|
|
Post by sparks on Jul 30, 2018 9:25:02 GMT -5
As with most forums, we get a lot of people that join and never participate. While some of these are legitimate, many are likely phishing for email addresses or personal information.
In an effort to better protect our current members, we are entertaining the idea of requiring staff approval for all new member registrations. While you as current members will not experience any changes, it would require one of our staff to actually review and approve a registration before they can access the forum.
Additionally, if you take a look at the image below, this is what we recommend for privacy settings for the forum. You can find these settings by going here: Profile > Edit Profile > Privacy. FYI, staff does not have access to this tab for members, so you need to be proactive and ensure your settings are properly updated. Also, please keep in mind that only registered users can see the member list, or personal profiles, so you never have to worry about a non-registered guest being able to see ANY of your information.
I would say the most important setting is your email visibility. I believe that for all new members, it defaults to "Share with Friends & Staff". We recommend changing it to Staff only. If you want to provide your email address to someone, you can do so through PM after you are comfortable with that person. DO NOT share with Everyone or all Registered Users. Additionally, I would review the Personal tab and be sure you are not providing any personally identifiable information.
Also, we would appreciate if everyone would share their Birthday, even if only the Month and the Day. While it's not required, it is nice to be able to acknowledge peoples Birthday when it rolls around.
Please reach out to one of the staff if you have any questions.
|
|
|
|
Post by Legend Lover on Jul 30, 2018 9:34:36 GMT -5
Will amend now. Thanks.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
Location:
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2018 11:33:47 GMT -5
As a former Admin for almost 7 years with a popular classic car and hot rod magazine forum, ALL members were reviewed prior by myself or one of five Mods at the time. You’d be surprised how many that were determined to be there for the purpose of phishing, gathering as much personal information as possible. What we finally decided was, if a new member had from 1 to 10 posts in the first 60 days, that member was permanently blocked. Those members that had 1 post within 30 days was immediately banned!! This helped weed out problems in the future that were inevitable.
As Sparks suggested it is a great idea to at least post the day and month your were born, you can choose not to have the year in your profile, for me I’m fine with posting my month, day and year. It would be great to start a HAPPY BIRTHDAY POST👍👍👍 ALL personal email address should never be part of one’s profile. Very easy for a hacker to gain access to your personal address book and “ spam “ everyone in your address book. If you ever receive an email from a “ party “ you don’t know and there is a link within the bed of your email, delete that email immediately and permanently block sender! Whatever you do...don’t click on the link, chances are you just downloaded a backdoor Trojan Horse. Some that can actually have access to every keystroke, texts and personal emails. Enjoy the Internet, it’s an open book of knowledge as well as a way for thieves to gain access your bank accounts.
Always think ahead and be cautious online, never give out personal information online, no legitimate business or bank will ever ask for your complete Social Security number online or to “ please send us your password to update our information “! If you receive such an email, personally contact the business or your bank and make them aware of the issue.....99.9% of the time it’s a scam to gather personal information.
|
|
|
|
Post by Legend Lover on Jul 30, 2018 11:59:04 GMT -5
Useful stuff there, thanks.
|
|
joeman
Full Member
Posts: 569
First Name: Joe
Favorite Pipe: Grabow Hillcrest
Favorite Tobacco: Sutliff Barbados Plantation
Location:
|
Post by joeman on Jul 30, 2018 12:05:08 GMT -5
Justin...I think staff approval for the reasons you state is a good idea. Thanks for the privacy suggestions.
|
|
|
|
Post by peterd-Buffalo Spirit on Jul 30, 2018 13:48:08 GMT -5
… agreed...
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
Location:
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2018 15:11:21 GMT -5
Doesn't listing your full birthdate (including year) provide phishers with info they want?
|
|
|
|
Post by pepesdad1 on Jul 30, 2018 15:33:22 GMT -5
Every time I go into my profile it ask to replenish my email address. When I put in the email address which has not changed it tells me that it is not correct....what is up with that?
I agree with lonecoyote and sparks.
|
|
|
|
Post by just ol ed on Jul 30, 2018 15:40:28 GMT -5
good ideas from the above. I do no personal banking online. I don't mind my b.year........hell; I'd like to keep my "seniority" far as I know.
cheers to all
Ed Duncan
12/29/40
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
Location:
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2018 16:35:49 GMT -5
Every time I go into my profile it ask to replenish my email address. When I put in the email address which has not changed it tells me that it is not correct....what is up with that? I agree with lonecoyote and sparks. Walt, your personal email address should NOT be open to forum members without your permission and you send it to them using a PM. Only one’s that have access to my email address is the Admin or possibly the Mods of this forum. Some forums ONLY an Admin has access to your email address for security purposes. |
|
|
|
Post by Legend Lover on Jul 30, 2018 16:55:28 GMT -5
I actually created an email address just for this forum.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
Location:
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2018 17:09:19 GMT -5
I actually created an email address just for this forum. Shouldn’t be posted openly within your profile!!! PS
I just checked, your okay👍👍 |
|
|
|
Post by Legend Lover on Jul 30, 2018 17:12:22 GMT -5
I actually created an email address just for this forum. Shouldn’t be posted openly within your profile!!! PS
I just checked, your okay👍👍I know you'll keep me right, buddy. |
|
|
|
Post by Wolfman on Jul 30, 2018 17:27:38 GMT -5
I actually created an email address just for this forum. I created an encrypted email address for this single post!!! 😃 |
|
|
|
Post by scrooge on Jul 30, 2018 17:37:33 GMT -5
Done.
