Rick Fink wrote: Then set up a sting! If the imposter uses Pinger then so can we. Give them a fake number and set up a meeting. When they show up who better than a photog to take their picture and out them?
While your intentions are honorable, this might be the worst idea in the history of crime solving. Not only is your scenario initiating the contact and a meeting, which would probably be seen as entrapment, what's going to happen when you take a picture and bring it to authorities? Umm...here's a picture of a guy who is impersonating me. Really? And how do we know that...you have a picture and that's it.
Never take this upon yourself. If anything can go wrong it will. You're assuming that this person is harmless and poses no threat to you. Yet if you and the models are afraid enough to feel it warrants action (and not just some harmless lonely guy) you wouldn't be posting this in the first place.
Please let the proper authorities handle it and save the Hawaii Five-O act for television.
I would liken stalkish behavior to bullying, you can't victimise someone in a strip club so why go there?
From what the OP describes the imposter wants to manipulate another person and has nothing to do with photography or modelling, it may not even be sexual. But anyhow, we're all guessing here.
Impersonation is very popular. Without speculating on the psychology of it all, it is clearly one of the tools often used to exact revenge or push back. In many cases, it is inexpensive. I lost track of how many fake FB accounts there are with my name. We recently had a case where a restaurant owner impersonated a reviewer/blogger in retaliation for a bad review - it got her jail time. will it cut down on impersonation around here? who knows?
OP, if you want to catch creepers, just start a model profile with a girl's photos. I give you permission to use mine, temporarily. Enjoy your emails.
It's most likely someone wanting to perv on some models without any repercussions. If they were wanting to do something physically to the models, why would they have given the model two locations and not shown up?
But honestly this could be a lot less funny for some photographers than it maybe sounds. The imposter says pervy stuff to a model, she thinks it's really the photographer he is pretending to be, and tells a bunch of people what a perv the photographer is. That could actually have a pretty big impact on someone's ability to book people, depending on who the model is. I doubt the models themselves are at risk for anything more than being offended, annoyed, having their time wasted, etc. I certainly can't say that for sure though.
Getting someone to capture the actual phone number would be helpful.
salvatori.
Posts: 2,621
State College, Pennsylvania, US
Rich Burroughs wrote: But honestly this could be a lot less funny for some photographers than it maybe sounds.
I don't disregard the potential seriousness of as issue like this. What I find odd and humorous is the lack of coherent details, clarifications and logic that the OP has been asked for several times.
The situation that he puts forth (if you take the original post and all his replies) just makes it confusing and weird.
Rick Fink wrote: Correct! There are internet services that will sell this information!
After four failed attempts to get models numbers from me this imposter has now claimed to be me in his phone texts!
You can all see how dangerous this can be to our reputations as photographers!
Unfortunately, this could have started with a cyber-crime. Until I chose to move to Wisconsin, I was the lead shooter for Securing Our e Cities http://securingourecity.org/ (a lot of good information here if you want to know how to protect your online presence) which is part of the ESET Foundation. In the time I was with them, I got a little insight via seminars and security conferences that I shot for them. It's frightening how readily available your information is to the average hacker. Worse still is the number of hackers out there and the number is growing daily.
If your information is available on line, then it is available to a hacker. Even worse, almost all apps on your smart phone are breachable. If you keep any personal information on a smart phone, it can be obtained and sold. A former CIA agent spoke at one of the conferences I attended and the first thing he asked was for everyone with a smart phone to hold it up...we all did and he said, if you don't want your information available, turn off your phone now and never turn it back on. Technology can be a wonderful resource, but it appears to be a two headed monster.
I'm not saying this is what's happening, but it's possible some crazy nerd is out there hacking information from a combination of mm/fb and phones and using that information to make his approach. I know someone will scoff at this, but if you've heard and seen the things I've heard and seen for the last two years, you might consider the potential reality of just such a threat.
It's most likely someone wanting to perv on some models without any repercussions. If they were wanting to do something physically to the models, why would they have given the model two locations and not shown up?
But honestly this could be a lot less funny for some photographers than it maybe sounds. The imposter says pervy stuff to a model, she thinks it's really the photographer he is pretending to be, and tells a bunch of people what a perv the photographer is. That could actually have a pretty big impact on someone's ability to book people, depending on who the model is. I doubt the models themselves are at risk for anything more than being offended, annoyed, having their time wasted, etc. I certainly can't say that for sure though.
Getting someone to capture the actual phone number would be helpful.
I guess, if he was only impersonating one dude. If he's impersonating lots of photographers, then not really, because if models are talking enough for it to affect your business if you're impersonated, then models are talking enough to realize this is a sudden epidemic, and only when they don't contact the photographer directly on MM or through their site. If you're generally not a fucking creepo, you'll be fine..
But maybe we SHOULD call the FBI and get a case going, grab some scooby snacks and head down to the old mansion to see if we can ferret out the truth.
Damianne wrote: OP, if you want to catch creepers, just start a model profile with a girl's photos. I give you permission to use mine, temporarily. Enjoy your emails.
I may do that (but not really - MM rules and all). I've heard some crazy stuff from models.
MedievalIce wrote: I may do that (but not really - MM rules and all). I've heard some crazy stuff from models.
