• Responding to email notices you receive.
    **************************************************
    In short, DON'T! Email notices are to ONLY alert you of a reply to your private message or your ad on this site. Replying to the email just wastes your time as it goes NOWHERE, and probably pisses off the person you thought you replied to when they think you just ignored them. So instead of complaining to me about your messages not being replied to from this site via email, please READ that email notice that plainly states what you need to do in order to reply to who you are trying to converse with.

  • IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!! About the Google Adsense ads being displayed

    =====================
    Posted 08/15/2025
    =====================


    Yeah, I know. They are a pain in the butt. But they pay the bills to keep my server running. Just a fact of life, I am afraid.

    Want to get rid of them? Simple. Just become a Contributor level member or above and they will be gone. -> Please click HERE."

    Is that too much for me to ask of you to keep this site running? Well, sorry about that. I too wish I could get everything for free. But alas.....

    =====================
    Addendum: 01/10/2026
    =====================


    Google Adsense ad revenue for December, 2025 was just $30 over the cost of the lease for the server running this site. So, in effect, the money providing the incentive for me to continue running this site is coming SOLELY from the paid memberships and sponsorships here. Which honestly ain't much....

Stricter controls for new registrations.

A note here that people who use any flippant or nonsensical entries to the info requested during registration will be rejected. And IP addresses are being compared with the stated location field, and any discrepancies will get them branded as probable spammers or someone trying to create a false identity for possibly malicious reasons. IP addresses that match a currently registered member will also be closely scrutinized and may result in a rejection. One thing I have noted is that members will inquire about a user name change, and when I tell them that this requires a paid membership, they simply then go and register that new name as a new member. Obviously I will take a dim view of that practice.

This site is NOT like others where the members being basically anonymous is the rule rather then the exception. I'm assuming that most people coming here are doing so in order to conduct or inquire about doing business, so this will be the guidelines used to accept registrations.

We've got over 60,000 registered members now, so I feel like I can begin to get picky about what gets allowed access to this site now. Some spammers will still get through, unfortunately, but I do intend to limit that as much as possible.
 
I think that's a wonderful idea. It will help reduce the number of scammers (and therefore, reduce the number of people whining about why scammers are allowed to continue posting, etc.), and it will make the number of registered members more accurately reflect the number of semi-active members. (I believe the current number of registered members is mostly scammers making multiple identities and people who have registered and never come back. Feel free to correct me, if I'm missing something.)
 
During the audits of new registrations, I am now deleting any registration that does not provide a real full name, and as mentioned earlier, if the IP of their ISP does not match the info they put into their location profile field. Anyone who uses smartass comments in any of the fields is just deleted as well.

Yes, I know some people prefer to be anonymous, but since this site is focused on classifieds (and for now) the BOI, this one has to be run differently.

I plan to implement the FULL NAME rule within the classifieds section as well, so you all might as well start thinking about it if you don't now comply and use that section.

I also strongly recommend that anyone doing business with someone in the classifieds here whereby their payment or shipping info does not match what is seen in their profile to be VERY wary of engaging in the transaction. That fact alone should set off warning sirens for you.
 
WebSlave said:
I plan to implement the FULL NAME rule within the classifieds section as well, so you all might as well start thinking about it if you don't now comply and use that section.
Click to expand...

I like this idea... its always nice to know who your supposedly talking to. I quit counting the number of emails I have had reguarding sales and they never sign it with a name.
 
Yesterday I blocked nearly half of the 40 or so new registrations I reviewed and processed. A few have sent emails to me requesting the reasons.

Well, hopefully NEW registrations will read this post, as I am going to identify what I am looking for when I review each new registration.

Here is what can get your registration denied:
  1. No full name provided
  2. Location info is incomplete (City, State, and Country, PLEASE)
  3. Location of IP address does not match above location field info
  4. IP address matches someone previously banned
  5. IP address matches a previous registration by a current member
  6. ANY info appears to be completely bogus, useless for the INTENT of the field, or nonsensical.
I am making a REAL effort to try to keep out scammers and spammers right at the registration process. Yes, I am being very strict about it, but I'm just
tired of porn spammers and people who register falsely to scam another..

