Beware of Scammers

[loveabull]

For those of you new or even those of us who have been part of the community for awhile. Beware of scammers on this site. There are moderators, but not enough of them to keep the kooks out. Remember these are open boards and open groups.

[Amy_wb4632]

I never said they were difficult to detect nor did I say I was worried.
So do try to stick with the topic.

Allow me clarify so you're not confused. My concern here is that with the
plethora of scammers that are suddenly on the site and Fitbit not doing
anything when the fake profiles are reported and when legit members turn to
moderators, Fitbit Teams and other Fitbit Communities are concerned that
there is nothing done.

That being said, yes, I do lead a stress-free life, thank you for
noticing. My work/life balance is amazing. Thank you Fitbit Yoga Forum
for that...

So isn't it a fantastic thing that we have this Forum "Beware of Scammers"
to be able to voice our opinions and concern for others since you've
already solved it by hitting the ignore button.

I wonder what happens when a lonely teen, an overweight fellow, or a person
seeking help and then finds themselves bilked for $$$$ because they've been
scammed by these so-called friends.

[November_1985]

Another post of mine got deleted by admin, i ddnt know that you have to
choose every word that you have to say in this group community. What is the
sense of this beware of scammers forum if anyone has to hide their sensible
opinions towards the topic. But one thing is for sure, since i posted
something about scammers in fitbit wall, i am having less friend request
from scammers.

[Odyssey13]

Hi @November_1985  when you join the forums you are agreeing to the Terms of Service (click to view them) and #5 specifically deals with the content we post. We are all guests on this forum and Fitbit has the right to edit or remove as needed. Admin always tells you why they removed a post, too.

[Amy_wb4632]

@november_85

I totally understand what you're saying.  We're discussing the topic, putting the questions to the moderators and Admins and our posts and questions are deleted.   

How is that helping the discussion?  We're asking solid questions here and they are deleted, opinions silenced and yet the banner on the topic is still there?  LOL I'm actually confused.  Are we not  allowed to discus this?  Are we not allowed to question?  

From the FTC:

"Imposter scams was the number one fraud reported  in 2019. People reported losing more than $667 million to imposters, who often pretended to be calling from the government or a well-known business, a romantic interest, or a family member with an emergency. When people lost money, they most frequently reported paying scammers with a gift card."

c'mon... $667 million... this is worth a discussion and a community of active people that want answers.

[Odyssey13]

@Amy_wb4632  the banner ? The topic "Beware of Scammers: was what the original poster put as they created what has become a long thread. This is a sub-forum area entitled "Be Inspired" in the Health & Wellness forum section. If you saw my post above, which was posted about the same time as yours, then you can see that we all live by the rules. We're allowed to have opinions and to question, but we also need to know that anyone online will have to deal with scammers and trolls. It's part of the online life and there is no way to completely rid ourselves of them. Using a cell phone, I still get nuisance calls, despite the "Do Not Call Registry" which is supposed to prevent it. No system is perfect.

[Amy_wb4632]

@Odyssey13

I was referring to the post I originally replied to. But you're absolutely
right about the scammers and trolls. Well said, Odyssey.

I Remember the days when that was never an issue here in this medium 💃

[BEANRUNZ]

The only way for something bad to happen is if you engage with them and have a back and forth conversation. Yes there are bad people in the world but everyone has personal responsibility to use your common sense and don’t respond to them. If everyone as an individual doesn’t converse then Nothing can happen. It’s not like they are standing outside your door..This topic has gotten so emotional with vulgar language and you have the power to solve it by never engaging with them.

Sent from my iPhone

[November_1985]

I think now i completely understand why they have to do what they had to do. Yes its true, you dont need to respond if you feel something bad. But for the newbies sake like i was, i almost got victimized because i was so innocent at the begginingm you woudnt know unless you try specially if you are being open and friendly and looking for inspiration. Does anyone here ever experience being approached by these scammers and make you believe they could inspire you? Not all of us here are dumb, its just in a different approach. We are all have different reactions in different situations. We cant really apply each situation in general. We are different individuals caught up in different situation. One lonely woman/man becomes a member to be inspired and wants to jave some fun on the side of that. What is the community is for? If you need help i think you could ask. If you want to help. i think you can suggest/ state your opinions and tell the truth. I cant see any reason why some people here needs to victim blame. When it should be a support system to each legal/ legit members specially PREMIUMS like us! If i entertain them its not my fault! If theu scammed me its my fault. But did i let them scammed me? O ddnt because what i did was to reveal their identity. Is it bad to do something like that or to help other people specially newbies by giving a warning by these people? I HOPE ADMINS WILL NOT DELETE THIS POST! Anyway, it only started with the post BEWARE OF SCAMMERS. If this topic has ended, then might as well delete it. 

