multiple accounts...

PatboyX

Diamond Member
Aug 10, 2001
7,024
0
0
it has recently been revealed that a member here had two accounts, one of which was locked when this was discovered.

so, assuming i can ask this, how do the powers that be know when someone has a dual account?
is it just IPs?
 

SarcasticDwarf

Diamond Member
Jun 8, 2001
9,574
2
76
Originally posted by: PatboyX
it has recently been revealed that a member here had two accounts, one of which was locked when this was discovered.

so, assuming i can ask this, how do the powers that be know when someone has a dual account?
is it just IPs?

ip's, looking at the e-mails used, and the personalities.

<---what we do at the forum I mod
 

illusion88

Lifer
Oct 2, 2001
13,164
3
81
some dude pretended to be a girl. He got cought because he posted as the girl while on his guy account.

And there was someone who pretended to have a relationship with someone (on this board) and then that person died, he posted about, and later it was found out that they never actually existed and it was a hoax.

Why, you thinking about pulling a stunt?
 

PatboyX

Diamond Member
Aug 10, 2001
7,024
0
0
seems like a pretty intense cross-referencing. i imagine IPs would work best...but...wouldnt personalities be pretty tough to determine?
 

Broohaha

Banned
Jan 4, 2001
3,973
0
0
Originally posted by: illusion88
some dude pretended to be a girl. He got cought because he posted as the girl while on his guy account. And there was someone who pretended to have a relationship with someone (on this board) and then that person died, he posted about, and later it was found out that they never actually existed and it was a hoax. Why, you thinking about pulling a stunt?

wow. what kind of screwball would do something like that?

//me prepares to press logout button...
 

PatboyX

Diamond Member
Aug 10, 2001
7,024
0
0
no, i wasnt thinking of trying it. i just went over to P&Ns and saw a PSA about a duplicate account and was interested to know how they knew...how they would "prove" it.
 
Jan 31, 2002
40,819
2
0
Originally posted by: PatboyX
no, i wasnt thinking of trying it. i just went over to P&Ns and saw a PSA about a duplicate account and was interested to know how they knew...how they would "prove" it.

IPs is the easiest, but a slip of the tongue is all it would take to spark a full investigation. Sign one of your posts with the wrong handle, say something that "person" doesn't know ... eventually the web of lies trips them up.

- M4H
 

SarcasticDwarf

Diamond Member
Jun 8, 2001
9,574
2
76
Originally posted by: PatboyX
seems like a pretty intense cross-referencing. i imagine IPs would work best...but...wouldnt personalities be pretty tough to determine?

People tend to repeat the behavior that gets them banned in the first place, so it is not that hard. The forums I mod only have 5k members, but the material discussed requires intense security, so it makes sense.
 

illusion88

Lifer
Oct 2, 2001
13,164
3
81
Originally posted by: Broohaha
Originally posted by: illusion88
some dude pretended to be a girl. He got cought because he posted as the girl while on his guy account. And there was someone who pretended to have a relationship with someone (on this board) and then that person died, he posted about, and later it was found out that they never actually existed and it was a hoax. Why, you thinking about pulling a stunt?

wow. what kind of screwball would do something like that?

//me prepares to press logout button...

It happened before I got here. I just heard about it. It was posted on some news sites as well (like tech news, not CNN).
 

Zee

Diamond Member
Nov 27, 1999
5,171
3
76
i dont think it's heavily enforced. Proxies are nothing new to a bunch of geeks like us.
 

illusion88

Lifer
Oct 2, 2001
13,164
3
81
Originally posted by: DeathByAnts
Originally posted by: PatboyX
seems like a pretty intense cross-referencing. i imagine IPs would work best...but...wouldnt personalities be pretty tough to determine?

People tend to repeat the behavior that gets them banned in the first place, so it is not that hard. The forums I mod only have 5k members, but the material discussed requires intense security, so it makes sense.

do you discuss the wearabouts of our nuclear subs or something?
 

TommyVercetti

Diamond Member
Jan 4, 2003
7,623
1
0
Originally posted by: illusion88
some dude pretended to be a girl. He got cought because he posted as the girl while on his guy account.

And there was someone who pretended to have a relationship with someone (on this board) and then that person died, he posted about, and later it was found out that they never actually existed and it was a hoax.

