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A Question For Forum Mods

by Ofthemix
13 replies
I don't know if I should feel like a dick or if I was justified. I own a forum . . . where it's not uncommon for members to try and make duplicate accounts and try to pass them off as new people like I can't see their IP addresses. T_T

Anyways, someone just joined my forum with the same IP address as another member. He claimed to be a classmate of the other member. And since they're both using school computers and are connected to the same network, it would make sense that they would have the same IP address.

The issue is, that the original member claims to switch his IP address a lot using a list of IP addresses that he gets sent via email(which is apparent in the admin panel because he uses about 10 different IP addresses). I would assume that if these two people weren't the same, that the other guy would only have one main static IP address. But, his account is now showing another IP address which matches one that the other guy uses.

How likely would you say that these two people are the same person? Host name matches, main IP address matches, and an additional alternate IP address matches. They've both sworn up and down that they just go to the same school. I'm having a hard time buying it.

This guy has created a fake account before, but when I called him on it he admitted it right away.

Your thoughts.
#forum #mods #question
  • Profile picture of the author Barry Unruh
    Originally Posted by Ofthemix View Post

    I don't know if I should feel like a dick or if I was justified. I own a forum . . . where it's not uncommon for members to try and make duplicate accounts and try to pass them off as new people like I can't see their IP addresses. T_T

    Anyways, someone just joined my forum with the same IP address as another member. He claimed to be a classmate of the other member. And since they're both using school computers and are connected to the same network, it would make sense that they would have the same IP address.

    The issue is, that the original member claims to switch his IP address a lot using a list of IP addresses that he gets sent via email(which is apparent in the admin panel because he uses about 10 different IP addresses). I would assume that if these two people weren't the same, that the other guy would only have one main static IP address. But, his account is now showing another IP address which matches one that the other guy uses.

    How likely would you say that these two people are the same person? Host name matches, main IP address matches, and an additional alternate IP address matches. They've both sworn up and down that they just go to the same school. I'm having a hard time buying it.

    This guy has created a fake account before, but when I called him on it he admitted it right away.

    Your thoughts.
    If either sides of the split-personality are being disruptive then suspend or ban them. If they are both otherwise behaving it would be a tough call.
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    • Profile picture of the author Ofthemix
      Originally Posted by Barry Unruh View Post

      If either sides of the split-personality are being disruptive then suspend or ban them. If they are both otherwise behaving it would be a tough call.
      Yeah, that's the thing. The main guy is one of the top posters of the forum. And this other person is not being disruptive. I've threatened a ban already, which I figured would have made the other guy come clean about it. So, Idk.
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  • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
    Not enough information here to answer the question. There's enough to raise flags, but not form conclusions.

    What you need to look for are patterns. We all have them. The most obvious ones are also the ones we're most likely to miss in ourselves, because they're things we don't ever think about.

    It's all about patterns.


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  • Profile picture of the author John Taylor
    Are the two "people" doing anything to gain
    some sort of advantage?

    If they aren't being disruptive, or trying to
    manipulate others for personal benefit, I'm
    not sure it's worth the hassle?

    If you are really concerned, ask them to
    send you some form of ID by fax, snail mail
    or as a PDF/image attachment to an email.

    Sometimes making 'em jump through hoops
    flushes them out. ;-)

    John
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    • Profile picture of the author Ofthemix
      Originally Posted by John Taylor View Post

      Are the two "people" doing anything to gain
      some sort of advantage?

      If they aren't being disruptive, or trying to
      manipulate others for personal benefit, I'm
      not sure it's worth the hassle?

      If you are really concerned, ask them to
      send you some form of ID by fax, snail mail
      or as a PDF/image attachment to an email.

      Sometimes making 'em jump through hoops
      flushes them out. ;-)

      John
      lol Well, the main guy claims to be a hacker but he's pretty harmless. We had the IP address discussion when he tried to make another fake account. He's a nice kid though.

      lol It's not worth the hassle of me being that much of a dick about it. :p I'm just kind of tired of people making fake second accounts. It's hard to trust anyone when you've had to deal with as much as I have on that forum.

      As soon as I saw that the IPs matched I pretty much sent the guy an email saying, "You're going to have to do better than that." Now I feel kinda like a douche, especially if it's really not a fake account.
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  • Profile picture of the author Adie
    Ban HIM ALL

    Even if they have the same network, there should be a different IP socks. This is an old style that failed years ago...
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  • Profile picture of the author talfighel
    I think it is one person trying to get some advantages. I don't think that you should worry about this person unless he or she is doing some harm to your forum.

    You can actually ban that IP address but again, they can use another computer from different location.

    Tal
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    • Profile picture of the author Adie
      Originally Posted by talfighel View Post

      I think it is one person trying to get some advantages. I don't think that you should worry about this person unless he or she is doing some harm to your forum.

      You can actually ban that IP address but again, they can use another computer from different location.

      Tal
      The first thing I think of was a specific user from Flippa selling autoblogs. He have more than 10 positive reviews and those people who gave reviews joined Flippa almost the same month he joined....with most without avatar and detailed profile...

      Whatever this person wanted to take for granted should be stopped as early as possible...
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  • Profile picture of the author masterjani
    You can ban Both of the IP's.Or try to find the first guy who is register using that ip.Then you can easily find the other guy who changes ip continuosly
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  • Profile picture of the author dgridley
    My gut would tell me they are one and the same but then, I've moderated forums for a few years now so have become quite the cynic. I check every new user on my forums extensively, sometimes while they are still registering. Better to ban first than clean up later..
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  • Profile picture of the author Ofthemix
    If I ban by IP, both accounts will automatically be banned. That's what I told the original guy.

    I made such a big fuss about it though, that whether that other guy is a real or fake account, I doubt he'll be coming back. :-p
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  • Profile picture of the author dgridley
    Sometimes it's hard to tell if they're "pulling something" if you're not vigilant I only recently became aware spammers were flooding the photo albums with text links and spam. If there's a way, they'll find it. I'd rather be proactive than reactive.. once the damage is done, it's hard to clean up. I would almost swear I got the same story from a user once and it turned out it was the same person..
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  • Profile picture of the author Ofthemix
    Thanks guys. It was bothering me. I feel better now.
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