Rampant Wayfarer abuse in Kiribati
VeIvetRemedy-ING
Posts: 32 ✭✭✭
Hello Wayfarers, I want to bring to your attention the absolute rampant abuse of Wayfarer in Kiribati. Kiribati is a Pacific Island nation and has the distinction of being the country with the earliest timezone in the world, UTC+14. For that reason, it’s the ideal location for spoofers in Pokemon Go to “visit” to experience special events first. To do that, they have flooded the eastern most island, Kiritimati (or Christmas Island), with dozens of fake waypoints. The most concentrated location is in the village of London, population 1899 (according to Wikipedia).
Very impressive looking. You wouldn’t expect this sort of density in such a small village. In fact, the capital city of Tarawa, which has a population of over 60,000 only has 4 waypoints. For those who want to play long, here is a link to one of the portals in the middle of that cluster: https://intel.ingress.com/intel?ll=1.985319,-157.475154&z=17&pll=1.985319,-157.475154
My bold prediction is that none of these waypoints are legitimate. Even among waypoints of objects that do exist in this village, their photos are not, being either screenshots of computer monitors or blatantly stolen from old travel reviews and blog posts. So, there are 2 types of fakes: real objects with fake photos, and complete fabrications. I can break down the latter into 2 more categories: fakes I can prove, and fakes I can’t but have no reason to trust their legitimacy.
Outright Fakes:
I’m not going to go over every single waypoint. However, here are some fun highlights. Those who want to verify what I’m saying can click on the portal link, then do a Google Lens search on the image. Either there will be an exact image match with something, or there will be web results with images of the object on that page:
“San Beneditto Church” - https://intel.ingress.com/intel?ll=1.990234,-157.477404&z=17&pll=1.990234,-157.477404: Church in Brazil. Appears to be a photo of a monitor. Here’s a trip advisor link for the attraction: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g780931-d2327833-Reviews-Praia_dos_Carneiros-Tamandare_State_of_Pernambuco.html
“Kilian's restaurant Bar” - https://intel.ingress.com/intel?ll=1.988767,-157.478561&z=17&pll=1.988767,-157.478561: A restaurant in Spain. Here is their Facebook page. There’s even a photo with their logo on the brown wall. https://m.facebook.com/pg/BarRteChicosII/photos/
"Magellan Monument Kavitoki" - https://intel.ingress.com/intel?ll=1.981969,-157.477035&z=17&pll=1.981969,-157.477035: It’s actually on Guam, and the photo is taken from Wikipedia: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Magellan_Monument,_Umatac,_Guam_-_DSC00930.JPG. Here’s another portal of the same monument with a different photo: https://intel.ingress.com/intel?ll=1.989068,-157.470632&z=17&pll=1.989068,-157.470632
"be the change (હેમાંગ-પ્રિયાંક mural)" - https://intel.ingress.com/intel?ll=1.988339,-157.470722&z=17&pll=1.988339,-157.470722: Actually a mural from an art challenge in Indiana, USA https://tippecanoearts.org/project/mural-art-initiative/
"Kiribatie Carving" - https://intel.ingress.com/intel?ll=1.983509,-157.474272&z=17&pll=1.983509,-157.474272: I don't have an exact photo match, but this is from Te Whare Rūnanga in Waitangi, New Zealand https://www.dreamstime.com/stock-images-maori-meeting-house-marae-image26954414
"Tuvalu National Library" - https://intel.ingress.com/intel?ll=1.985778,-157.473358&z=17&pll=1.985778,-157.473358: As the name suggests, it's on Tuvalu, not Kiribati. Here is their Facebook post from 2014: https://www.facebook.com/funafutitowncouncil/photos/a.326930210805337/332500316914993/ And, just for some added fun, this exact same fake portal also exists on Tuvalu. Low quality screenshot and all. https://intel.ingress.com/intel?ll=-8.525021,179.194656&z=17&pll=-8.525021,179.194656
"Great Almighty Catholic Church" - https://intel.ingress.com/intel?ll=1.98285,-157.472207&z=17&pll=1.98285,-157.472207: Branch of the Church of Tuvalu in New Zealand. Photo from here: https://www.metalroofing.org.nz/feature-articles/south-pacific-architecture-captures-qualities-tuvalu-culture
“Blackbutt Reserve walking trail entrance” - https://intel.ingress.com/intel?ll=1.982144,-157.469455&z=17&pll=1.982144,-157.469455: This is from Australia. Blackbutt is a suburb of Shellharbour. No photo for this one; I live in Australia. You can even see the Shellharbour council logo on the sign.
