How to avoid trans hoaxes

Part of my series on Transgender web safety and fake internet transsexuals.

Once you've read the overview on trans hoaxes and the 20 hallmarks of fake trans personae, here's how you can avoid falling victim to this kind of fraud.

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence

Violent crimes and deaths require independent confirmation from the press or police, or from someone well-established in the community who has personal and direct knowledge of the matter. Do not rely on web postings. Do not rely on friends or relatives unless they are known to you personally, as in you have met them in person face-to-face.

Trust, but verify

Hoaxers seek your attention and your emotional response. It’s very easy to get caught up in the immediate emotions of a situation and not be able to step back and look at things objectively. They are counting on that emotional response from you. Don’t let that cloud your judgment.

An ounce of prevention is always best

If you run a forum or blog which has contributors or moderators, you have a responsibility to your readers and members to confirm the identities of all staffers and contributors. If people wish to contribute anonymously or pseudonymously, they should not be placed in a position of authority or trust unless it has been definitively proven that they are who they say they are, including their medical history. This is especially true when they are dealing with minors.

I recommend that you get copies of government-issued IDs from all contributors and try to meet them all in person. If that is not possible, have someone you know personally and trust completely meet them in person in their area. If you are doing work like suicide prevention or giving contributors or moderators access to personal information about your readers and members, those people should be even more carefully vetted.

These simple steps will protect you, your audience, and our community from those who would exploit and betray our trust and love. We need to have a zero tolerance policy on this kind of fraud, because someone who does this once will almost always do it again unless they are made to answer for their actions.

Main page: Overview on trans hoaxes.