BTP is full of ghosts

nosniboR11 · 10-06-10, 05:44 PM

hmm, data send your info to Lou, that man will get his whip out

RudyRuetigger · 10-06-10, 05:44 PM

Good find. Alan should be buried.

yisman · 10-06-10, 05:54 PM

good find. Looks pretty suspicious.

big joe 1212 · 10-06-10, 06:00 PM

Good job!

SBR should give you a part time job, paying points, to keep investigating!

Boner_18 · 10-06-10, 06:02 PM

pavyracer · 10-06-10, 06:04 PM

Data,

It's not just BTP who is full of ghosts. They are everywhere especially in the Players Talk.

CarpeDime · 10-06-10, 06:08 PM

great job

ban these fuks

whatsgood5 · 10-06-10, 06:10 PM

Good work Junior Detective

SBR Lou · 10-06-10, 06:26 PM

Hi Data,

Each of those players have unique ID's registered for the 2010 Beat The Prick contest.

I think you make a good point that daily 1-post wonders certainly seem suspicious. In fact, SBR does address this in its Points FAQ which states the following —

Posters who sign in or post once per day for the sole purpose of getting points will not receive loyalty points. Posters are not entitled to points, points will be awarded at the discretion of SBRforum.

The caveat is there can be some great users attached to those 1 or 2-post a day handles. Some may post only when their boss walks past the cubicle or during their daily commute. Not everyone has the same amount of time to invest with SBR and it's important that the less active guys are still shown the same respect as the posting all-stars.

Still, a posters intent will shine through after enough time passes. Having users like yourself that help identify situations where someone may be pulling a fast one on the rest of the community is definitely appreciated.

yisman · 10-06-10, 06:28 PM

Lots of posters post once a day for points, but how many of those keep transferring to the same poster? That's what struck me.

pavyracer · 10-06-10, 06:29 PM

I believe there is software to bypass the unique IP address obstacle. Some people are doing it.

nosniboR11 · 10-06-10, 06:29 PM

lou is always doing a good job

mtneer1212 · 10-06-10, 06:30 PM

I think this warrants a deeper dig.

RudyRuetigger · 10-06-10, 06:34 PM

Originally posted by Lou

Hi Data,

Each of those players have unique ID's registered for the 2010 Beat The Prick contest.

I think you make a good point that daily 1-post wonders certainly seem suspicious. In fact, SBR does address this in its Points FAQ which states the following —

The caveat is there can be some great users attached to those 1 or 2-post a day handles. Some may post only when their boss walks past the cubicle or during their daily commute. Not everyone has the same amount of time to invest with SBR and it's important that the less active guys are still shown the same respect as the posting all-stars.

Still, a posters intent will shine through after enough time passes. Having users like yourself that help identify situations where someone may be pulling a fast one on the rest of the community is definitely appreciated.

Originally posted by yisman

Lots of posters post once a day for points, but how many of those keep transferring to the same poster? That's what struck me.

I agree. If the sign up dates and daily posts weren't enough to warrant a banning, i think them transferring to 1 account is.

WeinketoWarrick · 10-06-10, 06:38 PM

Any halfway intelligent computer kid geek could get around ip issues. It really is too bad people stoop to such levels bit times are tough I guess. Perhaps a reason to only give points to sbr pros...

pavyracer · 10-06-10, 06:41 PM

There is one question Lou hasn't answered. He said there is no IP match on the alleged ghosts. But do all of them have valid DSI accounts?

Killer_Demo · 10-06-10, 06:45 PM

i only have 1 account and wondered if there are a ton of players playing on multiple names...i can see it happening...

Jonah · 10-06-10, 06:58 PM

Originally posted by RudyRuetigger

I agree. If the sign up dates and daily posts weren't enough to warrant a banning, i think them transferring to 1 account is.

Look at the point transfers that were back to back...Almost seems like a before work(@ home) post then a work computer post

http://store.sbrforum.com/points/log/alanspoil

That being said, I don't think you need to be a super active poster to receive points... If you just want to check in and get points and play contests, that is your prerogative...At the very least, these are good leads for SBR especially if they have the gambling gene in them.

sharpcat · 10-06-10, 07:09 PM

One could simply google how to get access to a forum after a ban and any idiot within seconds could know how to do it, it is pretty easy to do.

