With Facebook now the most widely used social networking site by Jamaican LGBTQI people these days there was sooner or later bound to be some anancyism turning up at some point as we are a people good for that kind of crap. With no clear rules by Facebook as to the use of the account holder having a real photograph of themselves on their profiles dishonest individuals have been running rough shod with photos of buffed man or provocative male images with some intended to lure unsuspecting MSMs in particular who in a short time arrange hook ups while not even verifying and developing any long term e-lationship or chat before the face to face or supposed sexual encounter.
Men who have sex with men are not the only ones who have been duped into this practice with disastrous and near death results.
Two women who suffered the "corrective rape discipline" that some men think they have a right to do in order to straighten them out after they were lured to meet a "lesbian" who has set up a profile with a female body (head capped) on a particular site run by a Jamaican as well, unbeknownst to the owner it happened with even CISOCA Centre for investigations of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse getting involved as they tracked the rape ring which led them to central Jamaica where one of the master minds was accosted. He got 29 years in total as he was on bail and had previous charges of rape as well answering in the courts. Another was arrested at the time but the case fizzled as the victims refused to come forward to testify fearing reprisals. CISOCA had seized several computers, printed copies of online message chats both on MSN and the particular networking site as well. Archived copies of the chat were also preserved by one of the victims as well which was a smart move on her part.
Thankfully the site's admin has since implemented new security features where members only can now log on with new members needing referencing or verification from existing ones. Both victims met a so called brother of the girl who took them to a fake address where his cronies were laying in wait armed with guns.
and HERE
This particular MSM case of which this post revolves happened on June 11 and comes from a young man who met someone on the popular Facebook site who had a photo of an exposed torso male. Believing the photo was that of the person behind the messages and comments between the two over a three week period the profile's holder invited the young man to be in a face to face meeting at a point they agreed on. The date arrived but just before the meeting was to take place the profiler changed the point of contact via a phone call and in hind sight the young man said he heard rough voices in the background speaking about what they should "do to him" but he thought it was something else or not him. He went to the area near a plaza just off a main road for the proverbial hook up wearing the exact colours he had indicated to the profiler but noticed when he arrived some twenty minutes prior to the set time that a car was near the area parked seemingly with passengers aboard as the body of vehicle was lower than normal and the engines were running, he dismissed any unsuspecting issue as he thought that due to the summer' heat the occupants were using the engines to power the air conditioning.
Soon after he walked to the exact spot on the piazza where two men alighted and gave chase but though young he was not a fool as he had planned his escape route should the need arise.
This however was not before the men shouted the usual curse words "battyman" etc as their attempts were thwarted, it is not yet clear though if the men were homophobic or they wanted to gang rape the young man, he surmises the latter as he said after passing the photo around he was told it is a regular practice by this profiler to lure men for rough sex usually under duress.
Thankfully this one ended the way it did but for the men to use curse despite the young man's strong suspicion of gay on gay violence is a glaring sign how easily persons will cloak themselves with homophobic disguises to carry out their dirty deeds. Homophobes can well be posing as gay too or DL persons who are struggling with their own feelings of guilt and shame also can exercise this kind of revenge attacks as well to purge themselves of said guilt.
Some suggestions:
Please bear in mind the following if you or someone you know is planning a face to face meeting following an continued e-lationship
- Make sure the profiler has a real photo or photos of themselves
- Ask questions about them, get to know as much as possible as timely as possible
- Establish telephone contact as early as you see fit
- Listen for any change in mood, tone or information shared over time
- Keep the e-lationship going with regular interactions to pick up any changes as well
- Archive or save suspicious exchanges as you see fit
- Avoid instant hook-ups without first developing some rapport in the e-lationship
- Tell a close friend where and when you are going to meet an online friend for the first time
- Develop a trend in communicating for e.g same times if possible per day for chatting
- If you decide to meet find an open public area as best as possible, and decide how to behave in that space to avoid any unsuspecting onlookers who may deduce it's a gay link up
- Decide on clothing and colour or change colours previously agreed to if you are not sure of the individual
- Study your surroundings when there and get there early (as this young man did)
- Plan your possible route(s) of escape if necessary
- Have a weapon of some sort or maze that can create a distraction then escape as quickly as possible
- Have a trusted friend accompany you if possible and have them away from the actual meeting spot but make sure they can see you
- Make a call if needed to the person(s) who followed you and keep the line open so they can hear your conversation and call for help elsewhere if needed
- Set your Facebook profile to "Friends Only" as under "Friends of Friends" all other persons can see you
- If you are in a group and are active you may turn off the feature where non friends can send you a message or see you photos
- Use only a sensible face picture as your profile thumbnail so as to avoid stalking
These are just some of what you can do as suggested by me, do more online research on your own as well.
Here is a previous suggested checklist I had done for the same gender loving sisters when I had written on their side of things:
"This is a stern warning to my lesbian sisters out there please be mindful of the persons and social networks you become associated with, here are some tips I think that are useful:
1) Check the sites and chat rooms to make sure their privacy settings allow for scrutiny of members and their profiles.
2) Be ware of the amount of pictures of yourself you may upload to these open sites,
3) If one intends to meet or hook-up with potential persons from these networks do so in a public place for your own protection
4) Develop a rapport with online chatters or friends before meeting them; get to know the chatter by asking probing questions
5) Use a pseudonym where necessary and ask the administrators to verify members where necessary
6) Use the privacy settings available on your respective social networks so that not everyone can see your page if needed
7) When in doubt just block a suspicious profile user if one if not satisfied that the person is legitimate
8) Be alert to the number of members in your page and try to discern suspicious activity
9) If in doubt leave the respective page and delete all content of you including photos
10) Look for pages that offer privacy settings that are suitable for you protection, pages on NING, Facebook and MySpace offer great privacy settings that can make your profile hidden from all other members
11) Network with those you know so they can verify other folks and tread carefully online."
1) Check the sites and chat rooms to make sure their privacy settings allow for scrutiny of members and their profiles.
2) Be ware of the amount of pictures of yourself you may upload to these open sites,
3) If one intends to meet or hook-up with potential persons from these networks do so in a public place for your own protection
4) Develop a rapport with online chatters or friends before meeting them; get to know the chatter by asking probing questions
5) Use a pseudonym where necessary and ask the administrators to verify members where necessary
6) Use the privacy settings available on your respective social networks so that not everyone can see your page if needed
7) When in doubt just block a suspicious profile user if one if not satisfied that the person is legitimate
8) Be alert to the number of members in your page and try to discern suspicious activity
9) If in doubt leave the respective page and delete all content of you including photos
10) Look for pages that offer privacy settings that are suitable for you protection, pages on NING, Facebook and MySpace offer great privacy settings that can make your profile hidden from all other members
11) Network with those you know so they can verify other folks and tread carefully online."
As I say on my sister blog GLBTQ Jamaica - "Be Vigilant, Be Safe" in your e-lations.
Peace and tolerance
H
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