[nanog69]

Warning Against Revealing Your Identity and/or Personal Information To Forum Members

Recently in Sam's forum, a member's personal info was posted by another member in the midst of a cyber dispute. Another member whereabout in Hatyai was also being revealed, leading to phone calls being made to the victim's hotel room to harass him.

In view of these incidents, there are 3 advice from Sam, which I think is important and applicable to all other forums:

* Keep your identity secret.
* Do not divulge personal information eg phone numbers & addresses.
* If you do arrange meetings through this site, do NOT reveal your sammyboy nick

Here are a few tips on how to guard your identity and personal info when seeking assistance on Hatyai:

Correspondence With Acquaintances From The Forum

1. Never ever reveal your identity or any other personal information in your correspondence with acquaintances from the forum.
2. Try to correspond via email. Use your free email account which does not have your real name on it. If you don't have, create one. Avoid using your company's email.
3. If you need to correspond via the forum, you may use your original nick provided you are not going to meet that person later. If you intend to meet him, then it is wise to use a new nick instead. Remember to use that new nick when posting any feedback or report later after the trip, so that you will still remain anonymous with your original nick. Whichever nick you are using, again do not reveal your identity or other personal information.

Meeting With Forum Members

4. Do not fill in any application forms given by forum members where you will reveal your identity, as well as your personal information.
5. Introduce yourself as John, Sam, Mike, or whatever common western names that you can think of, but never your real name. Surnames like Tan, Lim, Lee, etc are alright as they are common enough.
6. Your personal documents like passport, identification card etc should always remain with you and never be handed over to the forum member you met in Hatyai. For hotel check-in or buying of air ticket, please make sure that the no one is not around when you provide the necessary personal info requested. In addition to personal documents, you should ensure that all other documents which contains your real identity or personal info (eg email confirmation letter from airlines or hotels) should not be seen by the forum member that you met there.
7. If you are using your new nick to correspond with any person in Hatyai, remember to use that same nick when you met that person, and not your original nick.
8. Always remain vague and avoid answering questions about your personal life (like your job, your company etc). Talk about anything under the sun except about yourself.
9. If any samster were to pressure you into revealing your identity, then you better stay away from him. For sure he is up to no good in wanting to find out who you are. It is better for you not to know this person, even if you have to roam Hatyai by yourself.
10. Never give your handphone number out to the forum member that you meet in hatyai. Avoid using your handphone for correspondence. Used a local prepaid SIM card instead. If not, then always make use of the hotel phone at the reception, which is free for local calls.
11. Beware of joining or investing in any businesses proposed by the forum member in Hatyai. In such dealings, beside giving out your money, you will also need to divulge your personal details. Beside losing your money, you will also have to deal with your personal info being used against you should relationship turn sour.

Note

There are many forum members who have met with each other without any problems, and some have even become close friends. However, there are a few incidents where revealing one's indentity has become a liability for some. The most serious incident is the recent one in Hatyai. Therefore this is to serve as a general warning to all forum members. It is up to the individual to decide whether he can trust the stranger he knows through the forum, and be comfortable enough to reveal his identity and personal info to him. For newbies, it is advisable to very cautious of the people you meet from the forum, and take all the necessary precaution to protect themselves.

Regards
Nanog69