Taken from the well known site: TS Roadmap (http://www.tsroadmap.com/early/transgender-hoaxes.html)

1. Transwomen
Fakes are almost never trans guys. The fake character created is almost always a trans woman.

2. “Transkids”
Fakes almost always claim to be college age or younger, typically between 14 and 19. In some cases, they claim they are older now but transitioned at that age. See the tsroadmap.com section on the transkids.us hoax for details.

3. Passable
Fakes almost always claim to be 100% passable.

4. Intersex
Fakes often claim to have intersex traits.

5. “Post-op”
Fakes frequently claim surgical intervention as minors.

6. Not known in person
Our community is pretty tight-knit, so at some point, we are all connected through someone with an established identity who uses their real name. The key goal of a hoaxer is to gain the confidence of a credible and well-known person. For this reason, anyone who is out and who uses their real name needs to be extra careful about vouching for or giving a platform to anonymous or pseudonymous people. They look for the weakest link, the easiest target. Fakers seek to establish their credibility at the expense of your credibility.

7. Disability
Fakes frequently claim to be disabled: either a developmental disability (like autism), a psychiatric disability (like post-traumatic stress disorder) or a physical disability (like legal blindness). They might also claim to be disabled in order to receive welfare. These alleged disabilities are frequently self-diagnosed and often not visible/verifiable. They often claim they are unable to work but are nonetheless able to spend most of their waking lives online. See my tsroadmap.com essay on disability for more.

8. Online constantly
Fakes frequently live much of their lives online, spending extraordinary time on transgender forums or in other role-playing situations like Second Life, World of Warcraft, etc.

9. LiveJournal and other online interests
For reasons that are not clear, LiveJournal is the service of choice for attention-craving fakes, followed closely by DeviantArt. Other key hallmarks include an interest in Japanese animation, involvement in the furry community, posting on the chans, and posting on transgender fiction websites.

10. Posting on sites primarily for older transitioners
Older transitioners and crossdressers are especially vulnerable to being taken in by fakes, because the fake often represents something they idealize/fantasize about, too. They end up living vicariously through each other in a feedback cycle of codependent validation.

11. Seeking out vulnerable people
Fakes often seek out vulnerable people and try to draw them into their confidence. They want to hear details about the vulnerable person’s life. Sometimes these details are then incorporated into their own hoax to lend credibility. They are especially interested in communicating with people who are in crisis, because it makes the hoaxer feel loved and valued. It also mitigates the response when they are caught. The people who were betrayed have invested their trust and emotion in the hoax, so they want to believe the story even as it unravels. After it unravels, they often blame themselves instead of the hoaxer.

12. Family
Fakes often claim a remarkable family history. This can be extreme tragedy (runaway, homelessness, abuse, etc.), or extreme good fortune (wealth, prestige, influence, etc.).

13. Remarkable accomplishments
Fakes frequently claim they are very talented at something (won a competition, attend an exclusive school, work as a model, hold a state/national record).

14. Sexual/erotic elements
There is often an erotic/sexualized component: obvious ones like stories of sexual abuse from a relative or sexual assault, and less obvious ones like a wedding, loss of virginity, or new/first boyfriend. Sometimes it doesn't seem erotic to most people, like cheerleading or a slumber party, but has an erotic element in how it is reported. Some hoaxers claim to be sex workers or porn stars, or they exaggerate their involvement in these occupations. Overfocus on a specific aspect, like clothes, anatomical development, or detailed accounts of a sexual experience are common.

15. Photos
Fakes take one of two paths with photos. The first path is to steal or manipulate photos. Some steal from either non-trans models or real trans porn stars, preferring glamorous or sexualized images. In some cases they add their own faces to a model's body. These stealers are the easiest ones to catch. Others steal images (trans and non-trans) that look plain or girl-next-door in order to be more believable and harder to catch. The other path is to avoid photos altogether, because there’s a high risk of getting caught when using photos.

16. Escalating drama
In order to maintain the level of attention they crave, fakes frequently escalate the tragedy or problems in their lives past the point of credulity. This tends to happen over time, with the story starting off fairly plausible and getting less and less credible. However, those who make an emotional investment in the hoaxer early on are willing to believe the story as it gets more and more elaborate, even if it goes far beyond what most people would consider believable. A classic example is the “transkids.us” hoax which escalated far past the point of believability, but is still repeated as true by a few lazy/gullible academics.

