New members

[DuckLady]

We can only do what we can do on an online platform. You can do a lot in person and I have in my jobs. But virtually, not much you can do besides what we are already doing, which is privately encouraging people not to post personal information, removing phone numbers and email addresses from posts and profiles and restricting the posting of ages by minors.
Adults have the right to make the decision, as I said earlier, to post identifying information, foolishly or not. We can discourage, warn against and/or plead with them to stop, but at the end of the day, we can’t police everyone and everything. Try telling Grandma she shouldn’t be driving anymore. It usually doesn’t go well and I say that from personal experience. Same with people insisting on posting more than they should.

To expect that we protect people from scammers completely is unreasonable and unrealistic.

 

[Perris]

With respect, I think you are victim blaming there. What I am looking for is some sort of intervention when it moves from grooming to DMs. Or any mention of money.

And obviously, aiming at the scammers not the grandmas. I'd have thought that didn't need saying, but apparently it does.

 

[DuckLady]

With respect, I think you are victim blaming there. What I am looking for is some sort of intervention when it moves from grooming to DMs. Or any mention of money.

And obviously, aiming at the scammers not the grandmas. I'd have thought that didn't need saying, but apparently it does.

Well, what do you suggest we do? People have to take accountability for what they put out there online. That is no where near victim blaming.
We cannot, will not and shouldn’t be expected to hand hold every single member in case they might get scammed.
If you knew how much the staff works to keep spammers and scammers off BYC, I am sure you would be appreciative. Every one of us is responsive to reports and even those members who have not even posted once, but catch our eyes.
We do not read every thread. We have diligent members who graciously take the time to assist us by reporting suspicious members and their threads. We appreciate those who do this so much. We investigate and discuss every single report.
The moderators here do a wonderful job at this in addition to all the contests, interaction and day to day moderation. The members don’t see the vast majority of what they do because they are that good. They should be appreciated.

 

[Perris]

I am not criticising the moderators here, and I do appreciate them, even though I do not know what goes on behind the scenes. Your focus is still on the users. I am focussed entirely on the scammers. And I assumed, apparently wrongly, that there are automated processes that can spot red flags.

I also believe in personal responsibility and that fools and their money are soon parted, as the saying goes. But I think platforms have a duty to vet new entrants in this age of scammers and bots. As for my suggestions, I'm not a techy, so please forgive me if this is an idiotic suggestion: Would denying entry until at least something qua avatar and an email address is verified work?

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

the obvious reason is to inflate the apparent number of eyes on the site, which sells advertising space.

I can guarantee that this is not what's happening.

I don't know of any other sites as big as BYC that put as much time, energy, and resources into protecting their visitors and members as much as we do.