Stolen username

[dustys]

What can be done for my reputation to be saved?

[bigballofyarn]

Is someone actually impersonating you or did you just find another "Dusty S" online somewhere? I'd speculate that at least a few people in the world have your name and would use it to register on a website without trying to impersonate you. If someone is trying to impersonate you and ruin your online reputation, anyone who knows the real you will know that it's not you and you can report these posts to ProBoards. Let me know if you need help doing that.

On a half-tangent, I can understand why either scenario would bother you. I've been "bigballofyarn" online since at least 1998. A married couple decided they liked the name and used it to register on at least a few websites. I've been bigballofyarn for so long that it almost feels like identity theft. In my instance, they are not at all trying to impersonate me. In one of their profiles, they even wrote that they are not affiliated with my website. Haha. At least they know I'm the real bigballofyarn. This has annoyed me to irrational levels though.

Let us know whether someone is impersonating you on ProBoards, if you just found another dustys, or if it's something else entirely.

[moonbeam]

I feel like this needs more information/detail as to why the user name is being considered 'stolen'. How and where is it happening?

Because unless someone gained access to one of your accounts somehow, a user name can't really be stolen. If someone else merely chose the same username and is now using it to make you look bad, well... that's definitely unfortunate for you and rotten of them. But, I don't know if anything could really be done about it, as no one can actually own a username across all forums (if that makes sense).

[Kami]

Mar 20, 2023 7:18:08 GMT -8 moonbeam said:

I feel like this needs more information/detail as to why the user name is being considered 'stolen'. How and where is it happening?

Because unless someone gained access to one of your accounts somehow, a user name can't really be stolen. If someone else merely chose the same username and is now using it to make you look bad, well... that's definitely unfortunate for you and rotten of them. But, I don't know if anything could really be done about it, as no one can actually own a username across all forums (if that makes sense).

^ Just wanted to address this part; if there is actual impersonation going on, on a PB service, then absolutely something can be done (per the TOS, you are not allowed to impersonate people [TOS 19 (c)] — this is actually a big part of why PB v5 introduced unique user ID numbers, as before if a user deleted their account, another person could re-create the username and have all the old posts re-attributed to them to make it seem like they were the original person).

Not a lawyer, but the basic requirements for impersonation is if someone is clearly either stating they are someone they are not in a way that cannot be claimed to be a parody, or engaging in behaviour that is clearly meant to cast the person they're pretending to be in a negative light. So in the case you hypothesised (someone using the username to make someone look bad) that absolutely could be considered impersonation; however, if it is merely a coincidence that they have the same username and have bad content, then there's nothing really that can be done.

[Scott]

dustys -

This is really all about context, as pointed out by the others above. If it is impersonation on a ProBoards hosted forum, please report it to the Abuse Department. If this is occurring on another service, you would need to contact that service. If it's just that a user on a ProBoards hosted forum has the same username as you then it is most likely an unfortunate coincidence.

[dustys]

Mar 20, 2023 7:55:00 GMT -8 Scott said:

dustys -

This is really all about context, as pointed out by the others above. If it is impersonation on a ProBoards hosted forum, please report it to the Abuse Department. If this is occurring on another service, you would need to contact that service. If it's just that a user on a ProBoards hosted forum has the same username as you then it is most likely an unfortunate coincidence.

I THINK maybe it's not tos against me but I have to check

Mar 20, 2023 5:06:32 GMT -8 bigballofyarn said:

Is someone actually impersonating you or did you just find another "Dusty S" online somewhere? I'd speculate that at least a few people in the world have your name and would use it to register on a website without trying to impersonate you. If someone is trying to impersonate you and ruin your online reputation, anyone who knows the real you will know that it's not you and you can report these posts to ProBoards. Let me know if you need help doing that.

On a half-tangent, I can understand why either scenario would bother you. I've been "bigballofyarn" online since at least 1998. A married couple decided they liked the name and used it to register on at least a few websites. I've been bigballofyarn for so long that it almost feels like identity theft. In my instance, they are not at all trying to impersonate me. In one of their profiles, they even wrote that they are not affiliated with my website. Haha. At least they know I'm the real bigballofyarn. This has annoyed me to irrational levels though.

Let us know whether someone is impersonating you on ProBoards, if you just found another dustys, or if it's something else entirely.

tysm for this sharing because you understand why it hurts me I will try to explain to you and to all.

I can't tell if it is trying to me or not but now that you say probably a lot of a dusty s man in the world I think maybe you are right

Sorry the Ppl try to take bigballofyarn because that is rare name.not like dusty but your story help me now.

---

Thx also to kami and moonbeam.

I thi k maybe it's coinsidence and not trying to attack

[bigballofyarn]

dustys,

I hope your newfound assessment of the situation is accurate. If someone is impersonating you, let us know and we'd be happy to help if you don't know how to report something to the abuse department.

I'm glad my experience was helpful on some level. After this happened to me, I wondered how celebrities handled actual posers while I was having trouble handling someone who meant me no harm at all. One good thing about ProBoards is you can still change your display name. You're the #1 dustys in my heart.

[Scott]

Mar 20, 2023 8:05:57 GMT -8 dustys said:

Mar 20, 2023 7:55:00 GMT -8 Scott said:

dustys -

This is really all about context, as pointed out by the others above. If it is impersonation on a ProBoards hosted forum, please report it to the Abuse Department. If this is occurring on another service, you would need to contact that service. If it's just that a user on a ProBoards hosted forum has the same username as you then it is most likely an unfortunate coincidence.

I THINK maybe it's not tos against me but I have to check

So this sounds like it's an account on our service. If you wish to PM me with details I can take a quick look to see if you should contact the Abuse Dept.