17. Inconsistencies
As the hoax gets more elaborate, inconsistencies will appear: age, location, year in school, medical history, names of friends and relatives, details in stories, stolen photos which show a different person. When confronted, they often resort to the two options below.

18. Sockpuppets
Fakes often have defenders appear out of nowhere for the first time when inconsistencies come out. The defenders are often friends or family who vouch for the faker, claim to know the faker in person, and provide additional details. Sometimes the fake will get in a conversation or even an argument with the sockpuppet to make it seem like a different person.

19. Persecution/need for secrecy and privacy
If they continue to be challenged about inconsistencies, fakes often move past sockpuppets. They will claim they can’t confirm details of their story because they are being stalked, are under police protection, are not out at work/school, work for the government, or are in fear for their lives. A key to perpetuating the hoax is avoiding any details that can be independently confirmed, so they will prey on your respect for their privacy.

20. Death
The final stage in the hoax is usually the murder or suicide of the fake persona. Sometimes the person dies of a disease, usually suddenly. Sometimes this is preceded by the death of a friend or relative, to test the waters. The "death" can be triggered by being on the verge of being caught or by a need for the highest amount of attention possible. The death of the hoax persona is the ultimate fantasy for many fakers, because the outpouring of attention and the eulogies are the most distilled form of the validation they seek.

Looks like thats me buggered then Carol, best I chivy up Carring Cross then !

This post was edited by Former Member at July 26, 2013 10:04 PM BST

LOL Dav xxx

Carol, Katie seems to spend a lot of time on site LOL

Lots of comments on the Home page about this, so I am copying them to here for posterity.

• Briana Lynn Rekowski I work for the government, I must be fake lol
  
• 
  Carol Grace after reading that, i can't imagine the benefit of going to that much trouble and effort...just to say they're "trans". (just a thought)
   
• 
  Traci Lee O'Gara OMG!!! This is so fitting for a few of the fakes that lurked here and pulled the wool over many! Thnx for sharing and I say this is a "must read" for those who stick up and defend these clowns! Shoot, maybe it's a "must read" as a criteria to membership to GS!!!
  I'd love to toss out some names but maybe that is rubbing it in...but the next person who defends Roni J., I'm going to personally smack! LOL
  
  

  • 
    Briana Lynn Rekowski I saw a few things that made me think of people that are still here Traci.
    
    
  • 
    Cindy Jane Just a thought...some people can be many of the things in this but that doesn't necessarily mean theyre fake. I can personally subscribe to quite a few things in the list eg being abused when I was a child, having disabilities that effect my working life, spend a lot of time on the net, have talents (hope I do anyway, I do), have a crazy family background, had marriages, kids, more than my fair share of sexual encounters inc perverts trying it on with me in the past, love to talk about clothes etc (who doesn't), went to university as a mature student after doing an access course in which I won student of the year award and graduated with a BA Hons (a FIRST) in Psychosocial studies, and more! Whatever you mean by fake I can assure you that that is the one thing I do not subscribe to. I may still have a few bits in place and most likely will for some time to come, but it doesn't matter a hoot to what's going on in my heart and in my mind. Perhaps we should add going to the toilet, eating food and breath...   
    
    
  •  
    Elle Horgan I can't imagine going through all that trouble for what??
    

    • • like
    • 
      Traci Lee O'Gara @Cindy...this person I was referencing was a pathological liar, with tales of deceit woven all over the site...a PhD in a science, niece of a billionaire, gorgeous female assistants, traveling the world 1st class to give lectures, prominent BFs in high circles...reality was I checked her "references" and trails...she never published a thing, there was nobody in her field that looked even close to her pix, nobody associated in her field in the city she lived in, blah blah blah...but what got me mad was she "counseled" me with my gender issues and suggested various hormone protocols! Truly dangerous stuff...she fooled a LOT of people in here...
      
      
    • 
      Carol Uren (Site Moderator) I don't know why people take so much trouble, but there are such people in real life (Munchausen's Syndrome by Proxy for example). Generally they will be people of very low self esteem who do not have many 'real' friends and so invent a persona online in the hope of impressing people and gaining 'friends' whether by making people feel sorry for them or bigging themselves up. Of course some people will have some of the characteristics mentioned for real who are not fakes, but generally the fakes are easy to spot when they have been here a while and told 'their' stories. 

