Stranger Danger PSA

Cythe

Hey ladies! As more and more of us get in to see our doctors, I just wanted to throw out there a little PSA about stranger danger and how to protect yourself.

First of all, be aware of your personal information on your ultrasound screens. Your first and last name, as well as your hospital are usually visible and from there lord knows what people could find if they wanted to.

Also remember that this is a public forum, anyone can stroll on here and see everything that you've posted. U/s pictures, demographic info in a GTKY, ect.

This last one is a little ways away, but remember to protect your kids pictures if you choose to post them on here. Edit them, add a watermark do what you need to do to protect you and your family from people who would use your info. The catfish are real, people.

mnajib92

Ok. Thanks for the reminder

mrs_fogue

Total click bait, I thought you were ousting the catfish!  But good info to remember. 

jessafishy

If you want to share photos that you have complete control over I suggest hosting them on a separate site so that you can either change their location or delete them totally without having to edit your post on TB.

You can only edit for 30 days before it gets locked. 

If you need suggestions on what websites are good for photo hosting or how to use them in posts once they are on your account just PM me and I'll walk you through it!

Cythe

mrs_fogue said:

Total click bait, I thought you were ousting the catfish!  But good info to remember. 

X

Sadly, no catfish to report as of now. I'd love a good catfish reveal right about now though.

bluejeanbabi05

This seems like a good time to post the infamous catfish thread of '14 for the newbs...both for entertainment purposes and to drive in @Cythe's point. You're welcome, everyone

https://forums.thebump.com/discussion/12462811/newb-in-town/p1

Cythe

bluejeanbabi05 said:

This seems like a good time to post the infamous catfish thread of '14 for the newbs...both for entertainment purposes and to drive in @Cythe's point. You're welcome, everyone

https://forums.thebump.com/discussion/12462811/newb-in-town/p1

There was even a thread on here somewhere, where the woman on the BMB participating in HDBD was using random pictures from someone elses Instagram. Like, the poster wasnt even actually pregnant. It was so weird.

Edit: wait, this may be the same one. Its hard to read these old threads thanks to the exodus. Thanks removed users...

bluejeanbabi05

Yes! That was her! She was using some Swedish models Instagram and had been participating for a YEAR before they caught her

2babes3angels

This freaked me out and I just changed my username because of it

jessafishy

Yep, that was my last BMB. Creepy as shit. 

ETA: I ended up deleting my account. Learn from me, be careful of oversharing.

Cythe

2babes3angels said:

This freaked me out and I just changed my username because of it

I'm sorry to freak you out, but I'm glad someone at least read this!

VLillyV

Yeah... still seeing some ladies posting with DOB and Hospital... it's so easy to do bad things with that sort of information. Please, be careful! When in doubt, CROP or at least BLUR! Something, anything!

runningmama22

Geez I guess I'm fortunate that I work in a profession that's super HIPAA compliant I'd never even dream of putting a medical document like a u/s anywhere near the public without redacting it... let alone my own stuff.  that is absolutely horrifying and I would have deleted my account if I saw that too!! It was just the month before my bump month club last pregnancy, so I guess that's why I never saw it before. So creepy. Ugh. 

purplestarz

Omg...I had completely forgotten about/blocked from memory that catfish story. What a trip down memory lane lol I remember reading that thread (I was on S14), likely in the middle of the night when I was up with my newborn, and being totally disturbed. Those photoshopped bump pics are gold though.

sdarling2010

Thanks for the reminder! I just changed my profile picture because DD was in it. 

mamafromthepnw

Good reminder! Also, I just spent WAY too much time reading that entire thread, @bluejeanbabi05. CREEPY.

firefly72533

@bluejeanbabi05 thanks for the link.  That happened after my time, I was September '13. We had our own crazy catfish then though.  Nothing so asinine as stealing photos and making them her own. She was pregnant, but not really.  She was called out pretty quickly.
Anyway, now I'm getting caught up on three year old drama and looking for a profile pic that doesn't include my kid.
Side note: This reminds me of story the Today Show did about people stealing images of other peoples children.  They would then create fake profiles, and fake lives, using these pictures as their own kids. They're part of these groups where everyone is a fake person/profile.  It let them live out another life thru FB. This is why I have the strictest settings on my FB page. 

mrs_fogue

smith.jessica.115@gmail.com 

You've got me all jumpy around here now!  What's up with the "." and run on Wednesday ticker change? 

ksf13

firefly72533 said:

@bluejeanbabi05 thanks for the link.  That happened after my time, I was September '13. We had our own crazy catfish then though.  Nothing so asinine as stealing photos and making them her own. She was pregnant, but not really.  She was called out pretty quickly.
Anyway, now I'm getting caught up on three year old drama and looking for a profile pic that doesn't include my kid.
Side note: This reminds me of story the Today Show did about people stealing images of other peoples children.  They would then create fake profiles, and fake lives, using these pictures as their own kids. They're part of these groups where everyone is a fake person/profile.  It let them live out another life thru FB. This is why I have the strictest settings on my FB page. 

Hey! September '13 mom here too! I was pretty active on the board for a while, but I guess I missed that or have forgotten lol.

firefly72533

@keriflores Hi! It was pretty early on in our pregnancies. If I remember correctly, she was only on one or two threads.  I just remember thinking it was odd.  Who would want to act like they were fake pregnant on a forum?
BTW, we share a due date (for now).  Just noticed we're both 7 weeks 4 days!   

bluejeanbabi05

@mrs_fogue This is probably because I've been running around like mad the last two days and I'm exhausted and slap happy but seeing her screenname is cracking me up right now. Girl needs to change that asap

buttercream_frosting

This is a good warning for the newbies. To clarify in case anyone clicks on my username and thinks I'm catfishy, this is my 2.0 bump account. I decided not to use my old one because I joined a FB group down the track during the Bump Implosion of 2015. Then that group had an implosion and I'd rather not have anyone know my real name here.

mandmplus1

@buttercream_frosting this is my 2.0 bump name too. I was here for the 2015 explosion too! After my April 2014 babe the bump exploded and we moved to Facebook and most everyone including myself had bump admins delete all history and I changed my username. Now I'm super careful and don't give any real specific info  

ashcakes921

Hey October 14 was my old BMB haha are there O14 mamas here too? I can never keep up with the bump as well as the facebook group

rawr1131

@ashcakes921 I'm an O14 momma! Wasn't very active on that board though so I'm not in the group

azerimama

Yikes!! Just saw this.... I'm going to change my profile picture NOW. I should know better too, as we had a catfish too in April 13. She got caught early on though, and we ended up moving to Facebook.