The spam today is ridiculous!

11 replies
  • OFF TOPIC
  • |
There's been talk about a re-design for the site, never mind that and lets do something about the influx of spam we've been getting.

Today alone there's about 4 users that have 20+ posts and still running circles around the forum.
  • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
    I thought you had to pay before you could post.
    Signature
    One Call Closing book https://www.amazon.com/One-Call-Clos...=1527788418&sr

    What if they're not stars? What if they are holes poked in the top of a container so we can breath?
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9167838].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Kay King
      Haven't had the sign up fee for a long time. Too bad as it kept some of the riff raff out.

      What I don't understand is why these bots are listed as "banned" but their stupid posts aren't removed.
      Signature
      Saving one dog will not change the world - but the world changes forever for that one dog
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9167953].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author waterotter
        Kay,

        Originally Posted by Kay King View Post

        Haven't had the sign up fee for a long time. Too bad as it kept some of the riff raff out.

        What I don't understand is why these bots are listed as "banned" but their stupid posts aren't removed.



        I wonder if this has something to do with disabling of the search function. I tried to check the "spammers" other posts/threads only to get this message:

        This search method is currently disabled. Try searching by threads and/or don't use usernames.
        Maybe the Mod's are having the same problems.

        I just keep reporting them when I see the crap contained within a thread.

        Wish they would consider lowering the wait time for reporting though. Never did understand the reason for waiting 60 seconds when reporting spam.

        Jody
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9168042].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
        Banned
        Originally Posted by Kay King View Post

        Haven't had the sign up fee for a long time. Too bad as it kept some of the riff raff out.

        What I don't understand is why these bots are listed as "banned" but their stupid posts aren't removed.
        I just reported a couple of banned ones and asked the same question. This forum will be full of this crap if it doesn't get deleted.

        EDIT: They were deleted then.
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9168109].message }}
        • Profile picture of the author Kay King
          I did that yesterday. I don't mind being a member mod and I do my part - but this spam is clearly bots - been going on day after day and I'm not going to waste my time reporting it.

          It's so obviously spam - from the titles to the user names. It started with the first changes on the WF after the purchase.

          With the search disabled you can't check anything - and it's been that way now for several days.
          Signature
          Saving one dog will not change the world - but the world changes forever for that one dog
          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9168146].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author laurencewins
    I agree that the 60 second rule is ridiculous. I give up on reporting many spam messages as I don't have the extra time to wait. I think that a small membership fee should be brought in again to stop spammers. It has worked in the past.
    Signature

    Cheers, Laurence.
    Writer/Editor/Proofreader.

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9168304].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
    Maybe the Mod's are having the same problems.
    Yep. And in a bunch of sub-sections.

    A small part of this is because of the way one new person at the controls is handling bans. That's a wise caution, for the moment.

    Part of it is because of the search function being disabled. As Thomas explained in another thread, that's going to continue until they complete a rebuild of the indexes. That rebuild is an incredibly server-intensive process, and will take a lot of CPU time. Doing it is critical, though, and not just for the obvious front-end benefits. That data is necessary for all sorts of things that we do behind the scenes.

    Short-term pain, etc.
    Never did understand the reason for waiting 60 seconds when reporting spam.
    Unless it's tied to the delay between sending PMs, I'm not clear on that one myself. I can see a potentially serious problem it prevents, but I don't recall seeing that problem come up often enough to merit a system-wide change.

    It may be that they had to make the server move before they could fix the spam filters. I hope that's next on the tech agenda.


    Paul
    Signature
    .
    Stop by Paul's Pub - my little hangout on Facebook.

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9168547].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author MikeAmbrosio
      Originally Posted by Paul Myers View Post

      Yep. And in a bunch of sub-sections.

      A small part of this is because of the way one new person at the controls is handling bans. That's a wise caution, for the moment.

      Part of it is because of the search function being disabled. As Thomas explained in another thread, that's going to continue until they complete a rebuild of the indexes. That rebuild is an incredibly server-intensive process, and will take a lot of CPU time. Doing it is critical, though, and not just for the obvious front-end benefits. That data is necessary for all sorts of things that we do behind the scenes.

      Short-term pain, etc.Unless it's tied to the delay between sending PMs, I'm not clear on that one myself. I can see a potentially serious problem it prevents, but I don't recall seeing that problem come up often enough to merit a system-wide change.

      It may be that they had to make the server move before they could fix the spam filters. I hope that's next on the tech agenda.


      Paul
      I think it is tied to PMs because it says you have to wait 60 seconds to send another PM.

      And probably no one complains because it's just the spam reporting - when I can't send another spam complaint, I don't complain to the mods. I just don't report any more spam for that day. Which I find counter productive
      Signature

      Are you protecting your on line business? If you have a website, blog, ecommerce store you NEED to back it up regularly. Your webhost will only protect you so much. Check out Quirkel. Protect yourself.

      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9168770].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author waterotter
    Paul,

    Unless it's tied to the delay between sending PMs, I'm not clear on that one myself. I can see a potentially serious problem it prevents, but I don't recall seeing that problem come up often enough to merit a system-wide change.
    I was thinking the same thing about the time delay being related to sending PMs. If it's not, I would like to see the 60 second time delay changed for reporting spam etc.

    It's a pain in the butt to copy link addresses as to include all spam posts/threads in one report.

    That's JMO!
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9168885].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Dennis Gaskill
      Originally Posted by waterotter View Post

      Paul,
      It's a pain in the butt to copy link addresses as to include all spam posts/threads in one report.
      If it's the same spammer you really only have to report one of his threads, at least when the mod's tools are working. They can clean up the spam without knowing where all the spammer's threads and posts are.
      Signature

      Just when you think you've got it all figured out, someone changes the rules.

      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9168908].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author waterotter
    Dennis,

    If it's the same spammer you really only have to report one of his threads, at least when the mod's tools are working. They can clean up the spam without knowing where all the spammer's threads and posts are.
    I guess your tools weren't working today!

    That may have something to do the search function being disabled.

    Regardless, there where many spambots infiltrating the WF today. I did my part in reporting them, but today I noticed a significant amount of spambots posting in existing threads. When I reported these posts, the so-called spammer was already banned, yet their posts had not been deleted.

    With the search function being disabled, I can understand the frustration for the Mods as it's frustrating enough for us "member" mods!
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9168937].message }}

Trending Topics