Warning from WFN! Please read!

michelle · #1 07-27-2009, 06:46 PM

I recieved this e-mail today! Please do not do anything that could get me disqualified!!! I guess some of the other entries have been cheating! Please,please do not do this if you have been!

"I have deleted the negative comments again. I want to let you know that you should warn some of your fans about their voting activity. A lot of the top entries our known to be cheating. We will be dealing with them this week. You are a shoe in for the top ten, but some of your voters are doing things that may disqualify you. We track all of the votes and see a lot of entries coming from very similar IP address (ie 69.166.67.1, 69.166.67.2, 69.166.67.3). You might want to warn them on your forum that they could end up getting you in trouble for their over zealous voting, and that a lot of the other top competitors will be dealt with soon for the vote stacking that they have done, so they really don’t have to worry about most of your competition.

Good luck with the contest! It has been exciting.

Sincerely,

Jacob Watters | Web Content Producer"

nicemustang · #2 07-27-2009, 08:02 PM

haha, that is exactly what I said before. I'm not sure if you are employing anyone to vote for you (LOL) but I did a lookup of that IP address you specified...

IP Address Contact Information
OrgName: Guadalupe Valley Telephone Cooperative, Inc.
OrgID: GVTC
Address: 36101 FM 3159
City: New Braunfels
StateProv: TX
PostalCode: 78132-5900
Country: US

NetRange: 69.166.64.0 - 69.166.95.255
CIDR: 69.166.64.0/19
NetName: GVTC-INTERNET-INTERNAL-USE
NetHandle: NET-69-166-64-0-1
Parent: NET-69-0-0-0-0
NetType: Direct Allocation
NameServer: AUTH1.GVTC.COM
NameServer: AUTH2.GVTC.COM
Comment:
RegDate: 2009-07-22
Updated: 2009-07-22

OrgAbuseHandle: ABUSE668-ARIN
OrgAbuseName: Abuse Management
OrgAbusePhone: +1-830-228-5533
OrgAbuseEmail: abuse@gvtc.com

OrgTechHandle: AGO85-ARIN
OrgTechName: Gould, Aaron
OrgTechPhone: +1-830-885-8453
OrgTechEmail: aaron.gould@gvtc.net

OrgTechHandle: NETWO618-ARIN
OrgTechName: Network Operations
OrgTechPhone: +1-830-228-5533
OrgTechEmail: netops@gvtc.com

# ARIN WHOIS database, last updated 2009-07-27 20:00
# Enter ? for additional hints on searching ARIN's WHOIS database.

fishing_flower · #3 07-27-2009, 08:12 PM

Don't worry Michelle, no one would do anything to disqualify you. As it happens my family and some friends vote from the same pc. I'm sure a lot of other people have computers that they share with family.

michelle · #4 07-27-2009, 08:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nicemustang

haha, that is exactly what I said before. I'm not sure if you are employing anyone to vote for you (LOL) but I did a lookup of that IP address you specified...

IP Address Contact Information
OrgName: Guadalupe Valley Telephone Cooperative, Inc.
OrgID: GVTC
Address: 36101 FM 3159
City: New Braunfels
StateProv: TX
PostalCode: 78132-5900
Country: US

NetRange: 69.166.64.0 - 69.166.95.255
CIDR: 69.166.64.0/19
NetName: GVTC-INTERNET-INTERNAL-USE
NetHandle: NET-69-166-64-0-1
Parent: NET-69-0-0-0-0
NetType: Direct Allocation
NameServer: AUTH1.GVTC.COM
NameServer: AUTH2.GVTC.COM
Comment:
RegDate: 2009-07-22
Updated: 2009-07-22

OrgAbuseHandle: ABUSE668-ARIN
OrgAbuseName: Abuse Management
OrgAbusePhone: +1-830-228-5533
OrgAbuseEmail: abuse@gvtc.com

OrgTechHandle: AGO85-ARIN
OrgTechName: Gould, Aaron
OrgTechPhone: +1-830-885-8453
OrgTechEmail: aaron.gould@gvtc.net

OrgTechHandle: NETWO618-ARIN
OrgTechName: Network Operations
OrgTechPhone: +1-830-228-5533
OrgTechEmail: netops@gvtc.com

# ARIN WHOIS database, last updated 2009-07-27 20:00
# Enter ? for additional hints on searching ARIN's WHOIS database.

What does that mean?? And how can I stop it?

Morph1 · #5 07-27-2009, 09:06 PM

just e-mail to the OrgAbuseEmail: abuse@gvtc.com
and report that IP addresses, it may as well be the competition hiring somone to sabotage your votes.,
lol unless you got some crazy secret admirer that's doing that for your benefit - just a wild guess.

baitfisher83 · #6 07-27-2009, 09:08 PM

maybe it's the guy that was hitting on her....lol

flygirrl · #7 07-27-2009, 09:17 PM

Michelle.
Make a copy of this e-mail you recieved and keep it as you may use it at a later date. Just in case there is a problem you may be able to prove that these e-mail addresses are not your friends.

slingshotz · #8 07-27-2009, 09:18 PM

My votes are spread amongst three or four different ISPs ip address ranges which are very different from each other. I knew they would be tracking the ips so I didn't use our allocated set of 8 ip addresses in a row, only the first one.

And technically I'm voting on behalf of my mom, dad and cousins since they don't know how to use the computer well

michelle · #9 07-27-2009, 09:27 PM

I sent the e-mail. Hopefully this will fix the problem? Oh Yikes.

