Last week I found out that someone stole my daughters identity and opened a Myspace account with her name and photos. At first we had no clue as to how they did it and thought it HAD to be someone she knew because all of the photos were ones that I had taken and given out to parents.
Well, the place that I had posted these photos, Webshots.com, also allows random people to download your photos as well. I had placed some comments under my early photos and this is how they learned her name.
This Myspace page states some EXPLICIT sexual things that are supposedly coming from my daughter. Someone in Missouri reported this to her school and she was called in to the principles office. They were very kind to her, knowing that it was totally untrue, but nevertheless, she was VERY VERY embarassed.
It took some research to find out how they got the photos, but the photos they actually used were good clues. I stopped putting the photos on this site once my business site was up and running and so the photos only included the ones from the original site. But what's weird is, there are photos of girls on that myspace page that we don't even know and have never seen.
LET THIS BE A WARNING TO EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU.... I HAVE ASKED MYSPACE TO REMOVE THIS SITE 7 TIMES NOW TO NO AVAIL. I HAVE REPORTED IT TO THE MISSING AND EXPLOITED CHILDRENS AGENCY TO NO AVAIL. MY FIANCE, WHO IS A POLICE OFFICER, CAN NOT GET MYSPACE TO TAKE IT OFF EITHER.
I have no idea what to do about this and am still fighting to have it removed. But I wanted to forewarn everyone out there that when you post photos, they can and most likely will be stolen. I am offering this to all of you. If you need to have photos posted and wish to allow friends and reletives to purchase them, email me. I will post them FOR FREE on my photo site that DOES NOT allow anyone to download them. You cannot get them without either ordering them or writing to me.
If anyone has any knowledge on how to get this site removed from Myspace, PLEASE HELP ME. I don't know what to do!!!!!!!!
Kris
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OC Mom, Mom of 5 great kids! A cheerleader/softball player, a RETIRED cheerleader, a football/baseball player, 1 Airman and future Police Officer and one college student!
One option to try (I don't know how well it will work if the CMEC and local police can't get it done, but you never know) is to contact perverted-justice.com. They work specifically with the online exploitation of kids, and may have some different resources. They're all volunteers and generally really nice people. I used to do volunteer work for them when I had a little more time in my life
Another thing to try is to contact your local consumer action line. A lot of times these work because they have good contacts everywhere and know the right things to say to embarass a business into doing the right thing. I don't know who that would be down by you, but they're usually affiliated with the local news channels.
I hope you get this sorted out - it sounds very ugly and I would be furious if it were my child!
Thanks for filling us in, that is very serious indeed. Also please know (although I'm sure most do already) any pictures you post anywhere, including this website, can easily be saved and used ANYWHERE. We need to keep that in mind, especially when posting pictures of children without anyone's permission. Please keep us posted OC Mom, we may be in the same position one day as most of our daughters (and sons) use myspace too.
I am assuming you followed the contact instructions on my space? Ok, this happened to a friend of mine, I reported it, and it was removed almost immediately. Another site I reported was at least made private. I would contact them again, stress that she is a MINOR and use words like pedophiles contacting her. Other than that it seems you have done everything, and more, that anyone could at this point! Just keep bugging them.
It was made private but her photo is still on it as the main photo. And all of my photos are on it as well. At LEAST 25 - 30 of them. It's terrible. I have been physically sick over this. I don't know what else to do but I will be trying each and every suggestion that you all give me.
I will let you all know what happens......
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OC Mom, Mom of 5 great kids! A cheerleader/softball player, a RETIRED cheerleader, a football/baseball player, 1 Airman and future Police Officer and one college student!
thank God cause I don't think my stomach could handle much more....
My son just left for the Marines, we've been having issues at cheer, and then the school tells me that my daughter could possibly have been exploited on Myspace....
I haven't been out of bed allllll weekend except to check Myspace and here.
Sorry I haven't been very cheerful. My best wishes and congrats to everyone this past weekend. I really do wish you all the best.
I gotta go back to bed.
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OC Mom, Mom of 5 great kids! A cheerleader/softball player, a RETIRED cheerleader, a football/baseball player, 1 Airman and future Police Officer and one college student!
This happened to my daughter last week except that it was her myspace account that someone took over and was writing things like "i hooked up with two guys this weekend." It was really scary - it took some time but we got her myspace deleted and she won't be getting a new one.
This is all so scary. Even though my kids are no longer minors, I still have to remind my daughter in college not to reveal too much information and to limit who she adds. I know she added an acquaintance of a friend of hers, and he started posting really crude/scary messages. She reported him to myspace immediately and removed him.
Thanks for the warning OC MOM, and I'm glad to hear it's been removed.
Thats such a scary thing. Its too bad that something as innocent as myspace can become so currupt. At first it was a great place for people to chat with their old friends and what not..AND now because of some loosers, things like hacking into accounts, posting negative images and such are ruining the fun on the site. I dont know about you, but isn't it easy to track down these perv's and press charges? Especially because Em is under 18? Hopefully something will get done to protect the image of our children.
You know, you would think so, but it's so easy to get a fake email address thru places such as Yahoo or Hotmail.... and then sign up under a fake name in Myspace. This is why she is not allowed to accept anyone she hasn't met face to face. And I monitor it every single day.
Just yesterday, I had to tell two different kids to remove posts that were quite bad. I don't usually say anything about language or the such because if I OVER protect, they start hiding things from me. But things that are blatently bad, I just send them a private message and they ALWAYS remove the post. I just kinda scare them in a way and remind them of what COULD happen. This usually gets the point across. And they don't get embarassed in front of their friends. That's key.
So far, Em has been so good with her Myspace. So why should I punish her because of the behavior of others. Society today is dangerous no matter where you go or how safe you try to be. So I educate her and watch her. Ask any of the kids that come on here that are on my Myspace friends. They will tell you that I am on there EVERY SINGLE DAY. I wouldn't have caught that other person if someone hadn't spoke up. So if you see something SPEAK UP. Don't keep it to yourself.
I think we had this discussion a few months ago. Many people disagreed with me about posting that site that was found. But if someone hadn't said anything about my daughter, that Myspace page would still be out there.
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OC Mom, Mom of 5 great kids! A cheerleader/softball player, a RETIRED cheerleader, a football/baseball player, 1 Airman and future Police Officer and one college student!
Hey OCmom I think I remember having the discussion on here or prox about a website that was showing explict photo's of cheerleders in suggestive positions. I am like you unforunatly you have to watch your kids and monitor their computer activity. They are our most prized possesions. It's terrible what happened to you and your daughter. But you bringing to our attention may save someone elses kid. I have always been what you might say over protective, but you never know. I have sons no girls and I still watch them and you are a good parent to worry and watch. Know your kids freinds, where they go and what they do. Yes give them freedom etc. But you can still watch out. I talk to my kids all the time. They are teenager's and it's still scarey out there. Keep the channels of communication open with your kids. Let them know you care and they can talk to you about anything. Good luck. I'm glad you got some action and it was removed. Yes always speak up. Don't be afraid. No one especially another parent will judge you. You did right. Thanks for posting.
