Don't allow users to create Fitbit accounts unless they have Fitbit devices

[nit3ghadge]

Fitbit should allow profile creation only for those users who has FitBit device. I'm seeing lot of fake profiles which send request and ask for things like cam chat, marriage, trading, binary and all other unnecessary things which are out of this platform. This annoys a lot as you need to keep on marking them as bad profile.

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[Sickofthis1]

Also I should add I had to review my post due to word "bit" coin yet some idiot can message me privately to offer me the once in a lifetime miracle of cyber currency 

[Snowygarden]

Please make this change. I want fitbit friends who inspire and motivate me. I'm not interested in being harassed. There are, unfortunately, plenty of other platformsr that support that type of unhealthy behaviour. Come on, Fitbit, make this my safe place. 

[SunsetRunner]

A good call! I know we can block people but it’s not enough and there are vulnerable users who are not as aware, especially the high number of children on here! 

[nit3ghadge]

I hope all are doing great and staying fit as well as active. I can see the vote count is going in +ve direction and i'm also seeing everyones trouble here. I'm hoping that fitbit team will consider our idea very soon.

[Spamber]

Since my last comment, I decided to do a little test and see how many friend requests I would get in a ten day range. 

In ten days- I received 78 requests. Of those requests, I could tell 70 of them are fake profiles. How do I know? No activity, no badges, account is created within the last two weeks, fake pictures of known celebrities, and added to almost all the groups. 

When I don't post anything, I still get requests, but it is in the 2-3 range. When I do post, my friend requests blow up. 

I keep getting told to block and report the profiles, but isn't it fitbit's responsibility to protect its users so I don't have to report and block 70 people in ten days? This is getting ridiculous. DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS. 

[jaffacaique]

A simple way to prevent or remove fake accounts created by none Fitbit owners would be make it a mandatory requirement for all owners who register online to include their device serial number, which would of course be not visible online?

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi @jaffacaique, thanks for explaining why you think it's best to allow new users to create a Fitbit account only if they're are Fitbit devices owners. Thanks for sharing your feedback. I've moved it into a similar request.  A lot of users are asking for this option, I hope we receive updates soon.

You can also check this help article about this topic: How do I report Fitbit community posts, users, and groups?

[RiaC.]

I’ve only been a FitBit user since May 2020 and I’ve had no end of males trying to friend me. I didn’t accept them and at first thought it was just because I was new to the platform - I posted a rant about it a couple of weeks later as it was mad the amount I was getting - I even had a few guys constantly asking why I hadn’t accepted their request? Bloody cheek! 
I joined to improve my fitness with like minded people not a dating app! I’m married (happily) and my husband wouldn’t dream of befriending women in an app in the way these guys do! It needs to stop now! 

[SunsetRunner]

Fitbit needs to do a better job of policing who they allow to join. I get many multiple requests daily from men who want to date. Even though my profile clearly states are married! For this reason alone I’m considering jumping to the Garman ecosystem so that I can stop all of these ridiculous requests! If it needs to stop allowing people without devices to join and needs to police those who do join and stop the fake accounts being creative! I will not let my kids have a Fitbit because of what they could be exposed to.

[clayton1964]

They are starting to ask for WhatsApp as soon as you friend them.  This is a serious problem and causes nothing but hassles for legitimate users.

[Sweetestmoonuk]

I get it all the time

[SunsetRunner]

Hi USERNAME,

I wanted to let you know that I've removed one of your recent posts (quoted below), as it was off-topic and not contributing to the conversation. 

REMOVED_TEXT

We ask that posts stay relevant to the thread's subject, be productive, and follow our Community Guidelines. Thank you for your cooperation in keeping this a welcoming and constructive place for all memb

JMC107 Fitbit needs to do something about this also if messages could be turned off except from friends that would be wonderful it's annoying having to change your Fitbit picture to your pet to scare men off but I did that.

[CaliBabe]

Hello’ 

I’m in favor for only Fitbit Owners being able to have an acct. The Non Fitbit Scammers has become uncontrollable.  Today I’ve deleted 15 friend requests from Non Fitbit owners W/ (Fake Acct’s ) they have many accounts each! & their is a Hugh networking of ( Scammers)   This is a Daily occurrence of friend requests from Scammers once you accept their friendship they waste no time asking for our Personal Info’ Identity’ Email’ Money’ Sexual Hookup: their constant harassments Is exhausting. Yesterday I’ reported a Scammer Hoping To Scam Money From Me. It’s most shameful that Fitbit is no longer a safe social fitness platform for like minded individuals,  Mainly due to Non-Fitbit Scammers Allowed To Open As Many Fake Accounts As They Want.  Stop The Insanity & Please take our complaints seriously!  It’s truly unjust & unfair that daily We Fitbit Customers half to endure These Non-Fitbit Scammers of constant harassment's. 15 today & Counting. 🤬🤯😳

Thank You 

[SunsetRunner]

Ive been reporting and blocking men AND women (mainly men) since I started using this app. They send me a friend request and then proceed to ask me personal questions, for personal information, to be friends, if im single, if I live alone, etc. i’m tired of hearing “hey beautiful / pretty / gorgeous / sexy”. Im not here to get hit on, i’m here for fitness and to play bingo. Fitbit needs to require people to show they have a device and they should be monitoring for fake profiles! I have the premium, but all this hassle is NOT worth $10 a month...just today I got about 8 friend requests AND one guy told me “ill come back for you pretty” after i asked him to leave me alone. I report and block these people but it’s exhausting and it doesnt seem to help - their profiles still exist months later!