[Amy_wb4632]

Absolutely should not delete this post!

[Amy_wb4632]

I"m sure that works for you... And I'm sure that works for a lot of those
that are aware of the scammers. You ignore them, they go away. But it
doesn't make the problem go away, does it?

There are those legitimate members here on Fitbit that will engage because
they're under the impression that the scammers are real Fitbit Members as
well. Those scammers are no longer at their front door.. they're in their
pockets because they're being scammed to the tune of millions a year as a
whole.

The topic is valid. The topic needs to be addressed in this community
because it is on our app and at our front door. Ignoring it doesn't help
our vulnerable community, it helps the scammers find easier targets on our
Fitbit App.

Reporting scammers and having immediate action taken on behalf of the
Fitbit Team is what we're looking for. We should not have skirt around
this issue and pretend it's not happening.

[November_1985]

Let's not be hypocryte here that majority of members now are bored because of pandemic. Most users needs to practice social distancing. We all get chances to talk to different kinds of people inside the community.  Sometimes, there are users who look like a scammer which by the way some of them were not. Because we are scared, we tend to accused them as one and i feel bad because of trust issues. These scammers will get your trust introduce you to different kinds of inspiration. Challenge you sometimes, then lead you to some scheme because finally you fully trust them. Fitbit team needs to do something serious about it. I know the team are not fully responsible for whatever the member will come through afterwards, but i think lets not prevent spreading awareness for other members. We should support. We should spread it and not hide the crimes. 

[Oscardoghiggy]

I totally agree with you on this matter Fitbit knows there’s a problem they should have a photo fit database and so each time when a regular photo pops up they can see it’s clearly another scammer attempt at getting on to the sight we have to be vigilant I don’t understand any circumstances accept friends anymore if I see a face I know it report and block it no messing all we can do as individuals is warn each other of what to look out for the classic one is to get you to move to hangouts the scammers playground there they can work their magic lies on you male or female neither is safe so take care

Sent from my iPhone

[Amy_wb4632]

Well said

[November_1985]

Trust me this will work if the admins and the community will support each other. Reporting will not stop it. Awareness will do so that no one will be a victim. Scammers will lose hope to do bad scheme if all members are aware. Top priorities are newbies. Fitbit upgrades unit, people will be interested to buy coz admit it, fitbit gadgets are awesome. That's why im here and upgraded to premium. It will all make sense if everyone is aware. They should post something from the guidelines and terms of agreement about scammers. Or post some news about them as an awareness. Only admins or higher than members could do it and people will believe it. Its like a bank emailing people about scams. I hope it happens. 

[Oscardoghiggy]

Thank you 😊

Sent from my iPhone

[AlvaroFitbit]

Hi everyone.

Thank you so much for reporting these users as they aren't following our rules. I appreciate you all taking the time to share your experiences and warning other members about these situations. As someone mentioned you can actually block users following these instructions. 

I understand that not everyone will need this warning to take a different approach to the same issue but I ask you to keep the discussion civil and respectful even if you have different opinions about the matter. You can voice your opinions, read other ones and keep a respectful conversation that may benefit other users in the community. Always check our Community Guidelines and keep up your participation in the forums.

I'll be around.

[Amy_wb4632]

Hello Alvaro,

Can you tell us why we get banned when a scammer is called out for using fake pictures trying to do a Romance scam?  I reported the user and then he in turn reported me and now I"M Banned?   I never said anything derogatory or that violated any terms of service of Fitbit.  I simply posted that the pics the person was using belonged to Erik Dalgaard.   I wake up, he sent me malicious messages and I'm banned.  Not to mention there were other Fitbit members pointing out that he was a catfish.

How is that even fair?  What do I do when I'm unfairly banned?

[Amy_wb4632]

Dear Alvaro,

Can you tell us what we're supposed to do when an upset fake scammer profile reports us and we get banned for letting them know that they're using fake / stolen photos?

[AlvaroFitbit]

@Amy_wb4632 It's great to see you in the Community! 

Let me help you with your inquiry. I am not sure what you are talking about. You are actually posting in the Community so aren't banned nor I could see anything on your Community profile stating this. Where are you viewing this information?

I look forward to your reply.

[TanyaK]

Who is the guy who is using Erik Dalgaard's photos in a romance scam? He
sounds like one of the guys who used Shane Nickels' pic to get me to talk
to him on WhatsApp; I refused to do that, though.