Thank you for all of the advice.

snortwheez · #10 07-27-2009, 09:28 PM

How often can you vote and howmany emails from the same puter allowed to vote?

michelle · #11 07-27-2009, 09:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slingshotz

My votes are spread amongst three or four different ISPs ip address ranges which are very different from each other. I knew they would be tracking the ips so I didn't use our allocated set of 8 ip addresses in a row, only the first one.

And technically I'm voting on behalf of my mom, dad and cousins since they don't know how to use the computer well

I am sure that kind of voting is fine.

The IP's appear to be coming from a communications company, As suggested I have sent them an e-mail. I have also sent and e-mail to WFN to ask them to block the IP addresses. Oh... I hope it works.

michelle · #12 07-27-2009, 09:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by snortwheez

How often can you vote and howmany emails from the same puter allowed to vote?

You can vote 8-10 times per IP address, with different e-mails, that is fine. WFN has no problem with that. If you are at work, it is no problem for everyone there to vote as well. It is not these votes that WFN is concerned about. I am not an IT person but it is IP adresses that are very close that they are worried about.

hal53 · #13 07-27-2009, 09:33 PM

Something strange here....ever since day one ..it would not accept my vote (except for the 1st time) from my work laptop....tried the home one, from time to time it accepts , but more often than not, I get the multiple votes BS..."please wait another 12 hrs. 44 mins. etc.?????
Hal

michelle · #14 07-27-2009, 09:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hal53

Something strange here....ever since day one ..it would not accept my vote (except for the 1st time) from my work laptop....tried the home one, from time to time it accepts , but more often than not, I get the multiple votes BS..."please wait another 12 hrs. 44 mins. etc.?????
Hal

You could try e-mailing WFN? Thanks for trying to vote!

baitfisher83 · #15 07-27-2009, 09:39 PM

are you trying to use the same email mroe than once?

hal53 · #16 07-27-2009, 09:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by baitfisher83

are you trying to use the same email mroe than once?

nope...try at 1030 every morning...sometimes it tells me 6 hrs. plus , sometimes 18 hrs, plus....not a good computer geek....so......thought maybe an auto vote every 24 hrs.?????

michelle · #17 07-27-2009, 09:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flygirrl

Michelle.
Make a copy of this e-mail you recieved and keep it as you may use it at a later date. Just in case there is a problem you may be able to prove that these e-mail addresses are not your friends.

Done ! Good advice

floppychicken · #18 07-27-2009, 09:58 PM

Not sure about the above but many ISP's use Proxy servers and many IP addresses can look 'exactly' the same. Most individuals can see through that but very often that isn't the case and they 'assume' that there is a problem.

The problem they may be talking about is the fact that many individuals can 'MASK' their IP address using many different types of software... This would enable one person to 'fool' the site and allow multiple votes from EACH and EVERY fake IP that the software uses as a 'mask'.

The problem with their assumption is that there is absolutely NO WAY they can prove such a thing without going through EVERY single LOG. This could only be tracked if they had the proper security check in place to begin with.... My assumption is that they did not / have not...

The only way this could be proven as cheating would be if one of the WFN contest participants was 'masking' their IP address and it could be proven by the WFN.

The other way is to have a 'remote server' vote for you multiple times using different IP's etc, etc...

Having said that, It's pretty apparent to me that you haven't cheated.... Either way, I wouldn't worry about it too much....

Good Luck in the Contest.... You've come a long way !

Cheers,

/FC....

michelle · #19 07-28-2009, 12:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by floppychicken

Not sure about the above but many ISP's use Proxy servers and many IP addresses can look 'exactly' the same. Most individuals can see through that but very often that isn't the case and they 'assume' that there is a problem.

The problem they may be talking about is the fact that many individuals can 'MASK' their IP address using many different types of software... This would enable one person to 'fool' the site and allow multiple votes from EACH and EVERY fake IP that the software uses as a 'mask'.

The problem with their assumption is that there is absolutely NO WAY they can prove such a thing without going through EVERY single LOG. This could only be tracked if they had the proper security check in place to begin with.... My assumption is that they did not / have not...

The only way this could be proven as cheating would be if one of the WFN contest participants was 'masking' their IP address and it could be proven by the WFN.

The other way is to have a 'remote server' vote for you multiple times using different IP's etc, etc...

Having said that, It's pretty apparent to me that you haven't cheated.... Either way, I wouldn't worry about it too much....

Good Luck in the Contest.... You've come a long way !

Cheers,

/FC....

Awe! Thanks FC! If I understood what all that meant I would probably feel better.
No really, it does make me feel better

I really appreciate all of the advice and information.

#20 07-28-2009, 04:54 AM

[QUOTE=fishing_flower;357005]

Sundancefisher · #21 07-28-2009, 06:23 AM

It would not surprise me if other competitors were trying to have people sabotage your voting to try and disqualify you...you should mention that to WFN...

Fishfinder · #22 07-28-2009, 08:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sundancefisher

It would not surprise me if other competitors were trying to have people sabotage your voting to try and disqualify you...you should mention that to WFN...

I am sure

WFN has many people looking into the questionable voting

(I hope). Franky boy is really making me wonder!

slingshotz · #23 07-28-2009, 09:20 AM

All of a sudden Frank's votes has stalled to next to nothing. Seems....fishy (I had to say it)