Hi All,

Some of you may have already received this warning from one of Tom's many SF meet-ups. I got three. I am resending it out to you because even though we are not a single's group, everyone should be mindful of their security online. I have removed a Rahul from the group who had an cartoon for a pic and either never attended or or never RSVPed. One remains but with a different member ID than the one in question.

Tom has a few very good recommendations that you should consider. I would also recommend not using your complete first and last name on the site. I have never required this. Ladies, please be careful of anyone who comes on a little too aggressive. Consider asking for a business card instead of giving out your contact information. Post event outings for dinner or what not are best in groups with people you have established friendships with coming along. Use good judgement and be safe.

Let's all just try to have some fun without the ick.

Cheers,

Rick

Oakland Happy Hour Organizer

Please see email from Tom below:

For years I've been getting reports from women that an SF Bay Area meetup member has been up to various creepy behavior including stalking, harassment, inappropriate touching, and even him being suspected of breaking someone's front door lock at a house party.

I've long ago kicked him out of my groups and reported him to meetup. In fact I know he's been reported to meetup at least a few times and they've done nothing because he's careful to wait until he get's someone's personal email or phone number before he starts getting creepy.

This character's name is Rahul. There are several Rahul's in meetup so be sure you know which one I'm talking about. Here is his main meetup profile http://www.meetup.com/members/11529766/ He doesn't post pictures of himself so here's another profile cartoon he commonly uses http://www.meetup.com/walking-in-SF/members/11529766/ and here is an email address that he's used in the past bffrahul@gmail.com

If you have not had an issue with this person yet the best advice I can give you is this:

1) If he email's you do not reply

1) Do not give him any personal information  i.e., email address, phone number, address

If anyone can find me a picture of this guy in any meetup please send me a link to it.

If you have already had a run in with this guy please read on.

Thanks to the efforts of Gareth, another organizer that many of you know, we have the ear of the meetup CEO and their safety lead and they are interested in hearing your story. Even if your run in with Rahul was some time ago, even if you've already reported him to meetup, please follow the instructions in the email and report your story.

Thanks

Tom

Hi Tom,

Thank you for contacting us about this.  I'm Liz, and your message has been escalated to my attention. Meetup takes reports such as this, and any possible violation of our Terms of Service, very seriously.

We would like to conduct a limited inquiry into this situation. I understand that you've heard these stories second-hand, so it may be difficult for you to provide us with the additional information, but if there's anything further you can tell us in connection with your concerns, that will help us look into this further. Additionally, if you know of any members who have had first-hand experience with Rahul, please have them write to me directly at lizd@meetup.com.

The sort of information that will help us look into this further is:

• a detailed description of the situation
• links to pages where the content at issue is appearing on the site
• any relevant emails or content you may have received through the site
• anything you received outside of the Meetup platform that would be relevant to our inquiry
• any other information you think may be helpful, such as a relevant police report or similar documentation

We want to conduct as thorough an inquiry into this situation as possible, and we appreciate your help with this. Having said that, please note that Meetup is unable to moderate member behavior offsite, so in addition to reporting this to us, it is very important that all illegal activity be reported to the local authorities as well.

Thanks again for your help with this. We'll look forward to your reply.
Sincerely,

Liz Dickey
Trust and Safety Lead
Meetup HQ