Beware of Hijacked Profiles

So there seems to be a profile thief on the loose!!! There is a new cuddler on here that stole my entire profile. That's concerning because I put my heart and soul into my cuddle business. Every word of that profile is me. Every cuddle I offer is well thought out and special. Funny thing is, I don't even think he really read it unless he's a medical professional that owns his own business too...very doubtful. It's also concerning because either he's not creative enough to create his own profile or too lazy to do it. Thank you to my Cuddle Comfort friends for pointing this out. @Yawlovescuddlin

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Comments

  • It's down! That was quick and easy.

  • No, it's not. He put a different picture on there and only plagiarized your first paragraph this time.

  • Do people think we won't notice? I'm a huge proponent of pros helping each other. I do have other pros contact me that love my profile and ask if they can copy something or use an idea. I'm more than happy to help. But you can't steal someone's whole dang page!

  • edited December 2017

    Apparently some people do think you won't notice. I reported him when he stole your entire page and after he changed it so that he only stole the first paragraph. I'm sure Mark will take care of it.

    As a writer and as a pro cuddler, I am completely sympathetic to your distress at this theft.

  • edited December 2017

    @Scarlette - I wonder if @Mark will be able to see the revision history. That would be a surefire way to do a side-by-side comparison and make it really easy for the Admins to tell. But I'm glad that multiple people saw the plagiarization.

  • edited December 2017

    I once came across a woman on this site who lifted her entire profile word-for-word from a pro on a different cuddle site that I also happen to frequent. The "original" was in Connecticut and the copier was in Georgia, so she doubtless assumed no one would notice. The thing about copying is that it's not merely lazy and unethical: once potential clients realize someone's "self-description" is stolen, they naturally wonder if anything that person says is true. Doesn't breed the kind of trust needed for a good cuddle session.

  • [Deleted User]Kaiterpillar (deleted user)

    Oh no! As someone who also put a lot of hard work and effort into my profile, I'm sorry to hear this happened to you! Thats so frustrating. I'll be honest your profile definitely gave me a few ideas that I might like to use in the future with my business (i.e. having a website, some of the different packages you offer, etc) but theres a huge difference between exchanging and sharing ideas and just completely stealing someone's hard work!

  • @Scarlette Often imitated, never duplicated!

  • edited December 2017

    @Mark Another hijacked profile found. http://www.cuddlecomfort.com/kathy02

    The profile description has been ripped off almost verbatim from my own. It has a sentence or two that I used to have on mine before I turned pro, so this one has been getting away with it since September, which was when I signed on as an enthusiast. Also, the person who brought it to my attention said "she" changes her location every few weeks. This is a scam profile.

    This person asks for 50% payment in advance, so anyone who has come across this profile, beware.

  • I was just alerted to a user on this site who hijacked my profile: cuddlecompanions.org. If anyone thinks clients or potential clients are confused and mixing you up with someone, checking there might clear it up as it did for me.

    Be safe and aware, Everyone! Cheers.

  • @Mark Beware, another scammer -- probably the same one who created the Kathy02 profile -- is using almost the same text as was on the Kathy02 page, but now is under the name of Kelly16. Large chunks of it was ripped off word for word from my profile from when I was an enthusiast.

  • I noticed this morning and reported it too

  • [Deleted User]chococuddles (deleted user)

    Hi Jack! It's Jill.

    That is all.

  • @Mark another scam profile, CathyG, has ripped off parts of my profile. She has the same picture as Kelly16, who was recently banned and who had plagiarized my profile almost verbatim.

  • My profile was hijacked by @Metaltropic!!! Can't people think for themselves?

  • @Scarlette aren't you the one who suggested to him to begin with to fill in his profile? Does he not know what you meant lol

  • @pmvines. Yes! So much for trying to be helpful!

  • @pmvines. Now he's blocked me! Can y'all let me know if his profile has changed?

  • edited January 2018

    @Scarlette He has a "What can you expect?" paragraph that follows yours with some rephrasing and additions. Technically it is different now though.

    Just for fun ... a plagiarism comparison tool says there is about a 35% overlap.

  • @respectful Thank you. I'm not overly concerned because he is a male pro so he most likely won't get cuddles anyway. It's still frustrating to work so hard on something to make it perfect and have someone steal it. This rant is officially over! lol.... Hugs to all that have my back!

  • [Deleted User]DeliMan (deleted user)

    @Scarlette sometimes we all need to rant or vent this is to be followed by a good hug.
    Dale

  • This is actually a fairly tough issue. Sometimes the plagiarism is so blatant that it clearly amounts to a fake identity. For example, consider this profile from CC:

    I love relaxing and being comfortable. I enjoy cooking and baking unique food combinations, usually something with bacon and cheese. Since I indulge in delicious flavors, I try and go to the gym a few times a week. I also like to indulge in traveling whether it be camping in the woods or all inclusive on a tropical island. I’m an unique and acquired taste and I’m told I give really good hugs.

    When the CC member posted that, I messaged her to say I had noticed it was a verbatim copy --- every word, down to the gym, the bacon, and the "unique and acquired taste" --- of a profile from a woman named Stef on The Snuggle Buddies site. Steph was in Connecticut, and the CC poster was in Georgia, so the odds were no one no one would notice. But I did, and I saw delicious irony in her copying someone else's profile to say she is "unique." When I messaged her, she visited my profile, but she neither replied to me nor changed a word of her pilfered phraseology. Steph, the original poster on TSB, is now gone from that site, and the hijacker here hasn't signed on for 5 months.

    Issues for me: this is just one reason why (on another thread) I balked at making a filled-in profile a requirement. There is absolutely no assurance that a complete profile says a single true thing about you.

    Second, while some plagiarism is obvious, some is subtler; it's hard to agree on when that line is crossed. And we're just an affinity group, not a journalistic publication or an academic institution where plagiarism is clearly defined and consequential.

    Lastly, I'm sure Admin doesn't want to get involved in adjudicating a million "her profile is too similar to mine" complaints. He's busy enough with underage members, inappropriate profiles, and untagged pros.

    But with all that said, when someone posts a profile description that is not really them, it's as misleading as posting a photo of someone else. I don't want to meet that person for a cuddle. So I think we should keep calling out the copiers. I just don't think we'll always get a satisfactory resolution.

  • @quietman775 Mark is actually addressing this nicely on another thread.

  • @quietman775 The thread @Scarlette is referring to is this one.

  • edited January 2018

    That summary by @quetman775 is completely on point, at least from my perspective. It's a struggle to see a good solution. I think community pressure like calling the culprits out is one positive step. Deciding on a moderator policy is quite a challenge partly based on effective use of resources but also when it comes to defining the line of what's reasonable and inspiration vs outright plagiarism. This is certainly something that will have to remain under consideration.

  • @respectful - This would be a good topic to have under the Cuddling Discussions and Resources post to let new people know that copying other people's profiles verbatim is not at all acceptable.

  • @BlueIris Agree it would be useful to include, but the Profiles section is no longer editable by me now ( @Mark extended the edit time to 1 month but that just expired ...)

    I was tossing up whether to leave that thread (Cuddling Discussions and Resources) as is, or to sometimes add a new post at the end with recent interesting/useful discussions (the disadvantage being that it wouldn't be as structured as the main thread any more, and so less useful as a reference).

  • edited January 2018

    @respectful You can do it now. Just let me know once you're ok having it locked again. Thanks.

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