“Statue LOAJANAN VLR” - https://intel.ingress.com/intel?ll=2.011378,-157.405341&z=17&pll=2.011378,-157.405341: This one is from a different part of the island but I wanted to include it here. Check out those white bars on the image. Here’s the source https://airtimeloadup.com/download/23501
"Kiribati Roman Temple" - https://intel.ingress.com/intel?ll=1.984454,-157.474563&z=17&pll=1.984454,-157.474563: In reality, the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Hercules_Victor
And my absolute favourite, the crème de la crème of fake portals:
“Wembley Kiribati Stadium” - https://intel.ingress.com/intel?ll=1.982336,-157.472944&z=17&pll=1.982336,-157.472944:
This one speaks for itself. Photo lifted from here: https://www.visitlondon.com/things-to-do/place/4114851-wembley-stadium-tour
Real Waypoints with Fake Photos or Fake Locations:
Note that with some of these waypoints I have not confirmed the real location of them. Just that they do exist in Kiribati somewhere.
“Old Nippon Cannon” - https://intel.ingress.com/intel?ll=1.988496,-157.479217&z=17&pll=1.988496,-157.479217: Actually on the island of Tarawa. No photo match but here’s a different photo of the same object: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/One-of-the-Japanese-8-inch-20-cm-guns-at-Betio-Tarawa_fig2_232694981
“Christmas Island Post Office” - https://intel.ingress.com/intel?ll=1.989328,-157.478076&z=17&pll=1.989328,-157.478076: Photo lifted from their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=472897851510695&set=a.472897831510697
“Greig Memorial Monument” - https://intel.ingress.com/intel?ll=1.988318,-157.476964&z=17&pll=1.988318,-157.476964: From Tabuaeran, not Kirimati. Stolen from the a Trip Advisor gallery https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Attraction_Review-g667813-d2426214-Reviews-Fenua_ura-Fanning_Island_Line_Islands.html
"St. Jose Catholic Church" - https://intel.ingress.com/intel?ll=1.983878,-157.476226&z=17&pll=1.983878,-157.476226: The Bakiri Catholic Church on the island of Tarawa. Photo stolen from https://tonywheeler.com.au/kiribati-south-tarawa/
"Blue Catholic Church" - https://intel.ingress.com/intel?ll=1.986068,-157.472657&z=17&pll=1.986068,-157.472657: Watermark. It's a real church, but in a different village. http://www.globosapiens.net/ecards/st-stanislas-church-in-poland-49642-1.html
"Kiribati Waikiki Playground" - https://intel.ingress.com/intel?ll=1.983652,-157.473648&z=17&pll=1.983652,-157.473648: Photo yoinked from a TripAdvisor review: https://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g294122-d15234388-i446361868-Koakoa_s_Corner-Tarawa_Atoll_Gilbert_Islands.html
“Tabakea Methodist Church” - https://intel.ingress.com/intel?ll=2.017223,-157.485114&z=17&pll=2.017223,-157.485114: Photo from Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabwakea
Fake Statues and Art
Let’s take a moment to talk about the numerous waypoints of statues and sculptures all around the village. While I couldn’t identify the source of them using Google, many of them appear to be South East Asian in origin, not Polynesian. I’d be willing to bet that none of those statues, such as this one: https://intel.ingress.com/intel?ll=1.985616,-157.476553&z=17&pll=1.985616,-157.476553 are there in real life. Ditto for the close up photos of all the murals dotted around the joint. I would not be surprised if many of these photos are lifted from other portals that exist around the world. Remember when I said I will break down fakes into 2 categories? This is the latter: I can’t prove they are fake, but let’s be honest here. There’s no way any of those are real. Here's another sampling. (While compiling this I found the Otter is a sculpture in Germany https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/bordalo-il)
Thank you for joining me on this journey and feel free to do you own investigations. Niantic please do something about this, unless you are OK with Wayfarer being abused for the benefit of spoofers. It’s one thing to get flooded with low quality submissions (cough survey markers in Sydney), it’s another for everything to be entirely fake.