And yes I realize this is a primer for people who ARE spammers and scammers to know how to get their registration accepted, but quite honestly, to be able to provide bogus info that looks realistic may be more work then most of them will be willing to undertake here. The alternative is for me to get several emails per day that I have to respond to, so obviously I want to cut that workload back as much as possible. Not that I think anyone will read this anyway, but at least I can just post a link to this thread now.

BTW, I had one person claim that he tried to register via his cell phone, which caused the IP address to show from a location that did not match his profile location. So if you are going to register here that way, you may want to bear this in mind. I am not going to spend the time researching whether or not you may be registering from your cell phone. The IP either matches, or it doesn't. Register from your HOME or work computer, please. The IP address MUST match (and I suggest that people provide CITY, STATE, and COUNTRY in that field. Just putting USA is NOT sufficient any longer), or else you will get blocked for having suspicious info provided in your registration application.

This is all going to be tying into an upcoming requirement for anyone using the classifieds to comply with stricter profile requirements. So we might as well get this started at the registration process. It WILL become retroactive to current members, so if you intend to utilize the classifieds, you may want to check your profile info to make certain you comply with the upcoming requirements. Anyone sending money to someone whose mailing or shipping info does not match their profile info will have no one but themselves to blame if things go wrong for them. An ounce of prevention (making sure of who you are dealing with) is worth a pound of ( *maybe* ) cure (going to the BOI with the news of your being scammed).
 
WebSlave said:
[*]Location info is incomplete (City, State, and Country, PLEASE)
Click to expand...

Hi Rich, quick question about this. I've almost always had my location as "Bay Area, CA" for a few reasons:
1) I move a lot (3 times in the last 3 years) but am always within what is considered the 'bay area'.
2) most people understand that bay area is a general term for a specific Northern California area
3) I hesitate to put my exact city due to fear of being robbed (there's that 'fear' again raising it's ugly head)

Is this going to be okay to continue as I have or do I need to change it to read the actual city I am in? :(
 
April Yohn said:
Hi Rich, quick question about this. I've almost always had my location as "Bay Area, CA" for a few reasons:
1) I move a lot (3 times in the last 3 years) but am always within what is considered the 'bay area'.
2) most people understand that bay area is a general term for a specific Northern California area
3) I hesitate to put my exact city due to fear of being robbed (there's that 'fear' again raising it's ugly head)

Is this going to be okay to continue as I have or do I need to change it to read the actual city I am in? :(
Click to expand...

No, that is OK. What this is primarily for is that if someone were to approach you about advertised merchandise you have on this site for sale, and their location profile field were to be something like, say, Texas, and when they ask you to ship to New York, red flags need to be raised. Obviously there are some situations where this could be valid, but if there are other vague clues about something being amiss, then it would be prudent for you to make certain that you aren't leaning into a left hook. You may want to make it your own policy to only ship to primaries, and not accept third party sales. In other words, Joe Blow in Texas saying he is buying or doing a trade for his brother Moe in New York.

No defenses will be perfect, of course, but the more strenuous we make it for someone to scam another, then the more likely it is that they will slip up and get exposed before they can do much damage. This way there are MORE eyes checking out these people to watch for those slip ups.

We can't protect anyone with their transactions. All we can do is try to help you to make your own knowledgeable and informed decisions based on the information you are able to gather about who you are doing business with. So we are just trying to make it more difficult for the scammers to skate by with providing false information.
 
Thanks for doing all of this Rich. I have recently had to deal with several wannabe scam artists and hopefully implementing these tighter requirements will help alleviate some of this.
 
Rich,I uncovered a guy the other day trying to scam using the name Henry Milmore from New York City.What should i do or who should i contact if something like this happens again? And thanks for all you do & the rest of the good people here...
 
