Registering with FraudWatchers
Guidelines for Using the Forum
Administrators, Moderators and Usergroups
What Not To Post
Personal Profiles

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Registering with FraudWatchers

Registration to become a member is not mandatory, although it is encouraged. Unregistered guests to the site may post items within certain open forums, and of course the information on our pages is available to all visitors. Guest posts, once made, are held in a moderation queue for validation to avoid spambots. Private messaging facilities are only available for registered members.

When registering, we would suggest that no information is given that may reveal your true identity or whereabouts. We would discourage the use of personal email addresses or real names as a username with which to login to the site; selection of an appropriate nickname or handle is advised.

If there are instances or queries where you feel a necessity to reveal information about yourself (for example, scam emails that have been addressed directly to you) then you may send a private message to an administrator or moderator, or alternatively you may use the Contact Us form. Please also read Section 4. Personal Profiles about what and what not to post in the forums.

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1. Guidelines for Using the Forum

Although Fraudwatchers operates a policy of open discussion within the forums, there is the need to issue a few guidelines that we ask our guests and visitors to follow. Generally, it's a matter of following common sense and courtesy, and we ask that you respect your fellow posters at all times.

For those users that are unfamiliar with terms and jargon relating to forum usage, and also to read some notes as to how to make new threads, posts and replies, please read the following FAQ link:

http://www.fraudwatchers.org/forums/faq.php?faq=fw_baseforum

English has been selected as the primary language for these forums, and we would ask that all posts in the main forums are written in this language. We have included several different language support forums and hope that for the future, this will be increased, in addition to translation methods for the main site articles and FAQs.

Avoid using language that some people may find foul, offensive or insulting. Please remember that our visitors are from communities all over the world, and that English may not be their primary language.

Private Messages (PMs) between users are enabled on these forums; however, please be aware that scammers may register with this board and effectively try to groom victims using this method. You can of course also send private messages to administrators or moderators; if you feel that you have received any PMs that are abusive or insulting, or any that are trying to obtain your personal information in any way, please report this to the administrators or moderators.

Fraudwatchers exercises a policy of zero tolerance for personal attacks on other members on the forums, and any posts of this nature will be deleted without prejudice, The parties involved may receive warnings or suspensions, and if the personal attacks persist, then this may result in a ban from the site.

Bear in mind that there are no stupid questions, except the ones that are never asked. Everyone is in need of information, reassurance and guidance in some form, and answers to questions, queries or opinions need to be of a moderate nature without the need for flaming or sarcasm. Please remember that if you cannot say anything positive or constructive, it is best not to say anything at all.

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2. Administrators, Moderators and Usergroups

Administrators
Admistrators are the people that ensure the Fraudwatchers site and forums are kept up to date with upgrades and information modules. Their primary task is to ensure the smooth running and seamless integration and interaction of the site with its visitors and members.

Moderators
The role of the moderator is primarily focused on ensuring that the forum posts are responsible, relevent and materially pertinent to the subject matter. It is also the responsibility of the moderators to present responses and replies to queries regarding the forum and its guidelines and methods, in addition to ensuring visitors and guests conform to the policies of this site.

Legal & LEO
Membership of this usergroup is offered to those individuals who are, or have been, in the active service or vocational pursuit of the legal profession or law enforcement either at local, national or international level.

Contributors
A contributor is one who writes news items and articles for Fraudwatchers, encompassing a broad range of subjects that are relevant to internet frauds and scams.

Support
We have a victim support user group, who are experienced in how internet frauds work, how victims react to these scams and a very good overview of the scamming process itself. Members of this group are in a very good position to offer advice and guidance to those who have been involved or affected by fraudsters, and who are seeking assistance.

Advisor
On occasion, we have administrators from other support sites visit us to share information and data. These individuals have considerable experience in victim support and are able to offer expert advice to victims of fraud.

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3. What NOT To Post

The Fraudwatchers forum is an open discussion board, where guests, visitors and members may share experiences and offer assistance. However, there are times when it is inappropriate to post certain information as this can be detrimental both to the user and to the members and administrators of this site.