Comments
Good job in researching this. Hopefully Niantic will severely deal with the people who have submitted the nominations. I'm guessing they have nominated other fake points of interest in other places around the world as well.
Just to further add, 3 years ago this https://intel.ingress.com/intel?ll=1.987784,-157.477316&z=17&pll=1.987784,-157.477316 was the only portal on the island (and has been moved to accommodate the fakes). It stands to reason that it still remains the only legitimate portal there.
If Niantic card about cheaters, it sends that this would be a nice honeypot to catch lots of spoofers
I'm wondering how reviewers let these all get approved. Do that many people not check the photos to make sure they're legit?
I'd imagine the people who would benefit from it have all put their review location in Kiribati and are the only ones reviewing. Niantic needs to investigate the reviewers too.
"I submit nominations with my main account, then review them with my other accounts"
Comment from my local PoGo group chat system a while back
For those wondering how this Pokestops be like in GO:
Source from Twitter, 1 Apr 2022.
Ooh yes, Kiribati!
To add, this one entitled 'gazebo' is a fake wayspot which is also found in Calderwood, Australia, unaffectionately called 'pergola'. I remember many of these were also related to some sort of kedenkx spoofer who tried to submit a shrine on the Heard Island and McDonald Islands.
Wonder if it'll be wiped clean, bar two or three.
Actually I found an interesting trivia from Twitter. Playing Pokemon GO in Kiribati is,
From this (Sept 2016):
To this (Feb 2020, possibly the first Pokestop in the island):
And later, this (Apr 2022, after game update stuffs including events are now based by local time):
Would be interesting if every Wayspots as shown by OP become Pokestops/Gyms there, now.
I actually started compiling a report on this months ago but never got around to finishing it. I was able to source basicslly every portal image as stolen from google images.
Post some of them here if you are able, especially those murals and statues I couldn't find. I have a feeling if Niantic even decides to take action, it will only be on the waypoints we link, rather than just resetting the island to how it was a couple of years ago.
Funny stuff there.
Same island has a village named Poland ..... with pictures from Poland xD
https://intel.ingress.com/intel?ll=1.866155,-157.552834&z=17&pll=1.866155,-157.552834 - vegetation looks very Central European, the chapel too xD
https://intel.ingress.com/intel?ll=1.865813,-157.553126&z=17&pll=1.865813,-157.553126 this architecture is for sure also not from Tropical Pacific islands xD
Niantic will ask you for proof that these wayspots aren't there.
Do you live there?
I noticed those too. I couldn't find exact matches on Google but I'm sure they are images from other portals in Poland, the country.
Everything I documented is here, although like I said its not complete. I think I only looked at about half the POIs. Hopefully Niantic can use this to just confirm they whole lot is fake and nuke them all:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CxID11gHGJJ9E55RvIDq8L1IkifBpK_1fJeAewJtyc8/edit?usp=sharing
CC: @NianticOtoStar @NianticAaron @NianticLC @NianticTintino-ING Can one of yall get this all escalated to the Abuse Team please? Bonus points if one of you can slide into my DMs again since Giffard is missing.
Nice work especially on finding the real locations for some of them. Unfortunately I think Niantic likes having all this "activity" in Kiribati.
Also I can't believe I didn't notice the giant Aus Post logos on the Christmas Island Post Office.
I just realised one of the wayspots, "Dragon Neon" is my photo taken earlier this year on 7 January 2022. It is a mural in Smithfield, New South Wales.
If there is anything that I absolutely DO NOT TOLERATE whatsoever, it is theft. What are the rules regarding creative commons and copyright? Is it all wiped and becomes Niantic property as soon as it's uploaded?
How did "escultura de León prehispánica" (1.986391,-157.478703) not get removed? Not only is it fake (wayspot is on top of a building in satellite view), it's also got some dude posing in it.
Just had a look at the ones that are left, most of them are still obviously fake.
@HaramDingo-ING I’m sure you’re just using “I’ll **** them “ as a figure of speech, but words can be taken literally in a forum . You may want to edit.
I wonder if this type of behavior occurs frequently? I have long been concerned about the frequency of such activities, and have often reported wayspots with similar tactics in Japan.