I give you superpermission.
You get a sudden surge of ridiculous shit every time you change your location, too.
Keep it up for like three days and change the location daily, then take it down if you haven't already out of disgust.
I'll tell the mods it's me.
I'll send you my worst photos for an extra bump in creepy.
Herman Surkis
Posts: 6,230
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Rick Dupuis Photography wrote:
Then why wouldn't he just pay $300 for a Rebel and join MM himself?
and what is a fake text? Either you hit send or you don't. The content may be a lie, but a text is a text.
It just seems to me there would be easier ways to stalk someone. I'm no professional but I am quite lazy and I think I could come up with something a little easier.
Ask any duck hunter how much his duck cost him. That duck probably cost more then buying one per week at the grocery store.
It's all about the hunt.
The game.
Getting away with something.
'Easy' is not the criterion.
That is why it escalates. "That was too easy. What can I do next?"
Herman Surkis
Posts: 6,230
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
S-a-P wrote:
Your phone number 617-455-**** is readily available on your web site which you link to from your profile. An mm page is no more or less private than your public web site. Many models do not have their own web site and treat their MM page like one - as such they list contact information.
One should have no expectation of privacy for one's contact info that is listed anywhere online. I receive a ton of telemarketing calls via my professional number that I use but I balance that with wanting to be readily accessible to clients and potential clients.
True, but you do not have to make it easy for them.
A thief wants your car, they will get it, but still not a good idea to leave your car unlocked, with the keys in the ignition.
Herman Surkis
Posts: 6,230
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Damianne wrote: No seriously, people, what is someone going to do to me with my phone number, and what would happen to me at a shoot with a faker that couldn't happen to me at a shoot with someone who had gone through the effort of purchasing a camera.
What additional risk is here that I haven't already accepted and thought of with internet modelling?
Problem is that you are sensible and reasonable.
The rest of the world, not so much. So the advice is for them.
Darren Brade
Posts: 1,564
London, England, United Kingdom
Rick Fink wrote: I have been talking to the two other photogs who were impersonated as well as the llamas and here are some solutions that might help.
Most photogs know not to give out llamas phone numbers, even to photogs we know. But that's not enough. If someone contacts you asking for info contact them directly through MM to find out if it's even them! Most of us would be pretty pissed to think that someone was impersonating us!
Then set up a sting! If the imposter uses Pinger then so can we. Give them a fake number and set up a meeting. When they show up who better than a photog to take their picture and out them?
Also be aware that if you're a skilled photog someone could be impersonating you and you might have no idea! One of the real photogs got a call from the parents of a 16 year old hundreds of miles away asking why he was sexting their daughter!
Do these ideas make sense? I think most of us would get pretty pissed if we found out some fake photog was posting our work on his site! What if someone has tried to steal our good name to get llamas to do sexual things for them? Let's nail these bastards.
Hmm, didn't I read a thread on here recently on how all you Yank photographers are packing guns?
While I understand the need to take control I would report it to the police as fraud, it is their job to investigate identity theft.
Aaliyah Love
Posts: 113
Los Angeles, California, US
twoharts wrote: i would never give out contact info for one of my models. i would just point the photographer to their mayhem profile.
Whoah, that's scary! Let me know which companies/photogs do this so I can put them on my no list plz. I don't even give out any personal info anymore until I've checked all references and the shoot is set in stone. Email is fine.
To what end...? Usually people dont go all creep mode unless they're expecting something... Either he's just trying to use other photogs ports to get him shoots (which is really lame) or he's going to try and rape you. Actually he's probably waiting on that gorilla mask he ordered off amazon, you're pretty lucky.
Michael Pandolfo wrote: I do have to add that the irony of this thread title is not lost on me. 90% of us on MM are impersonating photographers.
So you've impersonated photographers before??? i dont know how anyone would know that unless they've seen it firsthand. I don't really pay enough attention to know whether i've seen the same photo twice, or even care...
Rick Fink wrote: Someone has been impersonating me and several other photographers! He tricks photogs into giving out models phone numbers and then makes obscene txt calls!
He even set up a shoot with a model while pretending to be a well known and respected photog! He never showed up but we speculate he might have been watching the model from his car!
Don't respond to any phone text or call you're not familiar with!
Contact me directly on MM if you have been contacted by this jerk!
Tell every photog you know about this and that they're not to give out your number!
Rick
Something doesn't smell right about this. Since no-one knows who the 'jerk' is, how are they to know he's the one you're talking about? Why should models want to contact you anyway in this case? Is this just a scam to get models to call you?
For the record, I would NEVER pass on model's contact details to anyone, and I would be amazed if any decent photographer would either. If some ever contacts me asking about a model in my portfolio (and assuming she is not on MM), the most I will do is pass their info to the model and leave it up to the model to decide.
Rick Fink wrote: Someone has been impersonating me and several other photographers! He tricks photogs into giving out models phone numbers and then makes obscene txt calls!
Rick
I new there was a reason that I don't text. I do provide my cell# So they can call me!
Unfort, I've recently joined MM and have found this to be true:/
i dont know how anyone would know that unless they've seen it firsthand. I don't really pay enough attention to know whether i've seen the same photo twice, or even care...
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