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16,867 Posts
About 10 months ago we had a member that threatened to report me to certain legal authorities if I did not remove a post. There was nothing illegal in the thread, so I was wondering what the guys problem was. To keep him under a close eye, he was made a staff member. This way he could post stuff in the staff section without other members seeing it.
Over the following months, he created several accounts and was posting threads and post under each account - even replying to he other post. To make matters worse, we had the reputation system turned on. He would give 3 - 4 members negative rep points, then give his so called buddies + rep points. Looking through the reputation system logs, it looked like he would start doing this when he got home from work - because it was happening at the same time everyday. Well, mostly around midnight - 2am.
The final straw (or straws) was when he started posting stuff like "I am a staff member and what I say goes" - to other members. He also threatened me several more times to report this site to the FBI and BATF if certain firearms post were not removed. There was nothing illegal posted, and I did not understand what his problem was.
His staff position was revoked. After that, things really went downhill. He became hostile towards other members, and not only him, but his other alter egos.
In the end, that member, also known as varmintstalkers was banned - as were his 2 other accounts. This was in April of 2008.
About two months later, he creates another 2 accounts and post trolling threads. Both were banned.
This week another 2 accounts were created, and both were banned.
Things that all of these users had in common make me think they are all the same person.
Part of a post from yesterday:
All of these accounts:
guns-n-jesus
Queer_Survivalist
varmintstalkers
Sweet Survival
survivalguru4u
are related to one person - varmintstalkers
guns-n-jesus and Queer_Survivalist both used a proxy server to access the site. Proxy servers mask users real IP address.
Without explaining the security of this website - I know for a fact that varmint started using a proxy server to access this site, that was after his real IP address was banned. So he has resorted to proxies.
What we are dealing with is someone with multiple personalities. That is the only thing I know to call it. What do you say about someone that post questions, then logs in with another account, post a reply to his question - and does this for a month?
I just want to assure this community I am doing everything I can do keep the trolls out. Sometimes this means banning without a warning. If a new member comes in a post a trolling thread, then they have to go - right then.
Some of the members here have considered this harsh - to ban a member without a warning. But if anyone else has a solution on how to deal with trolls, let me know. I am currently looking for a way to ban proxy servers, to where they can not access this site at all. But so far I have not found a solution.
Over the following months, he created several accounts and was posting threads and post under each account - even replying to he other post. To make matters worse, we had the reputation system turned on. He would give 3 - 4 members negative rep points, then give his so called buddies + rep points. Looking through the reputation system logs, it looked like he would start doing this when he got home from work - because it was happening at the same time everyday. Well, mostly around midnight - 2am.
The final straw (or straws) was when he started posting stuff like "I am a staff member and what I say goes" - to other members. He also threatened me several more times to report this site to the FBI and BATF if certain firearms post were not removed. There was nothing illegal posted, and I did not understand what his problem was.
His staff position was revoked. After that, things really went downhill. He became hostile towards other members, and not only him, but his other alter egos.
In the end, that member, also known as varmintstalkers was banned - as were his 2 other accounts. This was in April of 2008.
About two months later, he creates another 2 accounts and post trolling threads. Both were banned.
This week another 2 accounts were created, and both were banned.
Things that all of these users had in common make me think they are all the same person.
Part of a post from yesterday:
The problem is, I know Dwind - he has been to my house, he has eaten at my table, shared food with my family and I consider him a friend.
All of these accounts:
guns-n-jesus
Queer_Survivalist
varmintstalkers
Sweet Survival
survivalguru4u
are related to one person - varmintstalkers
guns-n-jesus and Queer_Survivalist both used a proxy server to access the site. Proxy servers mask users real IP address.
Without explaining the security of this website - I know for a fact that varmint started using a proxy server to access this site, that was after his real IP address was banned. So he has resorted to proxies.
What we are dealing with is someone with multiple personalities. That is the only thing I know to call it. What do you say about someone that post questions, then logs in with another account, post a reply to his question - and does this for a month?
I just want to assure this community I am doing everything I can do keep the trolls out. Sometimes this means banning without a warning. If a new member comes in a post a trolling thread, then they have to go - right then.
Some of the members here have considered this harsh - to ban a member without a warning. But if anyone else has a solution on how to deal with trolls, let me know. I am currently looking for a way to ban proxy servers, to where they can not access this site at all. But so far I have not found a solution.
