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URGENT: any MySpace,Hi5 or other networking MUST read this.
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URGENT: any MySpace,Hi5 or other networking MUST read this.

[Replies: 5]
This is really important guys so please read this and pass it along to anyone that you know that is into MySpace or any type of networking.
As some of you may know I am a former Police Officer, and I am a member of MySpace. I have a regular profile page and a couple of successful groups. I also write and design layouts, and because many of my friends know my background in law enforcement when something comes up that may need the attention of the Police it almost always gets sent to me by one of my friends. I received this a couple of days ago in a bulletin from one of my friends. This is the bulletin I received.

Very, Very, Very Important Information - Please Read!!!!

STATE POLICE WARNING ON MYSPACE PLEASE READ (NO JOKE)

Please read this.....I hope that all of my Friends Post this and help keep our myspace friends safe.

State police warning for online: Please read this "very carefully"..then send it out to all the people online that you know. Something like this is nothing to be taken casually; this is something you DO want to pay attention to.

If a person with the screen-name of ( I removed the screen name and the link to his page for safety reasons) contacts you, do not reply. DO NOT talk to this person; do not answer any of his/her instant messages or e-mail. Whoever this person may be, he/she is a suspect for murder in the death of 56 women (so far) contacted through the Internet. Please send this to all the women on your buddy list and ask them to pass this on, as well.

This screen-name was seen on Yahoo, AOL, AIM, and Excite so far. This is not a joke! Please send this to men too...just in case! Send to everyone you know!
Ladies, this is serious.
Gentlemen, PLEASE let your Lady Friends know....

Now, I have verified all this information and it is true. The story was even picked up by MSNBC news. I removed his name and MySpace profile link and username for everyone’s safety. Try to understand that if you did know the information yes it would help you by knowing what or who to watch out for. But at the same time there will be people that will attempt to make contact with this person if for no other reason than curiosity, and doing that would put people at great risk. I have notified every contact that I have in the law enforcement community, which includes the F.B.I., The state Police of the state listed in his profile, and all surrounding areas. I have also notified MySpace and sent them contact information for the correct authorities to contact.
I can’t stress enough how important it is NOT TO TRY to dig into this yourself by attempting to find out who this person is, and where the profile is. If you do that you will endanger yourself and many others. Please leave it to the correct authorities.
The main reason I decided to post this is after corresponding with Anne we decided that our readers here need to know just how dangerous it is on the Internet. If you are contacted by anyone at anytime on the Internet that you do not know, the best thing is always to avoid any way for that person to make future contact with you. I have always said and I always will say, you are the person most responsible for your safety on the Internet. Never post or give out personal information. If you get friend requests from people that you do not know, deny the request. You personal safety and the safety of your family is far more important than how many people you have on your friends list.
As soon as I receive any updates about this I will post them.
As always please be safe on the net.
Sincerely,
Terry L. White
Last Post Aug 29, 2007 12:15 PM by: Larry
Larry
Posts: 136
From: Silicon Valley, California
Registered: 6/19/06
(6 of 6)

Re: URGENT: any MySpace,Hi5 or other networking MUST read this.

Aug 29, 2007 12:15 PM
Terry,
I appreciate your contributions to the forum (keep em coming) and your concern about safety. It is always wise to caution people not to take unnecessary risks and remind people that there are "bad-guys" out there who take advantage of both kids and adults. The fact that this story has been circulating (and morphing) on the Internet since 2000 (long before MySpace) and involves 2 (not 56) victims doesn't diminish the need for caution. But it also needs to be put in perspective. Tens of millions of people use social networking sites daily and the number of teens who have been physically harmed as a result of an online encounter is probably somewhere around 100 (we don't have exact figures but this is a number that one attorney general came up with). Even one is too many so the warnings are helpful but everything we do has risks. Far more kids are molested by coaches, clergy, teachers that they know from the "real world." Still, cautionary reminders are always helpful.

Thanks again for your contributions.

--
Larry
Co-director
ConnectSafely.org

--
Edited by Larry at 08/29/2007 12:17 PM
Terrywhite
Posts: 45
From: South Carolina
Registered: 4/10/07
(5 of 6)

Re: URGENT: any MySpace,Hi5 or other networking MUST read this.

Aug 28, 2007 2:38 PM
Larry,
I emailed the orignal copy of this entire warning (which included usernames, State of orgin ect.) to Anne long before I posted this. I asked what would be the best course of action as far as it being posted. The reply was to post it as you see it here.
Here is the exact copy of the reply I got from Anne.
Terry, I'm finally digging out after a trip and have read this. The optimal thing for BlogSafety, if you have time, would be for you to post about this - "tell the story" - without including actual URLs. Just as a piece of online-safety education for forum visitors. Much better from the "horse's mouth" than from me. I'd totally understand if you don't have time, though. We so appreciate your participation in the forum. All best,
Anne

Anne Collier
Editor, Net Family News
anne@netfamilynews.org
www.NetFamilyNews.org

Now with all that out of the way, I looked into this as far as I was able to, and posted only what was suggested (meaning without links ect.) So if any one is to corrected should that person be me?
I will send you out a copy of the same email that I sent to Anne and you choose how to hanlde it.
Now I could be wrong but as far as I can tell this is not the same warning as the others you guys are speaking of. Here is the link to the story from MSNBC http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11162052/ You can all read it and decide what you may or may not believe. Myself with 2 children that are at an age for this type of thing to cause me to use great caution anywhere that young people have access to the Internet.
Only one more thing, take a look at the date I posted this. Almost three full months ago, and you have just now noticed it. I provided information that was passed on to me, nothing more. The decision of what or how to handle it is up to the reader. I did not post it as a debate, or to be told how to investigate anything. Only to provide information that may or may not be helpful.

