There is someone on the forum who is perpetrating an advertising scam using Chat which isn't monitored by HU in the way the open forum is. Chat conversations are secure and private. Both I and DorsetLady have had such messages and have reported them.
If you receive this please report it to HU - when you report it that gives HU security permission to look at it and deal with the person's account to ban them.
👍
Thanks for this pro. Back from from holiday today and back online so got some catching up to do.
Reported.
Thanks for the heads up.
Just got one from PMRGCAuk. How do you go about reporting it?
The word Report is to the right in any chat box. click on it and follow the instructions. You can also Mute the person so they can't contact you again.
It will come as a link from HU - open the message and then select the Report Button - it will take you to a pop up file… just fill in info and report as advertising spam. And then send. Youmwill get a notification receipt.
I have too and also reported
I have received it too and reported it. I also muted the message so as not to receive any more. Quite disconcerting
I apparently have a new follower aged 28 who says 'I’m easy going and I loves a man who gives me butterflies on my tommy'. I'm guessing that this is also not genuine?
This is one we have reported -so please do the same…
It’s an HU issue not just ours
Is hidden now.
Even if it is, it is offensive so needs to be reported!
I had a notification that someone wanted to "follow me" and I just deleted the message but I will know if there are any more. Thanks for the "heads up".
I get them all the time and almost always ignore them - it used to tell me how many I had, probably still does if I knew where to look but since I couldn't care less I take no interest, it was in the multiple hundreds a couple of years ago!!!
I think many associate this forum to a social media site (which it isn’t) and assume everyone wants to be “followed” to boost their egos.
Unfortunately it’s the world too many live in..
It IS social media but it would be nice if the platform adjusted to being the medical support option it claims to be ...
Yes it is , but you what I meant though, f/b, instagram - X/twitter [whatever]….😏
Oh yes - none of them really attracted me, FB has its uses though.
Yes it does [that's the only one I view though] ... and use messenger a lot to speak to t'other side of world...
Exactly - even if my lot aren't the other side of the world.
Same here. 🙄
I think they are just bombarding everyone with their drivel. Hopefully they can block them.
Thanks so much for the warning.It's bad enough when people use replies in posts to push advertising on people.
But to use the private chat facility to do this is despicable because it means vulnerable people desperate for a solution can not be quickly warned by other members that the links they are given are a scam.
My advice to everyone when using a health forum is this.
If you receive any links or advice either on posts or in private chat on HU , or even in unsolicited emails , please post the information you've been sent on the open forum and ask if the thing being suggested is safe or effective.
As well as keeping yourself safe it can also help all of our members to find out what replies, scams or advertising materials they might be receiving would be inappropriate, or , as us often the case , a big waste of your money.
Stay safe , Bee
thanks for the heads up.
I also have had one today and I reported it as spam immediately.
Thank you for the warning x
Reported last week.
thank you for the warning 🙏
thanks for the warning!
Thanks for the heads up
Thanks for warning and the advice on what to do.
Yes….this person has been reported many times……..she appears to have been banned using her first identity…but then changed her posting name.
I think she has been detected by HU …..I got a PM from her,,,,using her first name followed by a number….on receipt Admin or HU had included a message saying “this message is from somebody you do not follow…..do you accept “or something like that.
So it seems some effort is being made to remove her nonsense.
I would add she is on many sites…I am writing from NRAS ….which is where the message asking if I wanted to accept her rubbish messages.
You get that message autpmatically every time someone messages you for the first time so you can choose whether to engage with them or not. Some people just don't like the privacy of the messages which has pros and cons.
That is what happens - they are banned and reregister. HU doesn't seem to have a system of using the IP address to screen for multiple attempts to register though no doubt the professional trolls use a VPN to hide in any case. I usually go through several sites and report all the cases I find but Fran said she isn't a member of our forum so can't be restricted by her.
And that is why as soon as you get anything dodgy it MUST be reported to HU. Anything going on in Chat is private, they can only see it if the member concerned reports it and then they can do something. DL and I find most of the stuff on open forum and I have a nose for non-genuine comments ...
As PMRpro has said that message from HU comes up on any new chat contact, no matter who or on what forum.
HU aren’t that good at spotting spam-so it’s up to us, the users to be proactive.
Unfortunately these people seem to be able to operate for quite a while before they are despatched…but as you say as long as these messages are reported quickly they do eventually get barred…..but like this one.,…they often reappear pretending to be someone else.
It just takes time.
Scammers are very clever… and persistent!
Ignoring them usually pays off…9/10 their story is fiction & is just attention seeking,
Very often just that, but for some in vulnerable situation can be damaging..
I don’t think this lady comes across as vulnerable…just very irritating! She didn’t get a single sympathetic reply on NRAS. If she had been genuine & truly desperate,I think she would have posted on the main site, not sent PMs to people she may have decided were a soft touch. Although if that was the case- she certainly misinterpreted her choice of members.
There were just replies saying they had reported her…none engaged with her.
I didn't mean the perpetrator, I meant the recipients of a scam...
Ah…..They would most likely not have opened a PM from somebody they didn’t know.
As I said really irritating …it’s unfortunate it has gone on so long.
thank you for the warning
Thank you. Haven’t had anything in my chat box but have had a couple of ‘following you’ notifications. ..not names I recognised and certainly not members of the forum. I reported those.
PS. Late reply as a result of your msg just appearing in my daily digest-should be called every second day digest. 🫤
Thankyou for the heads-up. Such a hassle . Hope it can be traced and stopped.
Thanks so much for all your hard work to stop this despicable intrusion.
Good morning PMRpro she has changed her name I reported this yesterday. she is very persistant
That's what they do. Could even be a bot. And why WE have to be persitent too. They come in waves and then disappear for a time. It is easy on the open forum - Fran or Sophie delete their tripe. Though as far as that sort of thing is concerned, I preferred it when we moderators could take instant executive decisions even if we might have been classed as biased!!
I reported it to HU on the basis that it is harmful, as people with the medical condition mentioned need medical treatment, not some cranky herbal. In addition to being spam. The people who send out those kind of messages feed off vulnerable and naive people and they make my blood boil. ha ha I guess I will always be the regulator.
Hope they don’t contact me,they will be told to Foxtrot Oscar!( excuse language!) we all have enough to worry about without having to put up with idiots who think they can give us a miracle cure or advice about something they probably know diddly squat about.Glad we have people that have our backs on this forum!👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼xx
Thank you for this.
Oh that’s a relief thought I had been singled out😡 and inadvertently done something wrong I am so uncertain of myself and almost always have a guilt complex that singles me out. I reported yesterday.
Thanks for the warning, I’ll be on my guard 😒
Chat forum?
Chat amongst forum members
