Can you reset to its original indexed information sources that have been maliciously modified?
Recently I have found that a family search user (already reported) have been modifying sources already indexed (either by OCR or manually by a collaborator) , changing names, last names, dates, places, incorporating new names , events and dates that are no included in the original document, etc. Trying to correct these sources manually is time consuming. The worst part is that once these documents indexed information is changed to reflect some fake information, they will be no longer appear when a search query is done with the original indexed information, therefore making impossible to find the document unless you search it manually. I even suggested fs to look for all the changes performed by the mentioned user and reset all indexed documents to its original first time indexed information, but no answer was given..Any help/support will be appreciated.. This is only one example of the modifications this user has done on one indexed document, How many indexed documents have been changed? I dont have the faintest idea.. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QHK-93T9-D756?view=index&lang=en&groupId=&personArk=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3A6DYT-3XZQ&action=view
Answers
-
Support can restore sources and profiles to their previous state, but it is often challenging to provide evidence of malicious intent. I've just been through such an experience, and it required several months.
2 -
This is really strange and something I've never run across before. @SerraNola , is this something you can pass on to the right people?
Just for ease of discussion, here is the one example provided above:
- Name has been completely changed.
- Father has been completely changed.
- Mother has been deleted.
- Birth data has been deleted.
- Christening data has been deleted.
- Twelve people who do not appear on the record have been added.
It almost looks like the source was incorrectly attached to a person and the user to discover the attachment error changed the source to match Family Tree rather than just detaching it.
What might be hard to determine is whether this is maliciousness, incompetence, a complete misunderstanding of what indexing does, or a massive bug in the index editor.
3 -
Hi Gordon, thanks for taking this issue into further analysis, I dont know if this is malicious or lack of understanding how the platform works, (I even sent a message via chat to this user, to help him out if he was trying to make a family tree or if he did not know what he was doing, but never answered) but I have attached more than 350.000 sources in the last 5 years and I had never seen something like this, furthermore I did corrected some of the sources on Dec 29th when I found our about this, and next morning the sources were already changed again, by the same user (you can easily see in each source what was changed and the user thad did the changes) . Additionally, I have found several other sources changed by the same user, here the links . That's why I requested additional support in finding out all the sources this user changed and resetting all those sources to the original indexed information. I dont know the extent of these changes, I was able to trace some of this user activity all the way to October 2025
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XSDQ-4QYZ?lang=en
0 -
It doesn't look to me to be malicious. I lean towards "complete misunderstanding of what indexing does" and possibly in need of guidance on adding/changing tree data. I agree it may require the aid of internal staff with tools to find his "contributions". @Sam Sulser can make that decision and would know where to send it. In the meantime, we are reaching out to the user in Spanish in the hopes of preventing any more damage.
7 -
Look at all the changes this user did only on one source today https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/changelog/MX5D-T8T If this is not on purpose then what's this ? Please your quick support is appreciated.. This user and its IP need to be blocked he is destroying hours and hours of work done by many people
1 -
New Indexed sources being changed by user @German Antonio75 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS1Q-2HDX-M?view=index&personArk=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3A66S8-RL87&action=view&cc=1951777&lang=en&groupId=
0 -
Hello,
I just want to add my +1 to Oscar's report. I initially thought (back in November) that it was just a very-enthusiastic-yet-absolute-clueless new user. I sent him a message that never responded. He kept destroying records left and right. At this point I do believe there's intentionality for who-knows-what reason.
I tried to fix some of his… contributions, but it was so extensive, and so pervasive, that it would easily take weeks of work just to fix a few branches.
This user needs to be stopped. I hope there were an easy way to rollback changes made by a user.
All the best,Will
3 -
I'm sure it isn't "easy," but Support or Data Administration can roll back changes made by a user. In the instance I mentioned above, even the change logs were wiped.
1 -
The reported user (now with a new user @German5163 keeps doing the modification of indexed documents, erasing the original information and manipulating the documents.. Can you block his IP instead of blocking the user? Here a sample of two other documents just manipulated with fake information a few days ago. Thanks for your support in solving this matter
0
