Wanted - Participation

Together the members of ACMOC can help keep the website and forum free of scams, phishing, false advertisements (for sale), etc. by remaining observant and cautious. Please contact an administrator if you notice or know of an issue so it may be addressed. "AI" can be very deceiving, be very cautious. Do not be deceived by these unknowns with no contact information, no location, no follow up responses. - cts

KEEP YOUR VIGILANCE AND AWARENESS ALIVE and ALERT. Several in past couple of days have made their presence known on ACMOC!

I recently heard from a member of ACMOC - lost $$$$ on items that were posted on this site or a response to the members WANT/NEED listing. ONLY YOU CAN PROTECT YOURSELVES - be sure of your seller's validity before you commit your money. Difficult to find parts seem to be a ready source for AI generated photos and sales pitches. There are many legitimate sellers and many owners/enthusiasts that are very helpful here, so do not let the few "bad apples" spoil the forum. Administration of ACMOC can not recover your losses but they may be able to block that poster from using the site. Your participation is what keeps ACMOC alive and a valuable source for all of us. -- cts

Hi, Folks.

I am currently one of the Admins and I have found probably around 25 not just suspicious but definitely 'loaded' posts with links in them NOT related to heavy machinery, mostly linking to gaming sites.

I am in the fortunate (?) position of mostly being able to follow these links without much risk 'coz I am running a Linux operating system. To the best of my knowledge, there has so far only been one case of a virus being built that was able to get into Linux systems - in about 40 years.

For those who might be interested, the particular OS that I am using is Zorin Linux which has a user interface VERY much like windows, which is why I chose it. If you want to convert to a Linux OS, I do advise that you either have a pretty good understanding of Linux yourself or find a computer shop with somebody who does understand it. I also recommend that you make an image of at least your C drive and store it elsewhere in case of any 'stuff-ups'.

If you are worried about being able to use your Windows based programs on a Linux system, there are several programs out there which set up many Linux operating systems to be able to run the great majority of Windows programs seamlessly on a Linux system. One of these is a program called Winboat.

Just my 0.02.

I appreciate you bringing this to everyone's attention.

It is definitely a problem that is here to stay. I have also fallen victim to it myself. Has this been infiltrating the paid member side of things? Always thought posting required a membership?

AARON LAOL -- this is not a problem only affecting ACMOC. The multitude of efforts to bilk or steal, cheat, etc. is a growing problem and is very difficult to "police" under the best of circumstances. Restricting the postings to members only will erode that opportunity to grow as a club of Caterpillar owners and enthusiasts. The best advice I could offer - Check you sources, be cautious and alert to these threats. We are living in different times and for many of us, it is difficult to understand how this is happening and worse - what to do about it. -- cts

Linux is the way to go.