Somebody following me.

[elwins]

Getting somebody following me, they have not posted anything since being a member. Nothing under profile to say why they have joined this site. Noticed other members have had same person following them. So have reported it for checking. Just need to check hidden is a genuine member. Why are they following.

[RedApple Administrator]

elwins, The member name 'Hidden' is used when a member has actually left the forum.

For example, if I leave the forum now, everything I'm currently writing and have previously written here, will say 'Hidden' instead of RedApple.

It's likely this member has been banned by HU, which is why it says Hidden instead of the member name they originally signed up with.

[elwins in reply to RedApple]

Thanks for information much appreciated then why are they suddenly following me. Happy New Year to everybody.

[RedApple Administrator in reply to elwins]

They probably followed you before they were banned. You just didn't see it at that time

[greygoose in reply to elwins]

Yes, I reported him early this morning, and HU have moved fast!

[elwins in reply to greygoose]

Thanks greygoose, happy new year to you.

[greygoose in reply to elwins]

And to you, elwins.

[elwins]

Thanks for reply much appreciated. These people are just a pain.

[Angel20]

Because HealthUnlocked allows anyone to follow me you or anyone else. It is not sinister surely !!

[elwins in reply to Angel20]

Not if they have been banded, why should they want to follow you. As you say it seems a bit sinister, if they have left the site why follow someone.

[tattybogle in reply to elwins]

'Following' 1000's of people is just the way they are using to advertise . It gives them an opportunity to write their contact details on their new profile page where people they have followed can find it, without putting them in a new post , which would be noticed and removed by admins immediately ..... this way they can get away with having their details up for longer , and hope it will bring some customers who might be desperate enough to try sending money. There is nothing personal about them 'following' anyone in particular ,they are just fishing with a big net.

It doesn't give them any greater access to your stuff that any other reader of the forum.

If you 'follow' someone all that happens is that you get notified if they make a new post.

So being 'followed' is nothing to worry about for anyone who is wise enough to ignore it, but should be reported quickly if you notice.

[helvella Administrator in reply to tattybogle]

Please, if this happens again, would you do the following?

🔴 Click on the member's name in the email you received.

If they are still around, that will take you to their profile.

🔴 When you see their profile, click on Report.

That will send a report directly to HealthUnlocked support.

[tattybogle in reply to helvella]

have done twice ... :)for 'thai ndt' /'jan ndt' when he followed me .

Think he's decided to not follow me anymore cos i keep dobbing him in. as he didn't follow me with 'Thiroyd' but i found a way to report it anyway.

I think maybe he's now found a way to not show up in a 'members ' search, cos i noticed when he was last here (Thiroyd), you could only find his profile page by going through members he's followed, but even though he was still there as a follower of someone and profile was fully readable, his name would not come up in a members search.

Or maybe i'm missing something about how search works.

Just thought i'd mention it.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to elwins]

elwins

if they have left the site why follow someone.

They would have followed you before they were banned. That's when notification of them following you would have been sent (it's automatically triggered). Once a member has been banned they cannot access the forum or it's members so it's impossible to follow someone once they have been banned.

[Angel20 in reply to elwins]

It is obvious they have not left the site If they are banned why can they still follow otters

Perhaps the administrators can throw some light

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Angel20]

Angel20

As mentioned in my reply to elwins above, once a member has been banned they cannot access the forum or it's members so they can no longer start to follow anyone. They can rejoin with another user name and start following people again, and it's this rejoining with a new user name that we are hoping HealthUnlocked can find an answer to.

[Angel20 in reply to SeasideSusie]

You know I could understand if it was fb but to follow people with health issues ! Perhaps the system needs to be modified to delete unwanted followers

[Angel20 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Actually I just checked the settings there is the option not to allow people to follow!!

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Angel20]

Yes, members can switch off the option to allow followers. Unfortunately, you can't stop individuals following you, it is all or nothing.

Some members have experience with certain things, or post about things that other members may be interested in and others will follow that member in order to see what information they post.

Nothing sinister about it and we do have the option of allowing followers or not if it makes us feel uncomfortable.

What has happened recently is a one-off, it's a scammer very likely selling fake NDT and trying to make himself known to as many members as possible in order to dupe them into parting with their money.

As we Admin keep on saying, if you are notified of a follower and are not happy then report that member to HealthUnlocked.

[Angel20]

Thank youScammers it seems they are everywhere!

[elwins]

The reason I am not keen on scammers is because I was scammed but managed to get my money back. So not keen for it to happen again