Fake Trail Markers
I've spotted yet another suspicious wayfarer activity, which led me to an investigation on another case of vandalism in the name of Wayfarer.
Currently, at least 18+ live Wayspots are fake, and a few more pending/voting in Wayfarer too, with a high chance of becoming live as well.
I highly suggest a more thorough investigation on this abuse, and its perpetrators as it'll most likely turn out more fakes of this kind.
The attack vector is already well known and the portuguese community has spotted at least 3~4 different other cluster instances of this happening.
This does not represent the Wayfarer spirit and, left unchecked and unpunished, will lead to other instances of this happening.
Please take swift, exemplar action against it and its perpetrators.
This is repeated, replicated, intentious, malicious vandalism with the Niantic brand on it.
The trick is simple: vandalise a trail marker out of its rightful place and plant it as a wandering wayspot.
A few things stood out:
- Same marker (with same imperfections or dirt marks)
- No base shown for the markers (probably to make the planting less evident)
- Wild deviation from the only trail (5+ kilometers)
- Markers placed behind houses and in the middle of farmland
- Trail looping back into odd places
- All of the markers had a custom Street View sphere, with the same author, and didn't show up in the natural google street view (probably they'll remove it one they know of this report)
The clusters of fakes (yellow) versus the official trail (in blue).
EDIT: Three new wayspots went live since I've written this. They are not in the picture below.
Official trail link: http://cm-vilanovadepoiares.pt/images/visitantes/Percursos_Pedestres/folheto_PT_Ribeira_Poiares.pdf
- "Trail Marker - Igreja Evangélica" - 40.24082,-8.257875
- "Trail Marker - Sobreiro" - 40.239365,-8.253477
- "Trail Marker - Felgar" - 40.24544,-8.256188
- "Trail Marker - Igreja Evangélica" - 40.240359,-8.257097
- "Trail Marker - Sobreiro" - 40.241693,-8.250575
- "Trail Marker - Ervideira" - 40.23964,-8.25565
- "Trail Marker - Oliveira" - 40.244688,-8.250374
- "Trail Marker - Oliveira" - 40.244394,-8.250603
- "Trail Marker - Felgar" - 40.247568,-8.254952
- "Trail Marker - Felgar" - 40.246726,-8.254476
- "Trail Marker - Felgar" - 40.246225,-8.255219
- "Trail Marker - Felgar" - 40.247297,-8.255405
- "Trail Marker - Felgar" - 40.246946,-8.255712
- "Trail Marker - Nascente" - 40.247047,-8.25329
- "Trail Marker" - 40.247986,-8.255586
- "Trail Marker - Oliveira" - 40.244663,-8.250806
- "Trail Marker - Oliveira" - 40.244795,-8.25223
- "Trail Marker - Casais" - 40.244555,-8.256016
Notice the same "crack" in the top of ALL the markers:
- https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/GcNJzJOJojUmm7NXBmDKTQsnQykxr19c30z_0zOzdsTEVuIcMoJZcnLGa7mMrw11xyvkds5K3qeUy5skxPcuMpj5aluB0MSesNifQ7o=s0
- https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/YaInNHZ_GYge6O8Ps9kR29r7XkNEHMCYS6X2HfiMax5EhdgpLLaa195wAbrhQBG5HpfnQVFXUMGZGRWRJKdCqzPNKeSOry7e5nzisU8L=s0
- https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/bBZgAZB6za4UTPTMXDkW18urQB0OfF3ALBr5FORS_zOIQbYHsZoahcXotP7kDs9oP3zRiCL7x1d8EN_BVZjZv5ZkHfuJk6cM6mcrLtDf=s0
- https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/COLGOlME3O7QKQGdWI9zq7CItRa-syrPSnI_qzev9aRjGfaisqJ4lKynE3xWOrJz7_dLG-n15Q3-5LepCiqmNVT663VGEvG_l7ug8BDx=s0
- https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/6mLiGQGHw8jj1H_G372TKbu7vg2ov5YF0bSA_0hXFk21wds7WdkydUnSGBLNxQOCAVAbJhmqFIMvu5vRrQ87kjhjCz_rJzHN6rL-wwZ19w=s0
- https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/tLw3T2FiXR0qXp6LUJxNoo73aMwti1ArGNWiczZdC8RjGDPCOOFKIhHD0O45ZxJiXAaOBFLGr9xAtNHWQ7hLsdelM8m-_7d_WQIkJ0gY=s0
- https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/v60WzgKifNAjoAVAfI388OcdsPSsRxmW6OBOmtXmrzDVrxYRn-3x4Rwbt2E7nTns_NPbBcVx97i0CetTFbn0lXh8zxFcD7wH-IfnD2JQ=s0
- https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pp6Q5KnFgP8pKth6DQpl1A5hIYl45fM53mB26aByl2AZAiWftdOH70jpDgGNLnxQadMTenJFJSXDuvBbsf7msuTpFt6Pr0dhrp6qRKke=s0
