, and if the profile contains this kind of link on their page, I go back and unfriend them. About a quarter of the people that I've had interactions with have ended up getting deleted off my friends list. What's the deal???

[mamazebra]

I'm just checking this out, too. Capitalism, eh?

[Bz897]

Hi,

I recently received some friends requests and accepted two but I found it strange that despite claiming to be active people there was no activity on their profiles. So I checked the http link and it lead to porn sites.

Has anyone else had the same experience?

[SebWotan]

Hello @Bz897 

Yes unfortunately there are spam and scammers on Fitbit. This goes with the territory for any large online platform I am afraid. The best you can do is report them: in a profile window, on the top right the menu with three points, choose Report Profile. 

[BraulioFitbit]

Thanks for stopping by, @Bz897 and thanks @SebWotan for the assistance.

@Bz897 Fitbit is aware that some users reported receiving spam friend requests to both standard and child accounts. Our team made an update to stop bad actors from sending additional friend requests. I recommend you to don't accept friend requests from non active users and report those profiles as @SebWotan indicated above.

See you around.

[SunsetRunner]

I’ve been on Fitbit now for 3 days I cannot believe how many fake accounts are on here . 
How many men are in pregnancy , pregnant and other womens groups.

We need a group so we can post these fake accounts for all to see 👍

[Odyssey13]

Hi @SunsetRunner  fake accounts are going to happen no matter what anyone does. Having a group to discuss and post fake accounts seems a waste of time because these people will always find a way to sneak in. Why not use your time to have a group that makes positive changes in their lives because in the long run, that's more important. I just ignore the fakes and concentrate on myself and those I know are serious about their fitness journey.

[top]

when is fitbit going to stop scammers from hijacking dormant accounts?

[Odyssey13]

Hi @top this is from a post made by Fitbit on the subject: "

If you think your account has been taken over, accessed, hacked or compromised by someone else and you still have access to it, change your password to a new, unique password that you never used before.

If you can't access your account, please contact Fitbit Customer Support and tell us you suspect an account takeover. We'll route the case to our security team as soon as possible. 

Please note, if you already have a case with Customer Support but need immediate assistance, you can reply to the last email you received from our Security or Customer Support team. In the meantime, you can find out more about securing your Fitbit account in this help article."

[top]

This is all about lack of security at fitbit ,,,ie, they cannot seem to block dormant accounts from being hijacked by scammers who send friend scores of people looking for a hit.    if i can spot them, why can't fitbit? i get about one per week

[Odyssey13]

@top  I get them too, but you don't have to accept. If you post on the forums or in the community app or get invited to a challenge, your name and profile are visible.  It's just part of being online. You can do everything possible and these people find a way to sneak in, so it's best just to ignore and move on.

[top]

I report  and block these bogus friend requests but obviously fitbit's security allows scammers to find/login/use dormant accounts to try to scam people. How is it scammers get in? Are these fitbit employees? These folks have user IDs with passwords and historic data, not new accounts all though some try that method to. What I seek is an answer to how these folks are able to take over dormant/abandoned accounts....and what fitbit is doing to stop it other than "users beware".

[Odyssey13]

@top pretty sure these are not Fitbit employees playing around. While you and I may get one request per week, we have no way of knowing how many requests we didn't get due to Fitbit's security measures. I'm thinking Fitbit, as many companies, isn't going to share with us their internal security measures because if they did, the scammers would have more knowledge to get past those blocks.

[top]

this is all about scammers taken over dormant accounts and sending friends requesthow is it fitbit allows dormant accounts to be commandeered?
Don Allen, Manager
Happy Snapper North

[Odyssey13]

Hi @top  you might want to return to remove your real name and company information from these public forums. Fitbit has their security measures, I'm sure, but doubt they would tell anyone on a public forum just what precautions are in place. Other than reporting them, why not just ignore them, as most of us do?

[top]

Because they should protect users … not everyone is savvy enough to ignore.. i.e. my 85 year old mother in law scammed out of her entire annuity before we figured out what was going on.


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