Trolls who pretend to be mentally ill
By Porcospino
@Porcospino (31365)
Denmark
June 3, 2016 3:11pm CST
I am a member of a local site from my country. It is a social networking site for people who are mentally ill. Today I read on the forum that there have been a lot of fake profiles. The people behind those profiles pretend that they are mentally ill, but they only join because they intend to make fun of the real members. I haven't used the site recently, and I haven't met any of those fake profiles, but they ruin things for the real members.
Trolls are all over the internet and maybe it isn't surprising that they have found this site as well, but it must be a shocking experience to discover that you confided in a person who lied right from the start and only wanted to make fun of you. Some of my friends from that site already find it hard to trust people. When something like this happens it is easy to understand that they become angry and hurt.
An online dating site for people with special needs had similar problems. Now it isn't possible to sign up via email. You have to submit your snail mail address and the members receive their log in details via snail mail.
Did you ever become friends with someone who turned out to be a fake profile?
4 people like this
5 responses
@owlwings (43897)
• Cambridge, England
3 Jun 16
I was once a member of a forum for people who were in long-distance relationships and there was one person there who was clearly rather vulnerable and told us about the person he had 'met' online who was clearly being predatory (though she may have been as deluded and more mentally ill than the person she seemed to be fixated on). There were many 'red flags' and the other members tried to warn the guy about them.
Unfortunately, the Internet is an ideal environment both for people with low or shaky self-esteem and for those who are inclined to predate on them. I don't see that anything can be done about that basic fact except that responsible owners of forum sites should put as much security in place for their members as possible and that everyone should be educated about the warning signs and 'red flags' which indicate that someone may be trying to take advantage of (or make fun of) those who are most at risk.
2 people like this
@Porcospino (31365)
• Denmark
4 Jun 16
Do you know what happened affterwards? Did the guy get in trouble because he didn't listen to the warnings he received from the other members?
Some people are more vulnerable than others. One of my offline friends fell for a Nigerian love scam some years ago. I warned him and I tried to talk him out of it, but he didn't listen and unfortunately he lost quite a lot of money.
Yes, forum owners should be responsible and security is important. The site for the mentally ill that I mentioned has introduced a new rule. Now you need a Danish cellphone number to sign up (they send you a code via text message, and you can't complete the sign up process without the code) This prevents international scammers from signing up, They also ask for your full name and your address, but they don't check every new member, and it is possible to submit a fake name and a fake address.
1 person likes this
@thesids (22180)
• Bhubaneswar, India
3 Jun 16
Well, I have never made friends on Facebook (the only other social site that I visit). All my friends there are either family, friends from school, college, earlier work, a few students and most of them are/were members of earlier MyLot. I do not accept requests from unknown people there. So as I trust all here at MyLot, the chances of getting into fakes is very much lessened. Again, I do not frequent Facebook that much now, because MyLot is back.
It is really disheartening to read about trolls who have joined and maligned the goodness of the site you mention. It is a proof that many people (who call themselves normal but fake and make fun of the ill) are more mentally ill than the real ones.... and probably they are in need of more help than anyone else.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31365)
• Denmark
3 Jun 16
I understand what you mean. I don't use Facebook much and I added very few friends. Most of the people I have added are people that I know in real life (relatives or offline friends) I have accepted friend requests from mylot friends, but I have known those people online for a long time. I don't accept friend requests from unknown people.
I don't understand why some people join social networking sites for people who are mentally ill in order to hurt or make fun or the real members. It is cruel and a sick thing to do. Personally I haven't met any of those members, but the fake members have managed to hurt some of my friends from that site 
1 person likes this
@thesids (22180)
• Bhubaneswar, India
4 Jun 16
@Porcospino I think they are despos with Pathetic mentality. They have tried all other datings sites, chat sites with hopes of finding a girl to chat out with but the stats show that female candidates on Dating Sites, Marriage Sites, Chat Sites are declining and those who use these sites are more confined to their own circles/groups. As such, there is a big set of boys (I wont say men, but boys) who still feels hip to find a girl to chat with.
When I had worked at a cyber cafe for a couple of months, they would ask me which sites to go for. And then there are some boys who would create fake accounts with images of girls and a girly username just to attract a bunch of males.
I dont know exactly what or whom to blame, but it is not moral, ethical and something that I will never ever do.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31365)
• Denmark
4 Jun 16
@thesids I am married, and I don't have much experience from dating sites, but it is my impression that the number of male members are higher than the number of female members. Some male members might get frustrated if they try a lot and still don't manage to find a girl. How did you react when they asked you to recommend dating sites? I guess it is hard to give advice about something like that if there are relatively few female members on most sites?
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (169489)
• United States
3 Jun 16
Only if I have met them on here, which is actually something that has happened.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31365)
• Denmark
4 Jun 16
I have seen a few here, but quite few compared to other sites. Have you seen any recently?
@CaptAlbertWhisker (32760)
• Calgary, Alberta
22 Jun 16
I never had a friend who is a fake profile but I have a messageboard enemy who have multiple profiles.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31365)
• Denmark
22 Jun 16
I have also met people with multiple profiles on message boards. Sometimes they create extra profiles as a joke (they write strange or funny things to see their friends' reactions) and sometimes there are other reasons.
@Letranknight2015 (52665)
• Philippines
14 Jun 16
They were a few people in mylot that had similar situation. Never trust a person online because they might be pretending to be some one else. Worst, they might be part of a syndicate.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31365)
• Denmark
14 Jun 16
On the internet it is very easy to pretend that you are someone else, and it is hard to know if you can trust the person you are talking to. I have known some of my online friends for 10 years, but I am very careful when I meet new people.
