Cookie Stuffing the WF - Keep An Eye Out

30 replies
Every single day i am reporting 2-3 people that are cookie stuffing the Warrior Forum without even looking for them, so it might be an idea for people to keep an eye out.

Here are some of the signs to look for:

  • They are new sign up date is current month
  • They only have a few or no posts
  • sometimes they only have one word or what they say doesn't make sense
How can you tell if they are cookie stuffing?


Normally quite easy click on their name and chose "Find More Posts" and then look down the results you will normally see image file names where there are no images on the posts, here is an example:


hi
http://www.domain.info/test.jpg
http://www.domain.info/test2.jpg
http://www.domain.info/test3.jpg
If you see this on one or more of their posts they are definitely cookie stuffing the WF and you need to report the post and tell admin.


Lets try and keep the scammers out!
#cookie #eye #stuffing
  • Profile picture of the author Richard Van
    They're everywhere.

    The trouble I find is they seem to know when the mods are not here. I reported one several times yesterday and several hours later they were still here.

    Their posts are silly but they're fairly switched on.

    Take TraceyC12 for example. Cookie stuffed this place hours ago and still here (at the time of writing).

    All you can do is report them and wait for a mod to remove them.

    Good post though Frank, the more people know the better.
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    Wibble, bark, my old man's a mushroom etc...

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    • Profile picture of the author Gail_Curran
      Frank, you might want to de-link those examples in your post.

      Cookie stuffers like to use certain types of usernames, too. Once you see the pattern it's easy to pick them out for a closer look.

      .
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    • Profile picture of the author MP80
      Originally Posted by Richard Van View Post

      They're everywhere.
      Too true, they're like cockroaches.. For every one that you stamp out, it sometimes seems like three more pop-up! Sometimes they even work together (I assume the same person with multiple accounts) by quoting each other's posts.

      Hopefully we are slowly winning the battle though.
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      Before you do ANYTHING else in your day - do at least ONE thing that brings money into your business.
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  • Profile picture of the author Frank Ayres
    Gail they are not the correct urls just examples i added the domain part myself
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    • Profile picture of the author Jon Patrick
      So they're just placing a sort of "beacon" image in their posts, and that allows them to engage in cookie stuffing?

      Bizarre. I never would have thought that was possible.
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  • Profile picture of the author marketerpro
    Not understanding how an image file lets them place a cookie?
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    • Profile picture of the author MP80
      Originally Posted by marketerpro View Post

      Not understanding how an image file lets them place a cookie?
      Without going into too much detail here.. The browser attempts to fetch an image, and gets cookied instead.
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      Before you do ANYTHING else in your day - do at least ONE thing that brings money into your business.
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  • Profile picture of the author joseph7384
    [DELETED]
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    • Profile picture of the author Richard Van
      Originally Posted by joseph7384 View Post

      What about this guy, none of his one liners make any sense but I could not see any image url's anywhere.

      View Profile: tianshaguli
      May just be innocent and certainly not cookie stuffing yet but has the often used 17 posts.

      I've seen lots make posts, go offline, then come back later or the next day to add the cookie images.

      Well worth looking at but may be innocent, the name isn't like they normally are but you're right, I've no idea what he/she/it is talking about.
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      Wibble, bark, my old man's a mushroom etc...

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      • Profile picture of the author joseph7384
        [DELETED]
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        • Profile picture of the author Richard Van
          Originally Posted by joseph7384 View Post

          The reason I was suspicious is that every one of his post is in a sticky but one, usually only newbies frequent the stickies and they would not catch the spammer and if it wasn't for the one post that was not in a sticky I would never even have come across this guy.
          I agree Joseph, well spotted, I'm just saying from when I looked he's not cookie stuffing yet.

          That doesn't mean he won't.

          If in doubt just report them anyway, it's up to the mods to make the decision.
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          Wibble, bark, my old man's a mushroom etc...

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  • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
    Originally Posted by marketerpro View Post

    Not understanding how an image file lets them place a cookie?
    Originally Posted by josephjohn4556 View Post

    Hi,
    I am not full understand about to this. Can you tell me more about to it?
    thanks
    Curiosity is understandable, but the last thing we need is a tutorial on cookie stuffing.

    If you really need to know, Google is your friend. (Bing or Yahoo for the Google-haters out there.)
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  • Profile picture of the author contentwriting360
    Banned
    Originally Posted by marketerpro View Post

    Not understanding how an image file lets them place a cookie?
    Originally Posted by josephjohn4556 View Post

    Hi,
    I am not full understand about to this. Can you tell me more about to it?
    thanks
    Fellows,

    This may answer both questions.

    According to Wikipedia:
    "Cookie stuffing (also cookie dropping) is a blackhat[neutrality is disputed] online marketing technique used to generate illegitimate[neutrality is disputed] affiliate sales. Cookie stuffing occurs when a user visits a website, and as a result of that visit receives a third-party cookie from an entirely different website (the target affiliate website), usually without the user being aware of it.[1] When (if) the user visits the target website and completes a qualifying transaction, the cookie stuffer is paid a commission. Depending on the terms of the affiliate agreement a qualifying transaction may refer to creating an account, making a purchase, completing an application (loan, credit, etc.), or subscribing to a newsletter."

    Ref: Wikipedia

    You also take a look at the following:
    1. What Is Cookie Stuffing?

    2. I also found a thread that talked about the same topic. Credit goes to Suzanne(sbucciarel). Please check her thread by clicking here.