Never post personal information about yourself or others on this board. This includes real name, email addresses, postal addresses, telephone numbers and bank account/credit card details. It is possible that scammers may visit this board and such information may be of use to them. Of course if this information is about a scammer, then this would not apply since it is in the public interest.

Fraudwatchers.Org is a support and assistance site, with information about internet based scams that are open for viewing to the public. We do not advertise, nor do we endorse or promote any commercial interests whatsoever; we therefore request that all posts that are made on the forums by guests and members refrain from any kind of advertisement or promotion of commercial goods or services. Any such posts made will be either moved to the Scammers section (if we believe the posts to be scams or frauds) or removed from the forums entirely. Fraudwatchers reserve the right to take appropriate action against the poster, which includes (but is not limited to) suspension or banning from the site. Any posts that are "spam" as defined by the Administration team will be immediately moved to an appropriate (read only) forum, and the poster(s) account and IP address banned and displayed for internet search engines to collect and collate.

Please ensure that your posts are relevant to the overall topic and theme of this website. Although we will do our best to answer more generic queries, we do not have the resource to provide in-depth detailed or analytical reports about non-scam or non-fraud issues that could and should be obtained from a more specialist (preferably official) source. The Administrators reserve the right to edit or remove irrelevant material or content from any posts within the forum at their discretion, should they deem it to be immaterial to the subject matter being dealt wth by FraudWatchers. New threads must not be opened after a similar one has been closed (locked), and any user attempting to reopen such a thread may face a suspension or ban from this website.

Although unlikely, it may be relevant to post images within appropriate threads. Please do not post any images that can easily be abused or reused by the scammers. This site can be accessed by anyone on the internet, and that includes fraudsters. Should a scammer send you a high quality document (whether fake or genuine) please do not post it here since it may be copied and used by another scammer. This includes images of passports, ID cards and links to useful tools. If you really need to post such an image please watermark it first with the following text: "This image is being used by a scammer! Please go to http://www.fraudwatchers.org for more information." If you have any queries about this, please PM an administrator or moderator prior to posting.

Please do not post requests for assistance in obtaining any "lists" of legitimate suppliers, nor to ask for help in identifying legitimate businesses, within these forums. We are not a due diligence site, nor do we have the resource or the scope to make any recommendations. We are not a "better business" forum, and we do not have the wherewithal to be able to say for certain whether any company in China is legitimate.

We are a fraud information and scam monitoring site. We offer our expertise and experience to determine whether a company raises sufficient red flags for it to be a likely fake or bogus concern, and we offer this information to the public for the protection against internet fraud.

Please also do not post any offers of assistance to carry out due diligence for anyone seeking such information, nor to offer assistance to compile and provide lists as described above. There are other business and commerce-based websites, communities and services on the internet that specialize in these fields.

The posting of illegal, pornographic or other such offensive or shocking images is strictly forbidden, and all efforts will be made to prosecute any person who attempts to upload such material.

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4. Personal Profiles

When you register, you are able to access your profile details and information by clicking the "UserCP" link on the menu options. This provides the facility to input more details about yourself should you so wish.

Please note that this is not recommended by Fraudwatchers and we strongly suggest that NO PERSONAL INFORMATION is entered in there that can be traced back to you! The facility is built into the software that this site uses, and is therefore a stock inclusion; however, we do not require any of this information for you to be a member of this site, and would strongly advise that you do not offer these details since they may be viewed by other members of the site.

For demographic purposes, there are two required fields that must be completed at registration time in order to apply for forum membership; these are Location and Timezone details. Descriptions of what is required are given next to the fields as examples; please do NOT enter any information that pinpoints your exact location (such as a street or town).

The use of avatars (a small graphic image that you can use as a personal touch) is allowed, however these must not exceed 100 x 100 pixels or the file size be greated than 50 Kilobytes, whichever is the smaller. Once again, we stress that any personal images should not be used in this instance. Any offensive or inappropriate images will be deleted and the facility to use such will be removed from the user.

Personal signatures that can be appended to your posts are also allowed on this site; however there is a restriction of 150 characters. Images, or links to images, or links to inappropriate sites are prohibited. Links to commercial websites are also strictly prohibited unless previously requested by the member and agreed in writing by the administrators. If this facility is abused, then it will be removed from the user.

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