|
|
|
|
Post by Legend Lover on Jul 30, 2018 17:49:40 GMT -5
I actually created an email address just for this forum. I created an encrypted email address for this single post!!! 😃 haha 😂 |
|
|
|
Post by trailboss on Jul 30, 2018 17:58:03 GMT -5
A bit off forum topic, but if you are registered on social media sites like Facebook, it is never good to post your birth date in the settings...that can be a critical piece of the information puzzle, that identity hackers look for on sites like that.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
Location:
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2018 18:26:05 GMT -5
Doesn't listing your full birthdate (including year) provide phishers with info they want? They need to get more info then just your full birth date. The line of work I retired from I’m extremely careful, I had no problem with putting my entire birth date in my profile. Now, if I had just your drivers license number I could access your credit history and just imagine what can happen next. Other then motor vehicle & my doctors I don’t let my drivers license get copied. Now, we need too then worry about those employees @ motor vehicle & doctors offices that get paid big money for gathering such information. |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
Location:
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2018 18:30:56 GMT -5
A bit off forum topic, but if you are registered on social media sites like Facebook, it is never good to post your birth date in the settings...that can be a critical piece of the information puzzle, that identity hackers look for on sites like that. Charlie, on a social media site like Facebook posting your birth date is the least of your problems!!! All a good hacker needs is your IP address, which can easily be tracked on many vulnerable social media sites, that’s just the beginning. |
|
|
|
Post by Legend Lover on Jul 31, 2018 2:29:24 GMT -5
A bit off forum topic, but if you are registered on social media sites like Facebook, it is never good to post your birth date in the settings...that can be a critical piece of the information puzzle, that identity hackers look for on sites like that. Charlie, on a social media site like Facebook posting your birth date is the least of your problems!!! All a good hacker needs is your IP address, which can easily be tracked on many vulnerable social media sites, that’s just the beginning. would a vpn help to mitigate against that? |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
Location:
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 31, 2018 4:23:53 GMT -5
Charlie, on a social media site like Facebook posting your birth date is the least of your problems!!! All a good hacker needs is your IP address, which can easily be tracked on many vulnerable social media sites, that’s just the beginning. would a vpn help to mitigate against that? A VPN helps, however many websites including banks will not let you log in using a proxy server. |
|
|
|
Post by Legend Lover on Jul 31, 2018 4:48:16 GMT -5
would a vpn help to mitigate against that? A VPN helps, however many websites including banks will not let you log in using a proxy server. But with respect to social media sites, it's a good option to employ, I would assume (provided they allow you to log in with a proxy server). |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
Location:
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 31, 2018 5:25:01 GMT -5
A VPN helps, however many websites including banks will not let you log in using a proxy server. But with respect to social media sites, it's a good option to employ, I would assume (provided they allow you to log in with a proxy server). I use a VPN whenever allowed or I bounce my IP address. Out of ALL the websites I visit, the ONLY website that recognizes I’m bouncing out of other Countries is Yahoo. Therefore I no longer use Yahoo, who is dying a slow death👌 |
|
|
|
Post by simnettpratt on Jul 31, 2018 5:54:23 GMT -5
I'm actually a 12 year old Russian girl living in Bulgaria. I've never even seen a pipe. So far I've made over 12,000 Leva cryptomining from your pcs. Oh, and you-know-who-you-are? Your wife's cheating on you.
|
|
|
|
Post by Legend Lover on Jul 31, 2018 6:07:03 GMT -5
I'm actually a 12 year old Russian girl living in Bulgaria. I've never even seen a pipe. So far I've made over 12,000 Leva cryptomining from your pcs. Oh, and you-know-who-you-are? Your wife's cheating on you. You're very smart for your age. When I was 12 I barely knew how to read. |
|
|
|
Post by simnettpratt on Jul 31, 2018 6:13:01 GMT -5
I ain't doin' it LL. If I respect you, I ain't showing it with some damn button  |
|
desolbones
Junior Member
Posts: 410 
First Name: Greg
Favorite Pipe: Briar, Clay,Cob, Meer, Metal and Morta.
Favorite Tobacco: Searching
Location:
|
Post by desolbones on Jul 31, 2018 20:59:07 GMT -5
For all my lurking guess I'm the definition of a low count noob. I don't do ink blots, random pictures or word association games. That with a court admissible document, signed by three psychiatrists attesting my sanity ought to be enough! Gee how many flags did I win on the end run? Excuse me, gotta run, my altered ego is calling.
|
|
|
|
Post by Lady Margaret on Aug 1, 2018 8:14:06 GMT -5
For all my lurking guess I'm the definition of a low count noob. I don't do ink blots, random pictures or word association games. That with a court admissible document, signed by three psychiatrists attesting my sanity ought to be enough! Gee how many flags did I win on the end run? Excuse me, gotta run, my altered ego is calling.  |
|
|
|
Post by johnlawitzke on Aug 3, 2018 13:09:28 GMT -5
Getting back to the original question... As long as it is not going to create a lot of extra work for you, I am in favor of admin approval for new membership requests.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
Location:
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2018 14:41:36 GMT -5
Getting back to the original question... As long as it is not going to create a lot of extra work for you, I am in favor of admin approval for new membership requests. Ditto! |
|
