FAKE PROFILES esp men as women

It's a well-recognised, if not perhaps that widely-known reality, that a not insignificant amount of men use the internet to pretend that they are women. They often go to elaborate lengths to build up their persona, and can do it for all kinds of reasons.

Where it gets fully unethical - if not actually illegal - is when the pictures of women are essentially stolen to back up the pretense.

USING GOOGLE IMAGE CHECK

Did you know you can check or verify people's photos on Google, by dropping them into the 'Google images' box? It will show you links to any other instances of them appearing on the net! You will need to save them first, then drag them over - probably using a PC, tablet or laptop.

ARE THEY USING DODGY ‘EX-GIRLFRIEND’ PICS?

You may find that the image(s), as well as being on the profile of the person you've been chatting to (or perhaps camming to some other 'phone-sent' pictures from?), could also be on one of those sleazy ex-girlfriend sites, or perhaps just a standard porn site or three. If so, the chances are extremely high (if not an absolute certainty) that the profile's creator isn't the woman or person he says he is, and the whole trick is effectively an act of identity theft too.

REPORTING TO AFF

You can report instances of fake profiles to Transen Kontakte, and there are also a variety of blocking options you can use that are accessible via the Privacy and Account links. (using 'block' links outside of the main block page can lead to just partial-blocks, such as block from Instant messaging). Using the main block page, you can even block everything but standard Messages or IM's, if you perhaps wish to isolate and question someone there.

OTHER CAM FRAUD

Another fraudulent act that can happen on these sites is for a fake-profile creator to get people to cam outside of Transen Kontakte (via Google or Skype etc), effectively to perform a pre-prepared video of someone, and to record the victim for blackmailing purposes. Recently a celebrity described this happening to him on a UK reality TV programme. It is actually possible to record people’s webcam video directly from Transen Kontakte, but it seems that off-site places like Skype are preferred for this.

All these things can happen to anyone who is interested in using the cam facility on this site, but are not aware of the dangers involved.

Generally speaking, if a profile looks too good to be true, and people constantly refuse to verify themselves (perhaps they keep blaming their phone?), people would be wise to exercise some caution on Transen Kontakte.

OUTING OFFENDERS