At no time does Ladies of the Hat take responsibility of any issues that result from a fraudulent fake member.  We do our best to check every application to be a member but know that some information we stumble upon could also be fake.  If a new person applies for membership, addresses and referrals are checked out prior to admission as a member.  If addresses do not match, there is no entry until authentication can be completed.  If you do not want a photo, that is your prerogative but other members may not be comfortable "friending" you. All uploads are checked for malware.