Should this section be restricted to members only?

[joddle]

Joddle - there is already one Members Only section.
viewforum.php?f=36

That's it - no extra work, policing etc. required.[/quote]

I am aware of that BUT if you find that an enquiry is a genuine scam in he new "members area" there is no point leaving it there as it will only warn other members - TO be of public use it then needs putting in the public domain and that's the maintenance I was referring to. Who will do it? If it is not done then pretty well a waste of time.

[GRL]

If a member puts up a post in ht members only area about a potential scammer and the view is that is is a scam then they can simply add that scam to the public thread. If some posts don't head over for any reason that is a slight loss but not the end of the world.

[Cassis]

Just a little update - the thread in question is now indexed by Google. If anyone now Googles "Dr Jim Wright Dubai" the second result is the thread on LMH questioning whether he is a scammer.

I don't think it would please him too much if he came across that thread on LMH or someone happened across it and told him. But not my problem, eh?

[Cassis]

if you find that an enquiry is a genuine scam in he new "members area" there is no point leaving it there as it will only warn other members - TO be of public use it then needs putting in the public domain and that's the maintenance I was referring to. Who will do it? If it is not done then pretty well a waste of time.

True - but what is more important: avoiding pissing off our clients or providing a tangential service to people we don't know?

I don't think that this section, if were not indexed by Google, would be a waste of time. It would still serve Members, same as ever.

Just acting as Devil's Advocate here. Not sure why.

[Bunny]

Just a little update - the thread in question is now indexed by Google. If anyone now Googles "Dr Jim Wright Dubai" the second result is the thread on LMH questioning whether he is a scammer.

I don't think it would please him too much if he came across that thread on LMH or someone happened across it and told him. But not my problem, eh?

I don't think a name in itself is too incriminating. After all, there are millions of Dave Smiths for example. However, once you start adding 'Dr' and 'Dubai' it begins to narrow someone down. But adding a Linked-In profile, appears like a 'wanted mugshot' IMO. I think this is a problem for all of us. I would not be best pleased to google my name and find such a thread. IANAL, but libel for defamation should be a concern for all of us IMO. Personally, I think the thread in question contains too much detail and needs to be removed for the benefit of all concerned.

[Ecosse]

I don't think a name in itself is too incriminating. After all, there are millions of Dave Smiths for example. However, once you start adding 'Dr' and 'Dubai' it begins to narrow someone down. But adding a Linked-In profile, appears like a 'wanted mugshot' IMO. I think this is a problem for all of us. I would not be best pleased to google my name and find such a thread. IANAL, but libel for defamation should be a concern for all of us IMO. Personally, I think the thread in question contains too much detail and needs to be removed for the benefit of all concerned.

+1

[Nemo]

I personally think the scam section should remain open to the public. It does bring many members into the forum. However, I think members posting should be more mindful of not posting personal details such as email addresses etc. It's possible to post about a scam, without putting all the details in that would reveal the person behind it should it turn out to be a genuine enquiry.

[Casscat]

I haven't read the responses, not because I could not care less, but because basically I couldn't care less Many many many people concerned about enquiries they have received Google the names or the rather pat or strange content and find their way here. As far as I'm concerned that's worth its weight in gold, and if the odd Dr Jim finds himself the subject of a search then a) it should be damn obvious that he is not the Dr Jim in question and b) he can apply to have the thread removed via the very accommodating moderator or indeed the whole Google privacy thing. I think we sometimes forget that there are a lot of very green around the gills rental folk out there and the scams thread is for them and not us. Publishing full email addies for unconfirmed scammers/spammers fair enough, but message body and user name/partial email well that's not really controversial is it?

[costa-brava]

Lots of things have been thrown up in the last week or so. There are many posts in the scam section that are non-specific; for example the one about the site where you can check if your username has been compromised in a hacking raid of a big site. So I am definitely against putting this section in members only.
Also, if you look in the section on France you will find posts about scammers (two of which name the accused scammer). There are a couple in the listing site section about scamming issues. If you push this scamming section into hiding, people will do scamming posts all over the place and it will be counter productive. Much better if everybody follows Paolo's basic rules.
Another thought occurred to me, that my username in LMH is also my username in many sites and so I have changed to costa-brava.
I think you'll all know who I am but I'm happier with this change.