I'm posting this here because a similar discussion in the PMDG area of these forums was, for some reason, deleted; this is important.Beware the amount of information that you reveal in an internet forum. Identity theft is alive and well and once it strikes the ramifications can be devastating both financially and emotionally. Do not display your full name in any internet forum, use it to sign up - the forum administrators should keep it hidden, but do not sign your posts with your full name. Now you may think that displaying your full name in a signature is rather innocuous and in isolation it is. Consider though that many posters use more than one forum and participate in various social networking sites; the scum that identity thieves are, troll multiple forums and facebook and other social network sites and compile information gathered from all these sources, a full name here, a location there, a birthday somewhere else, with a view to using your identification for their own (criminal) means. In 2009 over 1.3 million people in the US alone reported instances of identity theft - don't become the next victim.

I use my name in this forum like I have for years. I don't belong to any social networking sites. I never disclose my DoB. My intials and surname plus full postal address are listed in the British Telecom phone directory and has been for 30+ years.I agree that disclosing too much personal information is unwise but I see no harm in using my name on some internet forums. I run a personal weather station (link in my sig) that shows where I live but I doubt that will give any thief sufficient information to steal my identity. For that you would need my National Insurance Number, DoB and possibly my mother's maiden name and all that remains private.Common sense is all that's needed.

Good story！Thank you for sharing, I will always remember.

Unfortunately Ray it is not so simple. Data theft is real, more than one bank has had their data compromised and details of customers stolen, including social security numbers and other information. I'm not saying that displaying your name on an internet forum will automatically result in identity theft but rather it may be used as a part of the process. The number of bots that scan internet forums on a daily basis is staggering - some are pseudo legitimate (google, bing and other search engines), others aren't. You may not use social networking sites but many do and these are the people that my warning was intended for.

People do need to be aware of what information they make public Scott and there's no doubt that social networking sites have made identity thieves job a lot easier. Small amounts of personal info can be divulged without the individual being aware of the sensitivity of it. Put lots of it together over a period of time and you have a recipe for disaster.I can think of no circumstances where I would divulge my National Insurance number (equivalent of your SS number) in any online dialogue even with UK government officials. Same goes for date of birth.I was absolutely incensed with Saitek who would only allow me to access their support forums if I supplied my dob on the registration page. I questioned why they wanted it and they claimed it was to ensure users were over a certain age. Despite me pointing out a false one could be entered that they could not validate they insisted so I provided a false one and they were none the wiser. Idiots!!I appreciate you're not including people like myself who don't belong to social networking sites but it's no bad thing to make people aware of the dangers.

I was absolutely incensed with Saitek who would only allow me to access their support forums...

if the company is providing something i 'must' have the solution -

• if open datafields: 01, 01, 1901
• if a pulldown menu put the oldest date they will allow.

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if the company is providing something i 'must' have the solution -

• if open datafields: 01, 01, 1901
• if a pulldown menu put the oldest date they will allow.

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Any date would do as long as it's not mine. 29 Febraury in a non-leap year did spring to mind.

It's sites like this one that get my blood boiling: http://www.spokeo.com/I checked on my own name (and all variations thereof) as well as my email address. The only information that they had (which was complete and accurate!) that really bothered me was my cellphone number......since I've never given my cellphone number to anyone except via email, MSN, or PM to a known individual.In any case, I did follow the rather convoluted steps to "opt out" and have my information removed, but I shouldn't have had to do that to begin with... :Hmmmph:

Out of curiosity I entered my name and was amazed to see there are three of me in the US! However, when I entered my full name there were no returns so thanks to my dad I have a name probably unique in the world.

Out of curiosity I entered my name and was amazed to see there are three of me in the US! However, when I entered my full name there were no returns so thanks to my dad I have a name probably unique in the world.

I may be mistaken, but I believe that particular database is limited to the United States. At least, I've not found anyone who's outside the U.S.And yes, I did look up your name as well! :LMAO:

I may be mistaken, but I believe that particular database is limited to the United States. At least, I've not found anyone who's outside the U.S.And yes, I did look up your name as well! :LMAO:

I'm pleased it's limited to the US but I have alerted a friend based in the US as the amount of info I saw about him would concern me if it was mine.None are relations of mine as far as I know. The name originated in the county of Cumberland, England. Now known as Cumbria. Probably cobblers!

...since I've never given my cellphone number to anyone except via email, MSN, or PM to a known individual.

email is not a secure communications medium, nor is MSN or a PM - in fact PMs are often kept unsecured in forums - prime targets for data harvesting.

I made my friend aware of his family and personal details on that site and he was horrified and very annoyed. It may be a coincidence he has a teenage daughter who uses Facebook.I and he are very grateful to you qnh for raising this issue. He's now demanded they remove this data from public view and they have done so but it may remain on their databases.Getting rid of that may be more difficult but I imagine they may face legal action if they publish anything except his name, address and fixed phone number which, like the UK, is in the public domain.

I made my friend aware of his family and personal details on that site and he was horrified and very annoyed. It may be a coincidence he has a teenage daughter who uses Facebook.I and he are very grateful to you qnh for raising this issue. He's now demanded they remove this data from public view and they have done so but it may remain on their databases.Getting rid of that may be more difficult but I imagine they may face legal action if they publish anything except his name, address and fixed phone number which, like the UK, is in the public domain.

If I only help one person avoid this identity scourge then I'm happy. Too many people are unaware of the dangers and the arrogance, or is it ignorance, exhibited by the operators of a sub-forum of Avsim is not helping.

I and he are very grateful to you qnh for raising this issue. He's now demanded they remove this data from public view and they have done so but it may remain on their databases.

Actually it was I who first posted the link to that specific website* (which I had only learned about from a similar thread at Sim Outhouse), but also thank the OP for starting this thread to begin with... :Applause: *Note: What is truly annoying is that there are without doubt similar websites/databases of which we remain unaware. :mad: