Discover more from SMOF News
SMOF News, volume 1, issue 10
Anime cons sharing accounts with a dating site, and news in brief.
Anime Convention Accounts Double As Dating Profiles
Many past attendees of conventions operated by Chrono Pop, LLC are discovering that they have profiles on the dating site MaiOtaku. An early report with screenshots is here:
Hello, I'm writing this post to protect others. Ryan Kopf, disgraced CEO of two Minnesota conventions (AniMinneapolis and Meta Con) is using con-goers information and credit cards to sign them up for his dating site MaiOtaku. I found out I have 4 dating profiles connected to one email. He's also stealing credit card information from the badge registration site he uses.
He's also signing up minors to this site, all of this without anyone's permission.
I implore anyone whose ever attended his conventions to check the site and see if they have any profiles. (Go to forgot username and type in whatever email you may have used. It'll send you an email if any profiles use that email and then you can request a password change, go in and delete them)
Here's a screenshot from when I found out I have 4 accounts. I blurred parts of them out because I still use some of those names and emails.
A bunch of people have already found profiles connected to them. My credit card information was also on my profile. Please go check to make sure your stuff is safe!
More can be found in the Anti-Kopf Con group on Facebook, which has been switched to private in the last few days. At least one person in the comments of the first post is in contact with the FBI.
Ryan Kopf, the head of Chrono Pop, has responded on Facebook with some technical details:
If you don’t specifically go to www.MaiOtaku.com and login, then you do not have an account on MaiOtaku, you do not show up in user’s search results, other users can not access your profile, and you do not have a dating profile on that website. There’s literally a separate database item called a “Matchprofile” and that doesn’t get created until you login at MaiOtaku.com….by searching for an account there, YOU created the account there!
In other words, anyone who has ever created an account at a Chrono Pop convention site has created an account with Chrono Pop itself which is shared across all its sites. That shared account gives everyone access to MaiOtaku, but no public dating profile is created unless the account holder signs into MaiOtaku directly.
Either part of this could qualify as “having an account at MaiOtaku”, depending on how the FBI chooses to define it.
Kopf has further announced that MaiOtaku now includes an explicit activation step, and that Chrono Pop now has a data removal tool which can be accessed here. Though hosted on MaiOtaku, the description suggests that it completely all data associated with a Chrono Pop account other than the account itself:
This form will remove the following data within 24-48 hours:
First name, last name, address from any profile.
Display name and display about from any profile.
Paymentmethods linked to your account.
First name, last name, address from any convention attendances.
Profile picture from any profile will be blanked.
Ryan Kopf is no stranger to convention headlines. Nerd & Tie has extensive coverage of questionable business practices and alleged bad behavior on Kopf’s part, culminating in a lawsuit by Kopf against Nerd & Tie which is still in progress. Kopf has also been named in numerous allegations of sexual assault, one of which got him banned from Anime Milwaukee.
Kopf denies all the allegations in a “Transparency Center” on his personal website.
The portfolio of Chrono Pop, LLC and Black Materia Inc. (linked to Kopf by research at Nerd & Tie) is wide-ranging, including these conventions:
Con Online (Chrono Pop mentioned in privacy policy)
And these fandom-related sites:
Ani.me (linked to cons.mx, see below)
AnimeMatch.com (Chrono Pop mentioned in privacy policy)
Cons.mx (mentioned by Kopf in the announcement about MaiOtaku’s activate button)
UpcomingCons.com (also mentioned directly by Kopf)
Chrono Pop also turns up here (PDF) doing business as Iowa Solar.
In Brief
The Pegasus Awards for excellence in filking were awarded at the Ohio Valley Filk Festival. 2021 winners here.
OryCon (Portland, Oregon, USA) will go on indefinite hiatus after this year’s event (November 12-14). Facebook post • Twitter thread
Event Calendar
Weekend of November 5-7
ArmadaCon 2021, Plymouth, UK
IceCon 2021, Rejkjavik, Iceland
World Fantasy Convention 2021, Montréal, Québéc, Canada
Pulp Adventure, Bordentown, New Jersey, USA
Corflu 38 Concorde (fanzines), Bristol, UK
Carnage 24: Lost in the Carnage Triangle (gaming), Dover, Vermont, USA
Midwest Gaming Classic, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Retro World Expo (gaming), Hartford, Connecticut, USA
BottosCon 2021 (gaming), New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
Hexcon 2021 (gaming), Trondheim, Norway
AmberCon NW (diceless RPGs), virtual (usually Troutdale, Oregon, USA)
PAWCon 2021: The Home Furront (anthropomorphic), San Jose, California, USA
NekoCon 23 (anime), Hampton, Virginia, USA
Kumoricon (anime), Portland, Oregon, USA
Anime Destiny 2021, virtual (usually Berkeley, California, USA)
FACTS (media), Ghent, Belgium
Comic Con Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden
CoosaCon (media), Rome, Georgia, USA
Akron Comiccon, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, USA
CONjuration (Harry Potter), Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Weekend of November 12-14
Novacon 50, Nottingham, UK
TusCon 48, Tucson, Arizona, USA
Windycon 47: Urban Fantastic, Lombard, Illinois, USA
OryCon 42, Portland, Oregon, USA
ArmadilloCon 2021, Austin, Texas, USA
Multiverse 2021, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
OmegaCon Fall 2021, Siren, Wisconsin, USA
New England Crime Bake 2021: Home Sweet Homicide (mysteries), Dedham, Massachusetts, USA
MEPACon 41 (gaming), White Haven, Pennsylvania, USA
Heroicon (gaming), Decatur, Illinois, USA
Bride of Geekway Mini (gaming), St. Louis, Missouri, USA
MACE 2021 (gaming), Charlotte, North Carolina, USA
Ludo-Outaouais (boardgames), Gatineau, Ontario, Canada
Historicon 2021: Aircraft of War (historical miniatures gaming), Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, USA
MillenniumCon (historical miniatures gaming), Round Rock, Texas, USA
Flüüfff Grand Casino (anthropomorphic), Brussels, Belgium
Bewhiskered: Prepare for Blast Off! (anthropomorphic), Durham, North Carolina, USA
Aquatifur (anthropomorphic), Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, USA
CanFURence 2021: The Furs Are Back in Town (anthropomorphic), Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Anime Dallas, DFW Airport, Texas, USA
Anime Iwai, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA
WasabiCon (anime), Jacksonville, Florida, USA
Thought Bubble (comics), Leeds, UK
Grand Rapids Comic Con, Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA
Destination Star Trek London, London, UK
Empire City Con (Steven Universe), Charlotte, North Carolina, USA
Weekend of November 19-21
Fantastika 2021 (Swedish national sf convention), Stockholm, Sweden
HispaCón 2021 (Spanish national sf convention), virtual
Philcon 2021, Cherry Hill, New Jersey, USA
Anime NYC, New York City, New York, USA
Consequences O: Otherworldly Consequences (gaming), Christchurch, UK
U-Con 2021 (gaming), virtual (usually Ypsilanti, Michigan, USA)
BGG.CON (gaming), Dallas, Texas, USA
Anthro Northwest 4 (anthropomorphic), Seattle, Washington, USA
Con Nichiwa (anime), Tucson, Arizona, USA
Colossalcon Texas (anime), Round Rock, Texas, USA
Sin City Anime, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Anime Town: Pensacola, Pensacola, Florida, USA
London Film & Comic Con, London, UK
New England Super Megafest Comic-Con, Framingham, Massachusetts, USA
Heroes Dutch Comic Con, Utrecht, Netherlands
Vienna Comic Con, Vienna, Austria
Time-Flight 2021 (Doctor Who), Holtsville, New York, USA
Weekend of November 26-28
Loscon 47/Westercon 73, Los Angeles, California, USA
Chambanacon 50, Normal, Illinois, USA
Chessiecon 2021, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
UK Ghost Story Festival 2021, Derby, UK
Winter Wolfcon 21 (gaming), Chicago, Illinois, USA
MAG 2021 (gaming/anime), Erfurt, Germany
Atlanta AnimeDay, Duluth, Georgia, USA
Comic Con Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany
Comic-Con Special Edition, San Diego, California, USA
Chicago TARDIS 2021 (Doctor Who), Lombard, Illinois, USA
Starbase Indy 2021 (Star Trek), Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Weekend of December 3-5
Smofcon Europe (con-running), Lisboa, Portugal
Weymouth Steampunk Christmas, Weymouth, UK
Midwest Furfest (anthropomorphic), Rosemont, Illinois, USA
Dragonmeet (gaming), London, UK
Shorehammer (miniatures gaming), Ocean City, Maryland, USA
Anime Frontier, Fort Worth, Texas, USA
Nashville Anime Day, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, USA
For the Love of Sci-Fi 2021 (media), Manchester, UK
Geek Days Lille (media), Lille, France
Emerald City Comic Con, Seattle, Washington, USA
L.A. Comic Con 2021, Los Angeles, California, USA
Naiccon 2021 (media), Nairobi, Kenya
Mini-Mini Con (media), San Antonio, Texas, USA
Coda
Short stories formed from horror movie titles (New York Times)
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