This week, a viral 'challenge' took Twitter and other social media by storm. The 'Florida Man Challenge' called for people to:
Florida Man June 6 1956
- Google 'Florida Man' and their birthdate,
- Find a headline about the activities of a 'Florida Man' that matched their birthdate, and
- Post that headline to their social media account.
The challenge spread like a cat meme, so much so that typing 'Florida Man' into the Google search bar resulted in suggested entries that were almost exclusively calendar dates.
An 18-year-old Florida man accused of sexually battering two girls in separate June incidents was heard assaulting one of the girls after forgetting to turn off the mic he was using to play Grand. It was Sunday, under the sign of Gemini (see birth chart on June 6, 1954).The US president was Dwight D. Eisenhower (Republican), the UK Prime Minister was Sir Winston Churchill (Conservative), Pope Pius XII was leading the Catholic Church. Famous people born on this day include Dominique Ambiel and Philippe Berre.In UK Secret Love by Doris Day was in the top 5 hits. A Florida man is facing a misdemeanor charge for allegedly pouring ketchup on his girlfriend while she. Published June 6, 2019. Florida man charged with pouring ketchup on girlfriend. Mar 23, 2019 Florida Man Challenge June 9 A Florida man was arrested after threatening another man with a machete, kidnapping him and then asking him to steal 2 cases of beer from Wal Mart. While the victim waited inside of a nearby restaurant, police were able to apprehend the suspect without incident. Read the full story here.
When I walked into the @tb_times newsroom this morning, ALL of the top stories were about #FloridaMan. It was confusing until we realized why: Everyone is googling to see their Florida Man headline.
Of course, I wrote about it:https://t.co/nFMWQPbMRT
— Gabrielle Calise (@gabriellecalise) March 21, 2019
Doing this was, as we like to say at Ars, a really bad idea.
Sure, if you've locked your social media account down so that only friends can see your posts and information and that information already includes your birth date, this sort of thing is relatively harmless. But if you are posting in response to the Florida Man Challenge publicly, it offers others an opportunity for bad actors to collect information that includes your birthdate—just one more tool they can use to attempt to socially engineer their way into your accounts and other personally identifying or financial data. And once it's out there, it won't go away.
The Florida Man Challenge may have begun as an innocent social experiment; one of the earliest posters on Twitter said she found it in someone's Tumblr account. But there have been similar Twitter memes that have raised suspicion:
My hot take: the tweet going around that asks 'Whoever won Best Actress the year you were born is your real Zodiac Sign' is, in fact, a phishing attack to get you to post your personally identifiable information.
Later, they'll ask what street you grew up on.
— King of Tωitter (@TonyNoland) August 22, 2018
This is going around Facebook just now! Please tell your friends & family not to post their ‘royal name!'
You will be giving them your maiden name, first pet, street or town you were born along with all your other info on there already!
Be #scamaware and please dont respond.. pic.twitter.com/xWtNsxH64K
— Georgina Woodcock (@GeorginaWoodco) May 29, 2018
There have been plenty of others that were obviously dubious (or were just trolls):
Hey everyone! To ring in the new year, let's surprise some people with fun facts about you, comment your answers below:
Fav book?
First pet?
First job?
High school you went to?
Street you grew up on?
Mom's maiden name?
What city were you born in?
Bestie's name?
— gwack gwack slrrrp *spit* slrrp gwack gwack inhale (@FLOTJM) December 31, 2018
Your Ayn Rand Villainous Socialist name is the street you were born on and the first arcane slang term you think of.
— Valondar (@VK_HM) April 8, 2017
Florida Man June 6 2018
your rap name is 'young' + your mother's maiden name + the city you were born in + name of your pet + name of the street you grew up on
— sreekar (@sreekyshooter) August 10, 2017
So, please, tell your friends not to be Florida Man.
Daniel Enrique Fabian, 18, was arrested for allegedly sexually battering two girls. (Pasco County Sheriff's Office)
An 18-year-old Florida man accused of sexually battering two girls in separate June incidents was heard assaulting one of the girls after forgetting to turn off the mic he was using to play Grand Theft Auto, authorities said.
Florida Man June 6 2004
Daniel Enrique Fabian, of New Port Richey, took a break from playing the PlayStation 4 game and left his microphone on during the assault, the Tampa Bay Times reported Monday, citing an arrest report. Fabian told deputies he planned to have 'sexual relations' with the 15-year-old girl who was at his house on June 28, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
The teen told authorities Fabian covered her mouth, held her down and sexually battered her, the newspaper reported, citing the arrest report. She said she told Fabian to stop multiple times. The girl underwent a rape examination and the results for a DNA test linking Fabian to the assault led to his arrest last week, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
A 16-year-old witness told deputies he heard the assault online because Fabian left his mic on during the incident, the newspaper reported.
Fabian was also arrested June 6 after he was accused of assaulting another girl between the ages of 12 and 15 despite the girl's cries for him to stop, the Tampa Bay Times reported. He was free on bail after that incident when the alleged June 28 assault occurred.
Florida Man June 6 2005
Fabian was charged with lewd and lascivious battery of a person between the ages of 12 and 15 in both incidents. He was being held at the Pasco County Jail without bail. Valiant hearts the great war pc portugues.