Terry
Larry
Posts: 136
From: Silicon Valley, California
Registered: 6/19/06
(4 of 6)

Re: URGENT: any MySpace,Hi5 or other networking MUST read this.

Aug 28, 2007 1:48 PM
This is at least a 7 year old posting that's been circulating on the Internet since was first posted in 2000. Snopes.com which tracks myths says that this information was true and is now outdated. Here are details.

--
Larry
Co-director
ConnectSafely.org
Richard4106
Posts: 2
From: East Coast
Registered: 8/27/07
(3 of 6)

Re: URGENT: any MySpace,Hi5 or other networking MUST read this.

Aug 27, 2007 12:41 PM
I don't want to get you guys worked up - but the first things I check when I read a story like this are the urban legends websites (i.e., snopes.com). While it is very possible that this could be a threat, I urge you to do your research.

http://www.snopes.com/horrors/madmen/slavemaster.asp

This relates to a post that was true but is now false.

Check the local sites from the originating city, maybe event some of the larger networks. If it's a big deal, they'll be chiming in.

You must also keep in mind that it is very difficult for somebody to harm you physically without making contact. While not answering IMs or email messages is the prudent thing to do, you are not necessarily placing yourself in harm's way by doing so. Follow the simple rules that are posted everywhere about safe computing and practice them diligently, and if you have children, teach them as well, even the older ones who "know everything"

Happy computing!
Richard4106
Merlinus187
Posts: 1
From: Pittsburgh
Registered: 8/15/07
(2 of 6)

Re: URGENT: any MySpace,Hi5 or other networking MUST read this.

Aug 15, 2007 7:15 PM
why would you delete the name or link of this person as there are a few individuals accounts that have been listed over the months regarding different people....we need to know which one it is!!! I say this because sincve ive first read this story there have been two different profiles as well as different screen names listed....thus someone would consider this harassment or libel...where is the NBC story on this as well as some would like to know to follow up on truth of this
Terrywhite
Posts: 45
From: South Carolina
Registered: 4/10/07
(1 of 6)

URGENT: any MySpace,Hi5 or other networking MUST read this.

Jun 9, 2007 1:41 PM
This is really important guys so please read this and pass it along to anyone that you know that is into MySpace or any type of networking.
As some of you may know I am a former Police Officer, and I am a member of MySpace. I have a regular profile page and a couple of successful groups. I also write and design layouts, and because many of my friends know my background in law enforcement when something comes up that may need the attention of the Police it almost always gets sent to me by one of my friends. I received this a couple of days ago in a bulletin from one of my friends. This is the bulletin I received.

Very, Very, Very Important Information - Please Read!!!!

STATE POLICE WARNING ON MYSPACE PLEASE READ (NO JOKE)

Please read this.....I hope that all of my Friends Post this and help keep our myspace friends safe.

State police warning for online: Please read this "very carefully"..then send it out to all the people online that you know. Something like this is nothing to be taken casually; this is something you DO want to pay attention to.

If a person with the screen-name of ( I removed the screen name and the link to his page for safety reasons) contacts you, do not reply. DO NOT talk to this person; do not answer any of his/her instant messages or e-mail. Whoever this person may be, he/she is a suspect for murder in the death of 56 women (so far) contacted through the Internet. Please send this to all the women on your buddy list and ask them to pass this on, as well.

This screen-name was seen on Yahoo, AOL, AIM, and Excite so far. This is not a joke! Please send this to men too...just in case! Send to everyone you know!
Ladies, this is serious.
Gentlemen, PLEASE let your Lady Friends know....

Now, I have verified all this information and it is true. The story was even picked up by MSNBC news. I removed his name and MySpace profile link and username for everyone’s safety. Try to understand that if you did know the information yes it would help you by knowing what or who to watch out for. But at the same time there will be people that will attempt to make contact with this person if for no other reason than curiosity, and doing that would put people at great risk. I have notified every contact that I have in the law enforcement community, which includes the F.B.I., The state Police of the state listed in his profile, and all surrounding areas. I have also notified MySpace and sent them contact information for the correct authorities to contact.
I can’t stress enough how important it is NOT TO TRY to dig into this yourself by attempting to find out who this person is, and where the profile is. If you do that you will endanger yourself and many others. Please leave it to the correct authorities.
The main reason I decided to post this is after corresponding with Anne we decided that our readers here need to know just how dangerous it is on the Internet. If you are contacted by anyone at anytime on the Internet that you do not know, the best thing is always to avoid any way for that person to make future contact with you. I have always said and I always will say, you are the person most responsible for your safety on the Internet. Never post or give out personal information. If you get friend requests from people that you do not know, deny the request. You personal safety and the safety of your family is far more important than how many people you have on your friends list.
As soon as I receive any updates about this I will post them.
As always please be safe on the net.
Sincerely,
Terry L. White