- https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/qEWd-UqlG0C1mHskTl5Ilf-i0DfzDBZEAwN_jR44Hgh2kgX6Cf4glJA3XjjZ597WwpiYfJ95XtBNI8JNJeJNNOASd0fdUk0o_zkx5duY=s0
- https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Gui8kHkVetM7mc2kaYH4nh4rV3g9P4Qu5N0mYESLoqSbDn0XMVEW4pJ-Rm5-P9IuPmJ4EDSXVhaz5DivCpCHj5I2MKIa3Dds8VMtNUfjDA=s0
- https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/khkFSGJzFVa1SelHFyBwurTTFrpUZavG8XV1Sf0r4jVXEsjPOgVVWqlu4gZStCzEo5eSTYEgkQ7UqnbicQHDFuWe5BlMIZXi97SYVWt6=s0
- https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/qjsltZtxbFdaVneKl8j5T6pJwwIrQCPaSdHixH1WNugRwUgWXMTpON07tHA71fg4RoO0H4eHbkxTeIh9GCQD2_HqDS-916qjr0g5tNPo=s0
- https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/bS4uKDfPCz8CF915nrNIf3Rl3AJdusFT6pJCS6SHpsvvaE2E8U3qYqNWUVWRIWyS0lcSnCx1h9LP4k-rHFExsWPDK0EkfNYFINvKUMkoBQ=s0
- https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/fT0sBC_RAoK837Z6mZGmUhQI-vGWFeoSuxlA4rNwk521z089A1k9PmcdzbHn_RCktP1dxF3kDicGQ1OpHjpQT673tilwKay-m4ccNe_9=s0
- https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/UTKYacguUqm1h4bKDJzpTd38DrC5FbV-HOGhAPd63Noy1lKdA730gcHK12wWDTPYBYNCYZlsHXtC8V1GjfvOS_X_FOiYdvwqwOxDimI=s0
- https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/6n8cBxhyqoA_39Yap2xah4Ql_Donel4kmFGMTHZwj7_gSqQE-FT1-qrgv_Vn3NCjhsVuLS5F8x-_S349KI_NRNRJpBqNwK_tFdYXHWw=s0
Please do something.
Thanks
Comments
@NianticCasey-ING @NianticGiffard This is yet another case of a stolen legitimate trail marker being used to forge wayspots, like the case you've handled recently at https://community.wayfarer.nianticlabs.com/discussion/14467/stolen-legitimate-trail-makers-to-serve-as-new-wayspots
This will be soon a liability for Niantic if nothing changes. These people are stealing valid markers, set up by local authorities, for your games. This will probably hit the news, soon.
Thanks for flagging, @s3w2-ING! I'll share your report with our team and get back to you once I have information. Until then, I would appreciate your patience.
Between this post was raised, two more fake portals went live, with the exact same technique:
"Trail Marker - Casais" - 40.243069,-8.255936 - https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pUF19ss3krCcindZ-dW2CbbDHvWJXijZUJ_2cRQPb5DWDAoFYSZJ8YRt7pnR3dS_a15wBdwzbiqtOrQPL4BeBrG6VrKtaoUMA-uGyXc_=s0
"Trail Marker - Ervideira" - 40.239848,-8.254479 - https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Ksbs-cUBeu98k_Ciy2xVq4md-5L46maTEt9SGiMHsh4a_XZW2-VcFMbWTqfHsjWwvxXTxB8ZB4koahFOM3L-oqzaCZmExVTjNNRcW54s=s0
Caught another one in voting, the same stolen trail marker
Trail Marker - Casais - https://intel.ingress.com/intel?ll=40.243069,-8.255936&z=18
This wayfarer or group of them should be banned from the niantic games in my honest opinion. Is a deliberate attempt to break the game rules to have own benefit on the games and they damaged public property in the name of NIA spirit of discovering your world around. Fake wayspot builders are the worse kind of players we could find.
Take a good and wise decision, @NianticGiffard
Agreed. These guys are not the first to steal legitimate trail markers and place them elsewhere. They're now seen as a role model by some individuals/groups around here. If no firm action is taken, the conclusion is simple: It pays off to steal these to get your portal/pokestop.
I also think that if NIA is not hard enough cutting this behaviour, it could spread a bad example for others thinking to do the same...
Hi everyone! We have reviewed the report and have taken action on the Wayspots and 3 Wayfinders in accordance with our policies. While we are unable to discuss our actions in detail to protect the submitter’s privacy, they may include, but are not limited to, sending a warning message, placing restrictions on their Wayfarer, Pokémon GO, or Ingress account, putting their account on probation, or placing a temporary or permanent suspension on their Wayfarer, Pokémon GO or Ingress account. Thanks for helping us maintain the quality of the Wayspots.
Thanks @NianticGiffard
These two still remain in the system, however:
Thanks for the follow-up! We have reviewed the Wayspots and have retired them.