Apparent door to door Facebook warning by the Gardai

BeardyFunzo

A message was posted to my workplace's email list warning parents to be on the lookout for a certain name (a girl), as this person was a suspected paedophile. It whiffed of spam to me so I inquired further and the sender informed me that 2 Gardai had called to the house and talked to the lady of the house.
Has anyone else had heard about the Gardai going door to door to warn parents to be on the lookout for a certain name appearing in their children's friend list?

Could this be some elaborate scam to get access to people's computers? Or is someone trying to prank this girl? or is it legit?

Ponster

BeardyFunzo wrote: »

Could this be some elaborate scam...

I hope so. The very thought of the police going door to door to warn parents about certain Facebook 'friends' is repulsive.

Temptamperu

I cant smell anything and I can smell a scam for three towns over.

Daisy M

It doesn't make sense, surely the first port of call would be facebook security team to have this user banned and IP address traced?

SunnyDub1

Gardai using their time to knock from door to door pffffft..

AS IF

I'll belive it when I see it :rolleyes:

mathie

Knock, Knock.
Who's there?
The Gardai.
The Gardai who?
Just the Gardai.

BeardyFunzo

Ponster wrote: »

I hope so. The very thought of the police going door to door to warn parents about certain Facebook 'friends' is repulsive.

This is more or less what i initially thought... not exactly an efficient use of resources.

BeardyFunzo

Daisy M wrote: »

It doesn't make sense, surely the first port of call would be facebook security team to have this user banned and IP address traced?

Exactly. there are far smarter ways of handling this than going door to door.

Temped to contact the person who sent the mail and let them know of my suspicions.

CreepingDeath

BeardyFunzo wrote: »

Could this be some elaborate scam to get access to people's computers? Or is someone trying to prank this girl? or is it legit?

Sounds legit to me.
Maybe the guards, or some other foreign police force have been tracking the online activities of sex offenders and saw that they were trying to befriend minors on Facebook, posing as girls.

I'd hope that it violates their parole terms and they're thrown back in jail for it.

BeardyFunzo wrote: »

Exactly. there are far smarter ways of handling this than going door to door.

I doubt it was a door-to-door canvassing to make people aware, I'd say the parents had to be informed because their children
were directly contacted/friend requested or the like.

Fizman

Did I read that correctly? A woman is thought to be a paedophile?

Every little boys dream.

bijapos

Fizman wrote: »

Did I read that correctly? A woman is thought to be a paedophile?

Every little boys dream.

FFS, this isn't a laughing matter, child abuse is child abuse, it doesn't matter who is the perpetrator. :mad:

kylith

My first thought is that this sounds like a malicious campaign against this woman.

CreepingDeath

Fizman wrote: »

Did I read that correctly? A woman is thought to be a paedophile?

I assumed that it was a man posing as a girl on Facebook.

MarkR

bijapos wrote: »

FFS, this isn't a laughing matter, child abuse is child abuse, it doesn't matter who is the perpetrator. :mad:

I'm afraid it is the eight of modern humour. In AH.

syklops

BeardyFunzo wrote: »

This is more or less what i initially thought... not exactly an efficient use of resources.

If you assume they are warning everybody in the area going door to door, then yes. I took it to mean they warned this specific woman. She mis-understood the warning and being civicly responsible put a notice up in work about it.

Actually now I am confused.

...It whiffed of spam to me so I inquired further and the sender informed me that 2 Gardai had called to the house and talked to the lady of the house.

So the sender of the email, and the lady of the house are 2 different people? So the sender of the email didnt speak to the Gardai?

Yeah I will go back to my original thought that the Gardai were warning this particular woman(the lady of the house).

IM0

this is what the guards think facebook is, what hope do you think there is of this being true knowing this

Some Yoke

I'm not sure if the Gardai doing this is "repulsive". Taking precautions to protect kids from suspected paedophilic activity.. Responsible is the word I'd choose. Fairly basic and fundamental really.

Boombastic

The guards should have left a comment on her wall.

