Scammer alert. 👿

[GrubbyDuck]

I recently posted to 'feature suggestions' about being able to block 'anyone' without having you 1st to friend them & in doing so exposing yourself 'your account & personal details' to them.

That request has to date been ignored. My FitBit account is now 100% locked down.

Why?

Today 10/22/19 I had a user called 'Martins' (female) friend & then immediately try this scam on with me:

https://www.cid.army.mil/romancescam.html

This user is no doubt doing exactly same with others on the FitBit forums.

Its user account has been reported.  Hopefully FitBit have locked it down by now.

[Odyssey13 · Accepted solution]

Hi @GrubbyDuck  glad you took action when it happened. I'm always amazed at the boldness of these scammers. I keep my account fairly private and even when becoming friends, I'm still not sharing my real identity and location. Quite a few people will join the forums and begin posting pictures of themselves in various outfits. When one female (if the person using the account WAS female) kept posting swimsuits, I asked which Fitbit she had. She stopped posting and I flagged the images. 

Anyway, thanks for the link to that scam site. I've notified a moderator about this post and maybe they can tell you more about the Feature Suggestions thread.

[GrubbyDuck]

Hi @Odyssey13 Their boldness? Yup me too. I'm a veteran & it is why I knew of this particular scam.  I've blocked the user & I can no longer see its profile so FitBit have stopped them trying to scam anyone else. For now.

Every day I read reports & stories of people that get taken in by these people. It is heartbreaking. Some lose a few $/£'s 100's but too many get cleaned out by them.     

Yes,  I too have seen images & details peep's post of & about themselves.  Every image, every little bit data 'your private life' you feed out?  Who could be harvesting it & for what purpose?

Having a unique & the same user name & image across several platforms or forums is one mistake too many make.

So easy to find. 

One girls at gym I use ended up with a stalker over her careless use of Strava. She had not set the exclusion/privacy zone.  As good as right to her front door.

Why military/law enforcement banned use fitness trackers Strava etc.  Can you but imagine the data that could be harvested? Of what the use of such could compromise?

World is 'can be' a big bad scary place.

Keep safe Peeps.

If you don't want people to see it? Lock it down. I'm off back into my Faraday cage bunker to put my tin foil hat back on!    

[Odyssey13]

A friend of mine online said that she never knew someone who could talk about the weather and reveal so little about myself. I told her it was an art that I wish many could learn. My nieces and nephews have so much online that shows their entire life. As they have children, it seems they create a page, so the child has a page from ultrasound to wedding! 

I ran out of aluminum foil, but maybe I could use the aluminum soda can with a bit of duck tape?

[SunsetRunner]

I've been an avid fitbit user for years but I only recently joined the community, looking for some challenges, motivations etc.  I have been dumbfounded by the amount of apparent fake or scammer profiles.  My block list is getting as long as my friend list and it appears to be growing daily.  To be honest they are pretty horrible scammers because they are so over the top pushy and strange that it would likely scare off the most naïve of people.  Anyways, thanks for posting this and making others aware.  I've been curious over the last few days as to what the game is that is going on.  Stay safe everyone. 

[Odyssey13]

Welcome to the forums @SunsetRunner. One thing I've noticed is having a neutral name and/or avatar helps a bit, but not always. Many of us have flowers or animals for our picture. Even so, nothing discourages some of them. Glad you're staying safe. All we can do is spread the word to others to be careful on the internet. Keep on stepping!