I should not be on here as my name is Former Member "But" I looked at this from outside and Carol is discribing a person she accused me of making a personal attack on . It was not a personal attack it was just fact . I still challenge any person to find a page like the one that I put a link to! You will not find one "Another fact".

 

So here I am "Miss Former Member" no longer here because of a perfect example of a person from the list above , but I do have a life so I am ok with that but the site losers income whilst I am gone.

Anyone who knows me from here or the real world knows how proud I am of being myself "That is another fact" But when a member of this site has the nerve to call me "Him" (plus more agains't me) on the home page I am just supposed to ignore it! Even though that person (as discribed above by Carol) lives their life as a male yet preaches about being Transexual.

 

So I will stay Former Member in defense of my gender identity that gets attacked on a Trans website by "again" a person that fits the discription above.

 

Shame because I do like this site but I will just drop in from time to time if anything catches my eye.

 

Take care all of you (excluding one person that is).

Julia,

The feud between you and Chalice was disrupting the site and both of you were given warnings after Katie was consulted about it, Chalice by myself and you by Crissie - for both of you to draw your horns in and stop engaging in battle. Chalice responded by toning down her comments, you chose to leave.

I just wish the two of you could have buried the axe (and not in each other's heads lol) and, if you couldn't be friends, at least ignore one another.

Said in friendship and peace Julia

Carol xx

This post was edited by Former Member at July 27, 2013 2:52 PM BST

Carol, I hope you didn't take offence to my first reply.  If you read between my first and second replies you can kind of see where I am on this.  I totally think the post is valid.  I also have many more of the "traits" in that post than just being a government employee.  I have studied abuse, on my own, not in school, my whole life.  I grew up in a really crappy house and I needed to fix myself.  Because of this, I can often see others that grew up in "wonderful" environments just by their mannerisms and personalities without them saying a thing about it.  I'm not saing I'm an expert there either, but as a person, we know what we are, and we can see ourselves in others. 

I guess my main thought, or point to all this is, the information is really good to help people be aware of their surroundings, even when online.  At the same time, this information in the hands of some who don't "get people" very well, could create a witch hunt, and more cat fights on the main wall like the forums did. 

 

I love this place, I hope I always will.  It has been so helpful for me, but, it's not the same place it was six to nine months ago.  It has become siff, stuffy, clinical, and unfriendly.  The main page used to be nothing but friendly comments, and responses,  Now it reads like a stock report.  The chat room is always empty, and a lot of the friendly people are never here anymore, or have left all together.

 

When I first read the post, I thought: Wow, that could really be benificial.........and detrimental.

It was not intended to start any witch hunts Bri, mainly as a warning to others to not take everything anybody says here as gospel, at least not until you get to know them.  The person that Traci was referring to could have done a huge amount of harm, even made somebody seriously ill as she was not qualified in any shape or form to give the sort of advice that she was handing out.

There are others here who were handing out advice about hormones and they were even taking the wrong ones for themselves and in the wrong dosages.  That person seemed very knowledgable, but in fact knew very little about them or their potential harmful side effects.

The post actually originated at Transgender Intelligence - a well respected web site, whose only aim is to keep transgender people safe from harm and it was repeated here in the same vein.

I myself can identify with many of those pointers, as I am sure quite a few others who are genuine can, if in doubt and they are giving you advice, investigate that person and satisfy yourself that they are qualified to give that advice -. and then only follow it if it suits your own agenda.

This post was edited by Former Member at July 27, 2013 6:23 PM BST

I know of her well Carol, and of the trash she spewed. We also had the one with six thousand pictures with the same head.  I don't think she was as dangerous but she did a bit of rambling on her soap box too. Me....I am doing herbals myself, I have had results that have made me happy, but because I am not on a program and really have no idea what I may be doing to myself, and I don't want to be responsible for someone's health, I don't share "exactely" what I am doing with anyone.  I did finally let my doctor know what I am doing and she ok with it and is monitoring things when she does my other regular bloodwork.  I don't want you to take what I said wrong.  I think the post was very benificial to a lot of people here that could get themselves into a lot of trouble by listening to fakes.  The other side of my point comes from the "know it all trans Nazi's" that seem to stick there noses into everyones business here, and not because they care, but because it makes them feel good to be superior to the less informed.  There are people in this world that read a couple of lines on a topic, and suddenly are experts.  That's what scares me.  The post itself, I believe, was very good, very relevant, and very positive, but everyone that I associate with here has said something to me, whether it be a couple of words, or a full blown rant, about the way things have changed here.  It bothers me a lot, but I just hope that it is a cycle and things will be "normal" again at some point.  It just used to have the feeling of support through love and friendship. It just seems way to clinical and unfeeling now, and what good is a support site if no one wants to visit it. Anyway, it was a good post Carol, I just have a bad habit of looking at things from every angle and I worry about this place.