Plazaman

BeardyFunzo wrote: »

A message was posted to my workplace's email list warning parents to be on the lookout for a certain name (a girl), as this person was a suspected paedophile. It whiffed of spam to me so I inquired further and the sender informed me that 2 Gardai had called to the house and talked to the lady of the house.
Has anyone else had heard about the Gardai going door to door to warn parents to be on the lookout for a certain name appearing in their children's friend list?

Could this be some elaborate scam to get access to people's computers? Or is someone trying to prank this girl? or is it legit?

Sounds suspect to me. I would put more time and effort into tracking the originator of the email as it sounds like an effort to slander someone.

First and foremost, if the person is a convicted paedophile, there are already procedures in place for the Gardai to know his/her whereabouts at all times. If this person isn't convicted, then the time of the originator of the email would be best spent sending evidence to the Guards rather than mailing other people.

Don't think the Gardai would go house to house to tell parents to check their childrens friends list on Facebook to see if a name was on it oh and by the way can you check it regularly from here on in just in case it does appear? Having said that, Facebook's age limit to join is 13 so if a child under this age has an account, the parents should be all over it anyway.

syklops

BeardyFunzo wrote: »

Could this be some elaborate scam to get access to people's computers?

There is much easier ways to get access to someones computer than dressing up as two Gardai and going door to door.

stmol32

Same email was sent to all staff today in my work from a man who works here.

In the email he says the gardai contacted him and his wife about a suspect trying to friend his child.

Dravokivich

BeardyFunzo wrote: »

...as this person was a suspected paedophile...

hmmm, sounds a little too much like gossiping to me. If guards were looking for someone that is highly likely to be a paedophile, aren't they usually quiet unless there's been activity in the area? Otherwise they'll just scare'em off to somewhere else when they hear they are being looked for.

stmol32

syklops wrote: »

There is much easier ways to get access to someones computer than dressing up as two Gardai and going door to door.

It'd be like getting the reservoir dogs together to snatch a handbag.

dr strangelove

Sounds like the suspected paedophile is being harassed.

When the Guards called round were they talking to the suspected paedophile, a recent Facebook friend of the suspected paedophile or just randomly going round the town warning people - and so by extension everyone in the world will be warned?

It also sounds like that the company allowing the email to be sent are complicit in the defamation.

i hate this kind of **** - chinese whispers doing the rounds with no basis in fact.

pathtohome

Police accusing a FEMALE of being a pedophile in IRELAND???....

....MUST be a prank. The only thing females usually get here is their asses kissed.

Insect Overlord

Boombastic wrote: »

The guards should have left a comment on her wall.

Tis all time-lines these days...

*grumbles*

syklops

dr strangelove wrote: »

Sounds like the suspected paedophile is being harassed.

When the Guards called round were they talking to the suspected paedophile, a recent Facebook friend of the suspected paedophile or just randomly going round the town warning people - and so by extension everyone in the world will be warned?

It also sounds like that the company allowing the email to be sent are complicit in the defamation.

i hate this kind of **** - chinese whispers doing the rounds with no basis in fact.

Chinese whispers is right.

OP -> The guards told me about a suspected paedophile = First hand information
OP -> A Girl in work told me about a suspected paedophile = Second hand information.
OP -> A girl in work told me that the lady of the house was told by the Gardai about a suspected paedophile = Third hand information.

Dravokivich

syklops wrote: »

Chinese whispers is right.

OP -> The guards told me about a suspected paedophile = First hand information
OP -> A Girl in work told me about a suspected paedophile = Second hand information.
OP -> A girl in work told me that the lady of the house was told by the Gardai about a suspected paedophile = Third hand information.

And the last person is always gay.

mathie

Dravokivich wrote: »

And the last person is always gay.

You totally are.

Teyla Emmagan

This is completely bizarre. What kind of place do you even work OP that your company policies will allow an email to be sent around accusing somebody of being a paedophile?! That's the oddest thing I've ever heard. That sounds completely illegal and I would imagine would leave your company open to both slander and harrassment charges. Is this suspected paedophile even real? Does this woman who was told by the Guards even know her? And what is her connection to your workplace?