Depends on how sure you are...if you have proof, post it in the ad.
If you are reasonably sure it is somebody else, posting under a false name, you can report the post & clearly explain your rationale.
 
I hate to drag my feet (actually I don't - I feel it a right of the internet), but I did want to make it clear since Harald has spoke with me regarding it: I changed my location from the indescript 'United States', my location since 2004, to 'NY' five minutes ago. I know you have registrations and minor record changes to look at daily Rich, so hopefully this doesn't catch your eye/you don't give me the boot as I too am uncomfortable listing my city. I'm not exactly an 'obscure' looking guy, so hopefully my profile picture makes up for a lack of city.
 
Well is it me or is FAUNA FORUM ran tighter than Peyton Manning's under armor ?

I understand why but geez I can't customize tags, signature with my wanted list, now I must show my whole name, can't post with this/that, what is the last four of my ssn, what is my mothers maiden name, raise my right hand,what is my middle initial, who is the 44th president, did I serve jury duty in the past three years LOL, wait JUST I HAD A THOUGHT I'M IN the U.S. AMERICA I only have the right to remain silent lol.

Just kidding but you guys run a tight ship to prevent Romp A Room on here unlike other sites/forums, I can appreciate and respect that.
 
The ability of members to create their own tags was removed due to the consistent abuse by what was probably a select few immature people.
If more people showed a basic level of respect, courtesy, and common sense, it would make life a lot easier.
 
BrooklynJoe said:
Well is it me or is FAUNA FORUM ran tighter than Peyton Manning's under armor ?

I understand why but geez I can't customize tags, signature with my wanted list, now I must show my whole name, can't post with this/that, what is the last four of my ssn, what is my mothers maiden name, raise my right hand,what is my middle initial, who is the 44th president, did I serve jury duty in the past three years LOL, wait JUST I HAD A THOUGHT I'M IN the U.S. AMERICA I only have the right to remain silent lol.

Just kidding but you guys run a tight ship to prevent Romp A Room on here unlike other sites/forums, I can appreciate and respect that.
Click to expand...

I hope you don't think this is a hell of a whole lot of FUN for us..........
 
Hey Joe whazz up Buddy I know it seems harsh but if it saves 1 member x amount of dollars to have a tight ship Buddy it will come back ten fold in people you can trust.Well hey man its kinda like this Fauna is tightening its belt a little to protect its Family and its Flock.I applaud them for this other wise they wouldnt care whats going on here and we would have simply no rules and rules seperate us from the Animals out there!
Hey I would also like to say welcome to the Family Joe its nice to meet ya!
 
Interesting..... I thought with my getting much more stringent with the requirements to pass muster to have a registration accepted, that new registrations would drop abruptly. But the exact OPPOSITE has taken place. Registrations jumped from 15 to 25 per day to 24 to 48 per day! I still have some that are blocked because of issues with the registration info provided, but I changed the email sent to the rejectees explaining what is needed for compliance, and many will come back with the registration info corrected.

It's not foolproof, of course, but I think it will help.

And I've only gotten a few nasty grams from people incensed that their registration was blocked.... :rolleyes:
 
BrooklynJoe said:
Well is it me or is FAUNA FORUM ran tighter than Peyton Manning's under armor ?

I understand why but geez I can't customize tags, signature with my wanted list, now I must show my whole name, can't post with this/that, what is the last four of my ssn, what is my mothers maiden name, raise my right hand,what is my middle initial, who is the 44th president, did I serve jury duty in the past three years LOL, wait JUST I HAD A THOUGHT I'M IN the U.S. AMERICA I only have the right to remain silent lol.

Just kidding but you guys run a tight ship to prevent Romp A Room on here unlike other sites/forums, I can appreciate and respect that.
Click to expand...

I know you are joking..;) you don't have to comply.:reddevil:

On the web... consider Fauna as an example of the USA....all outsiders are illegals (well that's one way to put it);).

Webslave can/will stop all illegals at the border unless they comply.:rofl:
 
Back
Top