Several posters with similar join dates transferring points to one account is highly suspicious SBR should monitor all point transactions involving posters with less than 150 posts since these posters are essentially attempting to steal money from SBR.

Data · 10-07-10, 12:16 PM

Originally posted by Lou

Hi Data,

Each of those players have unique ID's registered for the 2010 Beat The Prick contest.

I think you make a good point that daily 1-post wonders certainly seem suspicious. In fact, SBR does address this in its Points FAQ which states the following —

The caveat is there can be some great users attached to those 1 or 2-post a day handles. Some may post only when their boss walks past the cubicle or during their daily commute. Not everyone has the same amount of time to invest with SBR and it's important that the less active guys are still shown the same respect as the posting all-stars.

Still, a posters intent will shine through after enough time passes. Having users like yourself that help identify situations where someone may be pulling a fast one on the rest of the community is definitely appreciated.

Lou, it is unclear from your response if you either realize or suspect that these IDs likely belong to one person. Until the controversies start growing, please let us know if an investigation took place and its results.

I found another thread in "Politics & Economics" subforum today, http://forum.sbrforum.com/politics-e...ts-plunge.html. There are 14 ghosts posted in this thread. I went through just only the first 3 of those and got a chain of more ghosts with the same posting pattern that I described. The point recipients this time are goompirsin, kimbollmark, and alanspoil.

http://store.sbrforum.com/points/log/goompirsin

http://store.sbrforum.com/points/log/kimbollmark

http://store.sbrforum.com/points/log/astillowy

http://store.sbrforum.com/points/log/nico1zuzu

http://store.sbrforum.com/points/log/scotty99dog99

http://store.sbrforum.com/points/log/12laker

http://store.sbrforum.com/points/log/saske

http://store.sbrforum.com/points/log/waddymark

http://store.sbrforum.com/points/log/cricri86
http://store.sbrforum.com/points/log/kilochs
http://store.sbrforum.com/points/log/malukkz

http://store.sbrforum.com/points/log/cristilor

They are realy easy to spot, they talk to each other, have no avatars, most of them joined in July 2010. There seem to be just one person behind these and dozens more ghosts.

mdemps9190 · 10-07-10, 12:28 PM

Complete garbage that SBR isn't deleting these accounts. Points should only be given after 80 posts minimum. Help weed out some of these people...Anybody who is funneling points to one account should be looked at. Ruins the SBR economy as well as the contests.

SBR Lou · 10-07-10, 12:36 PM

Originally posted by Data

Lou, it is unclear from your response if you either realize or suspect that these IDs likely belong to one person. Until the controversies start growing, please let us know if an investigation took place and its results.

We actually followed up with DSI and received confirmation that each username in the original post that is enrolled in the BTP contest has a valid DSI account, none are fraudulent.

Originally posted by Data

They are realy easy to spot, they talk to each other, have no avatars, most of them joined in July 2010. There seem to be just one person behind these and dozens more ghosts.

There are many that seek to exploit the system. Many are caught & dealt with, and of course you'd likely never hear about it. The downside to exposing the tendencies of posters who could be exploiting the system, or could merely be "point-whores" if you will, is that it allows those who fit the bill to adapt and adjust their mannerisms.

We won't get into a public analysis or witch-hunt of each poster that looks fraudulent to the naked eye, but do appreciate that you're trying to help keep the point community safe.

pavyracer · 10-07-10, 12:47 PM

If they all have valid DSI accounts then it's DSI's problem and not sbr's if they are actually exploiding them first.

Boner_18 · 10-07-10, 12:52 PM

One partial solution is to ban p2p transfers of points all together. Tho people could still ghost for points they couldn't pool them making ghosting for points a bit less attractive... This might run contrary to the original intention of points but hey, shit changes.

Data · 10-07-10, 01:01 PM

Originally posted by Lou

We actually followed up with DSI and received confirmation that each username in the original post that is enrolled in the BTP contest has a valid DSI account, none are fraudulent.

