In either event, alternative identities allow people to say what they really want without fear of reprisal from individuals who do not agree with their point of view.

If its an alias, you can guess that they probably do have reviews under their real persona.  As for other handles, I am sure they exist, but don't have first hand knowledge of anyone who has one.

Sinthia

I'm sure these folks are tech savvy and do their best to avoid detection.  Just like one particular poster we on the Chicago board suspect.  

If these guys are posting on the board under one handle and posting reviews under another handle, why are they still here? Does that violate TER rules as CTP says?

Sin hit it right on, they can say anything they want on the board, stir up trouble, and then go off and hobby and post reviews under a different handle and no one's the wiser depending on how well they can hide their real IP address. But let's say a guy is posting here and has seen ladies under the handle he posts on the board with, but writes reviews under a different handle. How would those reviews keep getting approved? At some point, some provider would question the handle posting the review unless she already knew he posted reviews under the other handle and is complicit in the deception. I'm developing a conspiracy theory here. For him to get away with this, the providers he sees either know he's doing this or they've found out when they saw a review go up from a handle they don't recognize. Or, those providers don't care as long as they get a good review.

In other words kids, it takes more than the guy to pull off such a scheme and not get caught.

I think you hit it on the head with the line, "usually being a jerk posting drama bs."

....so many people think this would be done with deception and/or ill intent in mind.

I had a couple experiences where a provider / agency had made threats to me based on a negative, yet 100% truthful , review.

Ever since then I've always kept my reviews posted under a handle and my board posts under a different (but always constant) alias.  And I've also changed my review writing style so it won't give away any real clues to my identity. The only motive is so I can be honest in my reviews and posts without worrying about  some psycho threatening me as a result.

For the white knights who dont seem to be capable of ever writing a review that's not 9's and 10's you have probably not encountered a hostile  provider, pimp or agency owner that's pissed about your review costing them $$. But trust me it can happen and when they know all your info (name, employer, where you live, etc ) it can be an unsettling experience!