Why, you thinking about pulling a stunt?

Still beats me how the matching IPs didn't gave that up. Possibly used a proxy?
 

SarcasticDwarf

Diamond Member
Jun 8, 2001
9,574
2
76
Originally posted by: illusion88
Originally posted by: DeathByAnts
Originally posted by: PatboyX
seems like a pretty intense cross-referencing. i imagine IPs would work best...but...wouldnt personalities be pretty tough to determine?

People tend to repeat the behavior that gets them banned in the first place, so it is not that hard. The forums I mod only have 5k members, but the material discussed requires intense security, so it makes sense.

do you discuss the wearabouts of our nuclear subs or something?

If it was being discussed somewhere, it would not suprise me:)
 

illusion88

Lifer
Oct 2, 2001
13,164
3
81
Originally posted by: DeathByAnts
Originally posted by: illusion88
Originally posted by: DeathByAnts
Originally posted by: PatboyX
seems like a pretty intense cross-referencing. i imagine IPs would work best...but...wouldnt personalities be pretty tough to determine?

People tend to repeat the behavior that gets them banned in the first place, so it is not that hard. The forums I mod only have 5k members, but the material discussed requires intense security, so it makes sense.

do you discuss the wearabouts of our nuclear subs or something?

If it was being discussed somewhere, it would not suprise me:)

link?
 

Cyberian

Diamond Member
Jun 17, 2000
9,999
1
0
Originally posted by: TommyVercetti
Originally posted by: illusion88
some dude pretended to be a girl. He got cought because he posted as the girl while on his guy account.

And there was someone who pretended to have a relationship with someone (on this board) and then that person died, he posted about, and later it was found out that they never actually existed and it was a hoax.

Why, you thinking about pulling a stunt?

Still beats me how the matching IPs didn't gave that up. Possibly used a proxy?
Don't a lot of people still have dynamic IPs?

 

SarcasticDwarf

Diamond Member
Jun 8, 2001
9,574
2
76
Originally posted by: Cyberian
Originally posted by: TommyVercetti
Originally posted by: illusion88
some dude pretended to be a girl. He got cought because he posted as the girl while on his guy account.

And there was someone who pretended to have a relationship with someone (on this board) and then that person died, he posted about, and later it was found out that they never actually existed and it was a hoax.

Why, you thinking about pulling a stunt?

Still beats me how the matching IPs didn't gave that up. Possibly used a proxy?
Don't a lot of people still have dynamic IPs?

yes, they may be dynamic, but are often within the same IP block.
 

Gaard

Diamond Member
Feb 17, 2002
8,911
1
0
I hope I get the same attention if I ever pull a stunt like that. "Attention! This user is actually Gaard!" Plus having the thread stickied? Thanks for the PSA. ;)

 

theNEOone

Diamond Member
Apr 22, 2001
5,745
4
81
my brother and I had our accounts temporarily locked for having the same password - i imagine they have capabilities in place for scanning all the passwords and cross-checking similarities.


=|
 

Kadarin

Lifer
Nov 23, 2001
44,296
16
81
Originally posted by: DeathByAnts
Originally posted by: Cyberian
Originally posted by: TommyVercetti
Originally posted by: illusion88
some dude pretended to be a girl. He got cought because he posted as the girl while on his guy account.

And there was someone who pretended to have a relationship with someone (on this board) and then that person died, he posted about, and later it was found out that they never actually existed and it was a hoax.

Why, you thinking about pulling a stunt?

Still beats me how the matching IPs didn't gave that up. Possibly used a proxy?
Don't a lot of people still have dynamic IPs?

yes, they may be dynamic, but are often within the same IP block.

I'm on Comcast, and I've had the third octet in my ip address change.. my WAN subnet mask is 255.255.252.0. I think the moderators here typically assume a 24-bit mask when that is not always the case.
 

RossMAN

Grand Nagus
Feb 24, 2000
79,007
430
136
Either

1) Drop it and forget about it but it will probably nag you forever.
2) Send a PM to Anandtech Moderator with the two user ID's, your observations including references to certain threads where they may have "slipped up".
3) If you want to remain anonymous, open a free Hotmail or Yahoo account send an anonymous e-mail to moderators@anandtech.com