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Fake FT Instagram Account

stu neville

Commissioner.
Staff member
Joined
Mar 9, 2002
Messages
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Though we're no longer affiliated, I think it's important we share this message from Dr David Sutton:

It has come to our attention that someone is running a fake Fortean Times Instagram account, and has been doing so for some time. We would like to make it quite clear to readers that while the account may look genuine, it is not administered by us or by our publisher. We have no idea why someone would pretend to be Fortean Times, but if you're reading this, then we would politely ask you to stop before it becomes matter for Dennis Publishing's legal team. We'd also suggest that any of the 500 or so people following the 'fake FT might want to stop doing so, just in case there is something more nefarious than impersonation and infringement going on.
 
The only thing I can see them doing is collecting money for a mag that they will never receive or to grab their credit card numbers. How long as it been going?
 
Interesting. Quite a few accusations of fraud being levelled at Dennis Publishing over at TrustPilot. Are the two matters related?

PB
 
Not me - my mum pays for my subscription.
Can she pay for mine, and I'll then pass the magazines on to you after I've read them from cover-to-cover**? It'll cost the same, is more environmentally-friendly (I made that bit up) and may now be legally-required due to Brexit.

(** I do also tend to write notes in the margins, use them as under-cup coffee coasters, and beat stinging insects to death with them)
 
What does the PB mean at the bottom of ya post? Peanut Butter?

No doubt it would, which is a shame, but am I the only one who is worried?
 
Ok, thank you
Is there anyone that can tell us what is going on, or is this a major wind up?
 
What does the PB mean at the bottom of ya post? Peanut Butter?

No doubt it would, which is a shame, but am I the only one who is worried?

Why would you be worried about peanut butter?
 
I'm pretty confident they're personal initials.
So am I. But to athletes, "a PB" is a frequently-used term to denote a 'personal best', in a given event or discipline.

The 'peanut butter' decode may, similarly, be an inferential substrate too far.

But back to the sub-set of this thread in respect of subscription suspicion and the suspension of sense: I suspect that some shaky (and shaken) subscribers need to sort themselves into a serviceable state.

Too often we end-up wedded to specific bank account numbers & sort-codes for longer than life, then profess a faux surprise when we get serially-shafted by online vagabonds & cut-purses. We should all either be using a shim-card (careful how you say that) ie a finite-lifed payment/debit card for most (if not all) of our varigated transactioning, or a dedicated monitorable service account for utility payments (including magazine &etc subscriptions) with sensible threshold limits. Try to bank with banks that cover you for online fraud protection.

And try not to be surprised what blows in (or out) of your front door if you leave it permanently open. It could even be peanut butter.

Is there anyone that can tell us what is going on, or is this a major wind up?
That's always a bonus, plus I think it might not be a minor one either.

Why would you be worried about peanut butter?
Well, like it or lump it, there are quite a few smooth operators on this site. Maybe we all need to be careful with the peanut butter. There are some people in life who think nothing of spreading all sorts of suggestions about the place, creating smears and suchlike. We need to keep a lid on it, here. Otherwise, we may all be toast (or....even end-up being brown bread).
 
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I hate to get in the way of some good theories but will confirm that PB simply represents my initials. Force of habit from work, I'm afraid. My Forum Name should allow the second initial to be inferred with a reasonable degree of confidence...

These same initials also conclude a couple of my reviews at Trustpilot, which should, I think, make my position clearer: Reading them will show that I am one of the few posters not accusing Dennis Publishing of outright fraud; abysmal customer service over a period of months that has left me slightly out of pocket, yes, fraud, no.

The other postings there certainly make alarming reading; whether this amounts to a smear campaign against Dennis I leave for others to decide. My motivation for posting the link here was in response to the suggestion that the existence of a fake Instagram account makes the picture a lot less clear, and that there might be more to this than meets the eye which we, as Forteans, might care to ponder. Ermintruder's clever, pun-filled contribution seems to be implying that discussions of this kind are out of bounds on this forum, or am I wrong about this?

I can only really add that personal experience of Dennis' "Customer Service", supplemented by the fact that Dennis Publishing's rather creepy copy-and-paste responses do not inspire much confidence, and that I am not inclined to surrender my bank details to a company that has already let me - and seemingly a lot of other people - down very badly.

My reluctance to subscribe under these circumstances should not, therefore, be seen as a "suspension of sense", but rather a sensible reaction to information received.

After all, shit, like peanut butter, does tend to stick.

PB (My initials, as above).
 
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I'm struck by the number of complaints (at TrustPilot) which mention failed subscriptions being associated with special deals involving bonus gifts which never arrive.

It makes me wonder whether some party has inserted itself as a faux representative or broker handling subscription applications.
 
I'm struck by the number of complaints (at TrustPilot) which mention failed subscriptions being associated with special deals involving bonus gifts which never arrive.

It makes me wonder whether some party has inserted itself as a faux representative or broker handling subscription applications.
A logical explanation, Captain.
 
I can only really add that personal experience of Dennis' "Customer Service", supplemented by the fact that Dennis Publishing's rather creepy copy-and-paste responses do not inspire much confidence, and that I am not inclined to surrender my bank details to a company that has already let me - and seemingly a lot of other people - down very badly.

When I deal with actual Dennis staff they are always helpful, the company that actually handles their subscription service is appalling though.
 
I've been trying to find out what's been happening at Dennis with these sub/debit problems as reported on Trustpilot – there's definitely been a problem but I'm awaiting a statement from them that I can share here. Will keep you posted.

David, things seem to be getting worse. The staff at Dennis are helpful but I've only received two copies of FT since last September (some of the missing have been replaced). Now even replacement copies are going missing in the post.

The distributor seems to be incompetent and while Dennis staff are told that replacement copies are sent out that may not be happening. I have no problems with other post either domestic or international. From what I read here and on the FTAS FB page, I'm not the only one who is suffering.

This incompetent distributor will end up killing FT.
 
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