I'm a member of the Army Reserve, spent a year in Baghdad (2004) in support of OIF. I've written a book on my experiences and I've got a website set up with pictures from my tour.

About a week ago I was contacted by a guy who claimed that he thought a moderator on an online forum was using my pictures from my website and claiming them as his from his tour in Iraq.

I visited the forum and sure enough, all 6 or 7 pictures he had in his BIO posting were pictures from my website. Fair enough, but then he had captions for each one of them with completely bogus stories! He even claimed the picture of me shooting a crow from a guard tower was him. WTF?

I registered as a member of the site to be able to view his public profile, and here is what it showed:

What platform do you use?:
PC
Biography:
Why don't you ask? Way to be anti-social..
Location:
Iowa
Interests:
Guns, Cigars & Women
Occupation:
Ex Military (10 Years of Service, Including Operation Iraqi Freedom) Now a member of a SWAT Element

My guess is that as a SWAT member, he is undoubtedly a sniper and has at LEAST 40 kills to his name.

In a nutshell, this guy REALLY could have picked a much cooler and much more badass dude to impersonate. I mean, I was a friggin armorer while I was over there and I spent most of my time inside the post walls. Yes we got mortared frequently, but I was no "out on patrol" hero. Also, I'm really not that attractive. As far as veterans to impersonate, he struck out choosing me. hat
Any recommendations? I'm not sure what to do. Seems that what he is doing isn't illegal as far as I can tell, just showing himself to be a shitbag. Any suggestions?

Thanks a ton!

Shane A. Bernskoetter
Author of:
Surviving Twilight: A Soldier's Chronicle of Daily Life in Iraq
www.survivingtwilight.com

I wonder if he could be charged with Identity theft of some sort.  I understand he's not tampering with your finances but depending on how those laws are worded he might just be guilty. :shrug:

On second thought, just find him and do us all a favor by taking him out of the gene pool.                  

 

Report him Here

I agree with TGFB.  The POW Network does good work.

Post the board here. He will be slaughtered.

First off, I have your book. It was an excellent read.

If someone is using pictures from your web site without permission, it is a copyright violation. You may need to post a disclaimer on your site that nothing may be used without permission, then contact the individual and tell him to knock it off. You can also have your webmaster disable hot linking to your site so no one can pull this crap inthe future. BTW, I'm an MP, so let me know if there is anything I can do for you on this.

Quoted: About a week ago I was contacted by a guy who claimed that he thought a moderator on an online forum was using my pictures from my website and claiming them as his from his tour in Iraq. I visited the forum and sure enough, all 6 or 7 pictures he had in his BIO posting were pictures from my website. Fair enough, but then he had captions for each one of them with completely bogus stories! He even claimed the picture of me shooting a crow from a guard tower was him. WTF? Any recommendations? I'm not sure what to do. Seems that what he is doing isn't illegal as far as I can tell, just showing himself to be a shitbag. Any suggestions?

Thanks for the compliments on my book Sgt Gold. I'm glad you liked it.

Thanks as well to those of you that gave me the suggestion to contact POW Network. I have done so and I'm waiting to hear back from them.

It will probably take a couple of weeks, but I'll report back here with the outcome (favorable or frustrated) when some of the dust settles.

Shane A. Bernskoetter
Author of:
Surviving Twilight: A Soldier's Chronicle of Daily Life in Iraq
www.survivingtwilight.com

How did you get published? I'm kindof putting a book together myself, but it's a bit more encompassing since I've kept diaries all the way back to Basic.

NTM

Man, you have to crosspost this one in the general section.  Its just too funny for those guys to miss  it.

Total Pwn3ge!!!! Good job!!!



Give him partial credit though, he gave you a rocker!




Fine job, and for his dumb ass not to recognize "sergeantBernie" as the man whose profile he stole...


Priceless!

Quoted: Man, you have to crosspost this one in the general section.  Its just too funny for those guys to miss  it.

*IF this goes to GD, and I know it will, they will shut that board down.

5th Mountain Rangers. I tried out for them, but didnt get selected. :(


Good on you Shane. Sucks someone was trying to steal your thunder.


You do have to find it ironic that his screenname is "unreal".

Crosspost this one over into Lightfighter.net. Some very active anti-poser guys there. They usually have one or two posers whos lives they are crushing at any given time. (Including reporting to the FBI and leading to sucessful processcutions.)

Wow, you talked to a real 5th Mountain Ranger Ghoster?

What an honor.

He sounds like he never left junior high school.  I hope he gets his crow sandwich soon, I wanna see him eat it.  



EDIT: After thinking about it, he probably won't... the team-killing fucktards that made him a moderator are probably as mature and adept at decision-making as he is.  He probably "moderated" his own post...  
Oh yeah, I like how he throws in his personal opinion of The 'Nam as well...