I don't think this is a scam, I think it's a pile of stinking horse manure.

Pumpkinseeds

I would be very suspicious of that. I find it hard to believe that the Gardaí would be calling to houses and making allegations that someone was a paedophile. If a parent were to decide to assault her surely the woman would be in a position to take legal action against the Gardaí. Sounds like nonsense and you only have one persons word that this even happened at all.

BeardyFunzo

OK, for the sake of clarity here's the original email, which was sent to my workplace's staff list:

****WARNING TO PARENTS WHOSE KIDS HAVE FRIENDS ON FACEBOOK """""

Apologies to those who this of no concern to

Dear All

The Gardai were in contact with us over the weekend regarding a person who tried to befriend one of our children on facebook. The person is going under the name of "Name Removed " and the Gardai believe this person to be a suspected paedophile. If any of your children are contacted by this person you are advised to contact the Gardai in Swords immediately on [URL="tel:%2801%29%206664700"](01) 6664700[/URL]. They have also advised not to delete this person as a friend in case they are forewarned .

I got a whiff of spam and emailed the person back:

[FONT=verdana,sans-serif]Hi
[/FONT][FONT=verdana,sans-serif]
[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,sans-serif]I'm curious about this- the message strikes me as being a bit 'spammy' and could possibly be a prank being played on the gardai or this girl who seems to be a real person-

*link to a facebook profile of a person with the same name who appears to be in the vicinity of my workplace went here*

[/FONT]



Do you know source of this alert?

His reply to me:

Hi John

I don't know why you would think it is " Spammy". 2 Gardai called to our house to check any contact/ message that my son might have had with a person called " Name removed" . I was away so my wife dealt with the Gardai. I have no idea if its a prank played on the Gardai but they are taking it seriously. You can't assume that the link you have is the person they refer to. Best leave it for the Gardai to follow up. I wouldn't want to be speculating whether this person you have linked is the one they are investigating .

Regards

syklops

I was away so my wife dealt with the Gardai.

Best leave it for the Gardai to follow up

If he thinks its best left to the Guards to follow up, why is he emailing people around in his office?? Obscure situation.

im invisible

mathie wrote: »

You totally are.

D'oh!

AnonoBoy

Who the what now?

So the Gardai think someone on Facebook is a paedophile and they're calling to people's houses about it?

So they've tracked down this guy's son and found out his address, why not do the same with the suspected paedophile?

It sounds odd.

Email him more. Get to the bottom of this.

Teyla Emmagan

John, eh?

Kenny Logins

I've heard a tale very similar to this a few weeks ago, but I dismissed it as urban myth.

...and there's still no evidence to say otherwise.

Namlub

pathtohome wrote: »

Police accusing a FEMALE of being a pedophile in IRELAND???....

....MUST be a prank. The only thing females usually get here is their asses kissed.

This comment is stupid in so many ways...

syklops

Maybe the OP is being reversed trolled? Thats just as plausible, based on the "facts" we have so far.

Boombastic

Had the Guard got his hat on when he sent the email?

dar83

dr strangelove

There are a few things that smell of fish about this:

The Gardai were in contact with us over the weekend

What kind of company would have someone available over the weekend? How would the Guards know who to contact, and why do it over the weekend?

.............regarding a person who tried to befriend one of our children on facebook.

How do the Guards know that this person tried to befriend the children? Are they already monitoring their facebook account? and if so, why to they need to let other people know this?

The person is going under the name of "Name Removed " and the Gardai believe this person to be a suspected paedophile.

So, this person isn't actually a convicted paedophile? I'd say this puts everyone involved on legally questionable ground

Gardai called to our house to check any contact/ message that my son might have had with a person called " Name removed"

.
Why call round to the house? surely they could see if the son accepted the friend request?

You can't assume that the link you have is the person they refer to. Best leave it for the Gardai to follow up.

I wouldn't want to be speculating whether this person you have linked is the one they are investigating.

And yet they are the ones throwing around the name of quite possibly an innocent person, and probably mucking up their own investigation.



Just hope people don't take the law into their own hands, as has happened before:
here and here