[JRTJH]

As Chuck said, at any given time there are about 10 times more "spies" monitoring the forum than there are "registered members" using the forum.

Some of them are legitimate, simply visitors who are on the forum (without registering as a member). They are likely just reading about a problem, looking for information about their water heater or awning, etc. Most of them can't view photos in threads, so if they want to see a picture, typically they need to register. They make up the majority of "one visit members who have never posted" on the forum.

Some of them are "bots" from Google (spiders) or from other "commercial monitor sites". They are the reason you see ads on your webpages for items that you clicked on in this forum. We don't support them but we can't stop them.

Some are foreign monitors (some private some government) from countries like India, Pakistan, China, Russia, Iran, etc. Their purpose: "Who the heck knows" but I don't suspect it's to help make the forum better.....

Some are active crooks, looking for any bit of information or personal data that could be used to steal or obtain information to steal things of value from the membership. This is the reason we urge members not to discuss travel plans where they will be away from home, give phone numbers, addresses, location information, etc.....

It's those "ten times the number of registered users" who make up the "you really, REALLY need to be careful because..." who are watching everything you do on the internet.