This is a guest post by Firefighter Charles
Beware of the fake prepper!!! This is a person that will pretend to a so-called survivalist for “The Fall”. This person, if you want to call them that, will pretend he or she is just like you. They will tell you fake information about themselves so that you could tell them your real information. He will want to know about your food & water storage, the location of your retreat (if you have one), your security procedures, your weapon cache & how many people are in your group.
This person might even go to the lengths of starting a survival group to obtain the information
The tell-tale signs of a fake prepper is his vagueness in answering your questions on his or hers survival supplies. The details in his prepping will be off. You might think at first he or she is being different but you’ll start to notice that everything they are “doing” is off or completely wrong.
They also won’t be able to tell you the companies they are using for their survival supplies. Where are you keeping the food storage? How would you get to it, if the power failed? How many people does it feed? How is your defense system? These are the odd questions a “fake” prepper would ask.
They wouldn’t ask how-to, they would ask straight forward questions. Last of all, if they are taking notes on your info be very, cautious. They might be using that info later against you. Gaining all that intel on you, so that he or she can steal, attack, or takeover your supplies. Don’t fall for the “fake” interview. Research the person through & through then make a decision.
Giving up too much information to a real interviewer can land you in trouble. I was watching a show called Doomsday Prepper on National Geographic Channel. The people on the show were being interviewed on how they are getting ready for the next disaster.
Watching the show I realized that these people were painting a bull’s eye on their homes (except one family). Wanting to share how they are getting prepared was a good thing but the camera crew screwed up a lot. They showed a couple of neighborhoods with noticeable landmarks. One of them stands out in his tightly packed neighborhood. The others can be found through process of elimination in their immediate area.
Now this is just a hypothetical scenario. A “fake” prepper just finished watching the Doomsday Prepper show. Now, that person is actively looking for them through their websites (two of the interviewees have a blog & a web store). This person will now pose as a magazine or a blog site. He will ask for an interview & these people might say yes. So once on or near their survival supplies, the “fake” prepper will start taking notes on their location, landmarks, & house number.
I know that a lot of you want to be helpful & teach other people how become self-sufficient. You have to be careful on what you say, how you say it, & where you say it. People are always listening. More & more people are getting into becoming self- sufficient. Some people are too lazy & rather take your provisions then save up their own. As for the people I mentioned earlier in that TV show. People will come knocking down their doors to get to their supplies.
I know people personally that will take your supplies, will look for handouts, and will sell you out to the neighborhood. At first I thought they were joking but it turned out not to be so. These people I have distance myself from them & no longer talk to them about preparing. When the survival mode is on, people will do what they have to do to survive.
I haven’t run into a “fake” prepper but most people are opportunist & will dive at the first chance they get to take your supplies. If they are preppers, they might use your intel as a fallback in case something goes wrong with their supplies. I am not telling you to be suspicious of everyone but choose whom you share your survival info with carefully. If they steal your identity you can get that back but if they steal your supplies, you are S.O.L.
Have you ever been face to face with fake prepper?