[nit3ghadge]

@SunsetRunner , thanks for sharing your experience and voting my idea. I have gone through similar request and i'm seeing other people on this platform suffering with same pain. I don't know when fitbit is going to change the web application login policy. @YojanaFitbit  when we will see the update. I know you people are waiting for this idea to get maximum vote. But it's really painful to handle all those request. You can see people are getting harassed on this platform. I think this would have implemented in the beginning as it's basic requirement. Even i work in IT industry and ensure no spammer/hacker get an access to our infrastructure. I don't understand what's stopping fitbit team to implement this.

[Lidia76]

Brilliant suggestion the amount of fake profiles out there is pathetic, and some of them keep on using innocent peoples photos aswell! i have to refuse and block profiles all the time, Fitbit will eventually loose lots of support if this continues. I am totally in favour!!!

[Wexford_Lass]

Great suggestion. I am sick & tired of having 10-15 men send friend requests each day 95% of them have no steps. I decline all requests from men unless they registered a while back & have decent daily step activity.  

It’s been suggested that women can change their profile pics to a dog or cat to avoid unwanted friend requests - why should we have to hide!

[ivy278]

I hope this gets completed as soon as possible. I have found some hackers and scammers have messaged me and they don’t post anything it’s creepy and weird. If I owned Fitbit for the safety of every and any user I would implement this as soon as possible.

[sfurze76-bbg]

I agree in the last 2 days I have gotten 20 friend requests all created on day sent no tracker no steps they join every group and you can tell from the messages they are fake always saying they want sex or relationship ask for giftcards ect. I report and block but they still have accounts.  I dont block some to see if reporting them works but no they are still there.  I post a pic showing my progress in boxers and I get banned 

[nit3ghadge]

@YojanaFitbit : Another suggestion to my idea if fitbit team can't implement what i'm asking. Let's have some sort identification profile which will help user to distinguish between fake and real like having something similar in attached pic. People who has device they will have green indicator on their profile and people who doesn't have device they will have red. That way, when we get request from user who has green, we will consider that as genuine user and remaining all are fake or scammers or users who are using web version of fitbit. The another you can add is cross check every profile after 3 months of 6 month interval for device status and update profile accordingly. I know this something tough but it will surely save your user base on fitbit.

Profile verification

[TinaKatz]

I agree that something needs to be done. I want to post my achievements and/or comment on other people's achievements but I hesitate to do so because of being bombarded with comments such as, "Hello dear. Accept my friend request!" I can remove their comments and block them but it gets tiresome and scares away real community members when they see this going on. 

[ArchieMIA]

I totally agree!! In fact I am getting request from scammers every day. They use photos from beautiful women that they find on the web. I made the same suggestion today to your support team in twitter. 
Today I got a request from one Rachel C, and she started a conversation by direct message. She using a photo of a Instagram Model https://instagram.com/rachelc00k 

this is almost everyday. 
You shall not allow people to create a profile if they don’t have a device. This would filter all that crap. 

 

[CaliBabe]

Totally agree..

Sent from my iPhone

[CaliBabe]

Such a shame. Feeling your frustration , your not alone.

Sent from my iPhone

[AmyM]

I have the same problem, as do numerous other users I know.  I get at least 8-10 friend requests a day, of which 99% are scammers.  And I have reported my fair share of these people.  I now have more blocked people than friends.  These are not lonely people; they are not looking to simply make friends.  They send friend requests to get you to talk with them, during which time they will flatter you, ask personal questions, and tell you various stories of their husbands’ or wives’ untimely deaths leaving them with children to raise on their own until they can convince you to continue conversations with them on WhatsApp or Hangouts.  Once that happens, they continue to attempt to establish a deeper “friendship” until they finally feel you are comfortable enough with them to ask you to purchase an iTunes card, etc. for them because they are in dire need of it for one reason or another.  This is a popular scam known as the Nigerian Romance Scam; these are Nigerians trying to scam legitimate Fitbit users for money.  They create fake accounts, use stolen photographs from the internet, some of which are from highly respected people, and offer excuses as to why they can’t communicate on Fitbit or don’t currently have a working device, trying to explain their lack of current activity and lack of Fitbit badges/trophies.  This has become such a problem, more and more legitimate Fitbit users are opting to leave Fitbit, which they love, in order to find a safer, more legitimate community in which to participate for fitness.  It’s time Fitbit took this problem seriously and made their community safer for the users who actually have Fitbit devices and are truly interested in fitness.