This post was edited by Briana Lynn Rekowski at July 27, 2013 7:53 PM BST

Carol Uren (Site Moderator) said:

Julia,

The feud between you and Chalice was disrupting the site and both of you were given warnings after Katie was consulted about it, Chalice by myself and you by Crissie - for both of you to draw your horns in and stop engaging in battle. Chalice responded by toning down her comments, you chose to leave.

I just wish the two of you could have buried the axe (and not in each other's heads lol) and, if you couldn't be friends, at least ignore one another.

Said in friendship and peace Julia

Carol xx

Hi Carol .

 

I would not call it a feud it was chaos . You and anyone else will have trouble believing this , but myself and the other member did get on with each other , but one day I was told if I do not accept Jesus into my life I was going to burn in hell then it turned demented . I will not worship a dead person , more so one that died 2013 years ago , so then my gender identity was attacked. I will not have that in the real world so I will not have it from some stranger on the otherside of the world who is totally confused about themselves.

 

Not one of you knows what I have been through in the past 9 months! A few of you have an idea of it but I have kept it to myself , even my closest friends have been unaware of it . Last week I got a reprieve! I now have an extention on my life. After 9 months of fighting it virtually alone (out of choice) Everyone asking me what is wrong? Or bloody hell you are wasting away! My response has always been I am just tired. I am 22 pounds under my ideal weight and weigh much less than 40 years ago when I was a 15 years old .

 

This is not the place to post this as it is off topic but I am a fighter in more ways than one. In that 9 months I was on here most days for a few hours with friends but also being harrassed by that one person.This thread caught my eye because it reminds me of that person who was attacking my gender.

 

This is an interesting thread and I am leaving you in peace now and through everything I have been through I have never sought or wanted sympathy because I believe it weakens people and I am living proof of that.

 

Take care .

 

Julia.

 

PS: You are well aware of how your threads were turned into utter chaos by that member.

 

This post was edited by Former Member at July 27, 2013 11:33 PM BST

Crissie!

 

I can't not respond to your post. You ARE worth millions! Not in money terms but as a human being.

You are an amazing woman and that is not based on your looks. It is based on your personality and the fact that you care.

 I have told you before , you remind me so much of myself in some ways (that is not an insult to you) . We both had crap start at 12 years old and I was abused at 12 years old by a catholic teacher . My mother beat the crap out of me as a child need I go on?.

 

Our differences!

You are beautiful "fact" I am not.

You are intelligent "fact" and I am thick (uneducated).

You are young "fact" and I am old.

 

I know some get me wrong on here but any person coming to my home town will tell you I spend my time looking out for others because I care.

I have tried so hard to make a difference in this town  and County and I have been told I have.

 The one thing I have always wanted to see is for us just to be accepted for who we are not what we are or were born as . I know I will never see that change but I have played my small part in it and you have and are going to make a lot more difference than I have been able to.

 Look after yourself and please never change , you are a fighter like myself . Please carry on being an inspiration to the other special people on this unique website .

 

Julia xxx

 

This post was edited by Former Member at July 27, 2013 11:30 PM BST

Nobody is vilifying anybody here, just asking people to take reasonable precautions about taking advice from strangers and not to believe everything people say - at least until you have got to know them.  Standard internet safety protocol if you wish.

The warnings were from a very creditable web site which takes internet safety for trans people very seriously.

hmmmm   I  find  this revolting  and  very  disturbing  . I  all so  Find the  coments  of #7   Disabilities    very   incorect  mostly  the  part  that  My  Disability    is  "ALEGED  "  !!!!! Im  here  to  say    Ive  been  diebetic  for  30  years  since age  of  12 .  Id  like  to know  how  In  HEll  can this  be  "Alegged!  I  can  prove   everything  with  my  experinces  as a  diebetic  and  now  cardiac  !!  If  i was  to  Alege   this  you  would  NOT see  me  here  id  be  DEAD!!  How  dare  you  all  asume  some  of  us  are  faking  such disabilities  !!