I help to moderate a small group on Facebook. That group is for the residents of a specific neighborhood, and we strive to turn away all others. When someone tries to Join that Group Page, they are faced with entry questions:
These questions are much needed. Even for our modest group, we consistently have more bogus entry attempts than legitimate ones, every month. I imagine some of the requests are mistakes, but others are linked to accounts from halfway around the world or to people involved in services-scams.
What continues to amaze me is that the effort that some people put into their schemes. Take the screencap above: That person took the time to research:
- a real address in the neighborhood (recently sold, so property records may or may not be accurate)
- the HOA fee (almost correct, but it had changed in the last 2 years)
- the name of a (recent but former) board member
It took me contacting others in my community to remove any doubt. I denied that person entry, and now I see them trying to enter other private groups in the region.
My gut screams about this sort of thing, I want to tell everyone Trust Nothing! But that isn’t realistic. If trust reduces to zero, society falls apart. So “Trust, but verify” is more realistic. Please look to check facts as you deal with new people on the internet. Think of the internet as the Wild, Wild West — sure, the law is there somewhere, but there are large unregulated areas where you are truly on your own. And know that bad people are putting in a lot of effort to deceive, so you may have to put in equal effort to your verification.