...Why someone could post a review about seeing me in San Diego in FEBRUARY 2003 while I was there for the first time in may.
How come people post fake reviews??  Is there a way to avoid it?
Lolita xxx

I don't know, but when will you be back?

In the review it says that he met you in Boston in Feb not in San Diego.

Contact staff through E-mail or post a problem report on your review. Staff is very good about correcting fraudulent reviews, once they have been made aware of the details.

Your second question is easier, so I'll try to answer it first.  There's really nothing you can do to prevent it, but you CAN do something about it after the fact.  Send email to TER Staff explaining the problem.  They're really good at handling this kind of situation.

As to why, here are 3 possibilities.  I'm sure there are more.
1) To get free VIP membership
2) Some not altogether mentally stable types think it's fun.
3) A member of the local constabulary is trying to build a history of reviews and posts so as to become trusted.

It seems like it is causing too many problems.

Many (by no means all) paying members have chosen that route because they don't want to post reviews, or at least not post many reviews.   Of course they comprise the financial backbone of TER, but what would TER be without an adequate stream of reviews?  It seems to me that both segments of the community are needed.

It's an unfortunate fact of life that any open forumn will attract a small minority of abusers.  I think that the moderators and Staff do an excellent job of controlling such abuses.  Anyone shown to have posted a false review doesn't get a second chance.  Seems to me that any measure drastic enough to eliminate the problem altogether would also cripple TER.

but thanks for the vote of confidence.