There are many that seek to exploit the system. Many are caught & dealt with, and of course you'd likely never hear about it. The downside to exposing the tendencies of posters who could be exploiting the system, or could merely be "point-whores" if you will, is that it allows those who fit the bill to adapt and adjust their mannerisms.

We won't get into a public analysis or witch-hunt of each poster that looks fraudulent to the naked eye, but do appreciate that you're trying to help keep the point community safe.

Since those posters talk to each other and transfer points it is clear they are connected. Since their conversations look nothing like conversations between friends it is logical to assume that there is only one person behind this. The problem here that this fraudster denies real posters their share of winning in BTP. Perhaps, after SBR had to make so many inquiries following complains made by scammers, now SBR can help DSI to unearth a large scale fraud before they know it.

SBR_John · 10-07-10, 01:15 PM

Originally posted by mdemps9190

Complete garbage that SBR isn't deleting these accounts. Points should only be given after 80 posts minimum. Help weed out some of these people...Anybody who is funneling points to one account should be looked at. Ruins the SBR economy as well as the contests.

Thanks Data and everyone else who made great points in this thread. And yes Pavy, there are fraud prevention softwares out there. Not a single day goes by without some scam being broken up here. SBR is trying. We are currently looking to hire a full time fraud prevention guy for Costa Rica. This area will improve I guarantee it.

pavyracer · 10-07-10, 01:26 PM

Originally posted by SBR_John

Thanks Data and everyone else who made great points in this thread. And yes Pavy, there are fraud prevention softwares out there. Not a single day goes by without some scam being broken up here. SBR is trying. We are currently looking to hire a full time fraud prevention guy for Costa Rica. This area will improve I guarantee it.

I know there are fraud prevention softwares for forum owners use. But there are also hackers who sell software to people who want to bypass forum security and abuse the system.

philswin · 10-07-10, 01:55 PM

Originally posted by Boner_18

One partial solution is to ban p2p transfers of points all together. Tho people could still ghost for points they couldn't pool them making ghosting for points a bit less attractive... This might run contrary to the original intention of points but hey, shit changes.

This would be a good solution would no longer have to hear about point stiffs, point begging etc. Banning transfer of points would be the best thing sbr could do. you have the casino and points book out there that should be enough

pavyracer · 10-07-10, 02:18 PM

Originally posted by philswin

This would be a good solution would no longer have to hear about point stiffs, point begging etc. Banning transfer of points would be the best thing sbr could do. you have the casino and points book out there that should be enough

But point transfers allows sbr to collect the rake fee. This is like asking VC not to charge 3% transaction fee on the credit card transactions.

Sledge187 · 10-07-10, 02:19 PM

I miss Bread!

Boner_18 · 10-07-10, 02:51 PM

Originally posted by pavyracer

But point transfers allows sbr to collect the rake fee. This is like asking VC not to charge 3% transaction fee on the credit card transactions.

As long as "points not lost to fraud by implementation of this rule" > "total 1% transactions" than this is a win for SBR. I would bet it is.

Really how much is SBR raking in each day? One fraudulent ghost funneling is equal to 300 points transfered (minus a little for the ghost's transfer). So 10 fraudsters deterred would equate to 3000 points transfered EACH DAY. I think the total transfered is much less than this. Could be wrong though.

pavyracer · 10-07-10, 02:53 PM

Originally posted by Boner_18

As long as "points not lost to fraud by implementation of this rule" > "total 1% transactions" than this is a win for SBR. I would bet it is.

Really how much is SBR raking in each day? One fraudulent ghost funneling is equal to 300 points transfered (minus a little for the ghost's transfer). So 10 fraudsters deterred would equate to 3000 points transfered EACH DAY. I think the total transfered is much less than this. Could be wrong though.

The rake fee is a deterrent for bookmaking.

nosniboR11 · 10-07-10, 03:06 PM

great job all around

Boner_18 · 10-07-10, 03:18 PM

Originally posted by pavyracer

The rake fee is a deterrent for bookmaking.

And banning P2P transfers all together would be consistent with this.