However, because of Niantic's overly benevolent behavior and inability to effectively penalize people, this kind of malicious behavior continues to take place around the world.
It is time to stop Wayfarer once and for all and inspect every wayspot on the map.
It is no exaggeration to say that Wayfarer has become a pile of garbage.
@NianticTintino
Then Niantic have to stop those abusers (and spoofers) effectively. Such frustrations were came from Niantic not took serious action against those players.
"Better consequences for abusers" question wasn't being the top question in April AMA for nothing.
Okay, post edited. But whoever disagreed, do you like people stealing your own photos with no permission and uploading them to a certain different part of the world claiming its theirs?
There are still no consequences for abusers. Or maybe we had it is all wrong. "Better" means that they are more of a positive reinforcement and probably lighter in nature. We should have rephrased it to "heavier" consequences so it's less ambiguous.
It seems my posts are getting stuck in the approval queue. I'll include a link to a Google Doc with more fake portals rather than list them out here as it seems that's the reason for it getting stuck.
Ok, I take back what I said about Niantic not caring. I hope it's not just me, but a whole bunch of portals are missing from the village. I haven't looked closely, but they appear to be all of the portals I mentioned in my original post
Excellent work. I stand by my assertion that "Catholic Church Christmas" https://intel.ingress.com/intel?ll=1.987784,-157.477316&z=17&pll=1.987784,-157.477316 is the only legitimate portal on Kiritimati (although there's a chance the Captain Cook Hotel is also real). Here's a couple more for you to take a look at that I’ve compiled.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/17Nak1l7m663Qjdl5WHx-guSY7Y4EuLu9VeIliGrexWc/edit?usp=sharing
Once again I am posting:
"St. Jose Catholic Church" - https://intel.ingress.com/intel?ll=1.983878,-157.476226&z=17&pll=1.983878,-157.476226: The Bakiri Catholic Church on the island of Tarawa. Photo stolen from https://tonywheeler.com.au/kiribati-south-tarawa/ This was in my original post but somehow the waypoint still exists on the island
Also, deleting these is not enough. There must be extra scrutiny placed on ALL waypoints submitted on Kiribati.
Looking through ToS, you retain the copyright but essentially give Niantic an unlimited license to use the data.
If you were wondering if it's possible to take legal action against the thief, yes technically. It's unlikely you would actually be able to get any remedy as a practical matter. If you were wondering if it's possible to tak legal action against Niantic, probably not. Users accept all the legal risk associated with their submissions. This is a case where technically Niantic might still be liable in some countries, under some circumstances, but again, you'd probably not get anywhere as a practical matter.
The remedy would be "taken action on the Wayfinder". When we know that is equivalent to a slap on the wrist and a get out of jail free card. Just like the entire section 3.1 of the Niantic Terms of Service, absolutely zilch is done regarding those.
Had old maté check out some of them, they got a list of usernames of many of the fakers. The most recent one is as recent as a month ago. The more legitimate ones are usually older than two years and don't have a pogo username attached to the photo.
As long as there are active submitters there messing it up from the legitimate and there is no real intevention from Niantic, nothing shall happen.
P.S. Seriously can't believe this "word of the week" is sensored in these forums. Every single time.
I can’t hide my disappointment that @NianticTintino and other forum operators still remain silent on this matter.
And the Wayfarer team should have been warned about this kind of abuse by good Wayfinder since about 2020.
But the failure to take corrective action has allowed these abuses to continue to escalate.
I don't think this is the time for a Wayfarer Challenge.
An effective strategy is to "promptly and permanently suspend the game account" as you have done in response to every abuse report.
No need for lenient measures such as 3 strikes.
Abusers are destroying the very foundation of the game.
Agree on that. Even though Niantic removed the portals that AisforAndis and myself compiled lists for, they didn't actually have the decency to comment in this thread.
They remain silent in way harder topics. The corrupted wayspots of the German bot waves are still out there, and they promised wayfarer-help-section-appeals for all the incorrect rejections of that times .... didnt work, because the help bot staff didnt know about anything ....
The only two forum staff members, that acknowledged some core problems without keeping it under the wraps are gone .... Giffard and Danbocat ....
From my experiences in reporting abuse, they are generally late to the punch when circling back to the forum to let you know they took action. The same goes for when the process appeals. They often don't let you know until a couple days later.