    I hope these help.
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    • Profile picture of the author Richard Van
      Originally Posted by contentwriting360 View Post

      Fellows,

      This may answer both questions.

      According to Wikipedia:
      "Cookie stuffing (also cookie dropping) is a blackhat[neutrality is disputed] online marketing technique used to generate illegitimate[neutrality is disputed] affiliate sales. Cookie stuffing occurs when a user visits a website, and as a result of that visit receives a third-party cookie from an entirely different website (the target affiliate website), usually without the user being aware of it.[1] When (if) the user visits the target website and completes a qualifying transaction, the cookie stuffer is paid a commission. Depending on the terms of the affiliate agreement a qualifying transaction may refer to creating an account, making a purchase, completing an application (loan, credit, etc.), or subscribing to a newsletter."

      Ref: Wikipedia

      You also take a look at the following:
      1. What Is Cookie Stuffing?

      2. I also found a thread that talked about the same topic. Credit goes to Suzanne(sbucciarel). Please check her thread by clicking here.

      I hope these help.
      Respectfully, as John pointed out, in depth knowledge on how to do this isn't exactly necessary.

      Just the fact that it's very much against the rules would have sufficed.

      Well done, perhaps next time you could make a YouTube video so the whole forum knows how to do it.
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      Wibble, bark, my old man's a mushroom etc...

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      • Profile picture of the author TorinoGray
        Originally Posted by Richard Van View Post

        Respectfully, as John pointed out, in depth knowledge on how to do this isn't exactly necessary.

        Just the fact that it's very much against the rules would have sufficed.

        Well done, perhaps next time you could make a YouTube video so the whole forum knows how to do it.
        PROZAC-LY! Maybe there will be a hacking webinar, and a Spamming 101 class. I bet the slots will fill quickly
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      • Profile picture of the author ClickMonkey
        Originally Posted by Richard Van View Post

        Respectfully, as John pointed out, in depth knowledge on how to do this isn't exactly necessary.
        Hello! :-)

        Knowing how to do it is critical to coming up with a viable
        long-term solution that doesn't involve forum members having
        to become cookie stuffing sleuths.

        It appears the forum allows full-blown images to be posted
        directly into threads:

        ----
        Posting Rules
        .
        .
        .
        [IMG] code is On
        ----

        Not merely links that, upon being clicked, load an image,
        but rather, an image file hosted on another server that is
        loaded automatically whenever someone opens a thread.

        Disabling that feature across the entire forum would be
        problematic. After all, virtually every WSO thread is now
        composed of a smattering of image files. But, to the
        extent that setting can be toggled to "Off" in the "Main"
        discussion area, or wherever else it's felt that cookie
        stuffing is running rampant, it may prove devastatingly
        effective... saving us all the hassles and aggravation of
        cleaning up the crumbs left behind by cookie stuffers.
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        • Profile picture of the author tpw
          Originally Posted by ClickMonkey View Post

          Knowing how to do it is critical to coming up with a viable
          long-term solution that doesn't involve forum members having
          to become cookie stuffing sleuths.

          It appears the forum allows full-blown images to be posted
          directly into threads:

          ----
          Posting Rules
          .
          .
          .
          [IMG] code is On
          ----

          Not merely links that, upon being clicked, load an image,
          but rather, an image file hosted on another server that is
          loaded automatically whenever someone opens a thread.

          Disabling that feature across the entire forum would be
          problematic. After all, virtually every WSO thread is now
          composed of a smattering of image files. But, to the
          extent that setting can be toggled to "Off" in the "Main"
          discussion area, or wherever else it's felt that cookie
          stuffing is running rampant, it may prove devastatingly
          effective... saving us all the hassles and aggravation of
          cleaning up the crumbs left behind by cookie stuffers.

          That is accurate, but it would make life hard on people like me and Joe Robinson who get a lot of joy posting images in our threads. :p
          Signature
          Bill Platt, Oklahoma USA, PlattPublishing.com
          Publish Coloring Books for Profit (WSOTD 7-30-2015)
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        • Profile picture of the author Richard Van
          Originally Posted by ClickMonkey View Post

          Knowing how to do it is critical to coming up with a viable
          long-term solution that doesn't involve forum members having
          to become cookie stuffing sleuths.
          What I meant by my post was it isn't necessary to post how to become a cookie stuffer to the rest of the forum.

          The mods already know how cookie stuffing works.
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          Wibble, bark, my old man's a mushroom etc...

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    • Profile picture of the author atwellpub
      Originally Posted by contentwriting360 View Post

      Fellows,

      This may answer both questions.

      According to Wikipedia:
      "Cookie stuffing (also cookie dropping) is a blackhat[neutrality is disputed] online marketing technique used to generate illegitimate[neutrality is disputed] affiliate sales. Cookie stuffing occurs when a user visits a website, and as a result of that visit receives a third-party cookie from an entirely different website (the target affiliate website), usually without the user being aware of it.[1] When (if) the user visits the target website and completes a qualifying transaction, the cookie stuffer is paid a commission. Depending on the terms of the affiliate agreement a qualifying transaction may refer to creating an account, making a purchase, completing an application (loan, credit, etc.), or subscribing to a newsletter."

      Ref: Wikipedia

      You also take a look at the following:
      1. What Is Cookie Stuffing?

      2. I also found a thread that talked about the same topic. Credit goes to Suzanne(sbucciarel). Please check her thread by clicking here.

      I hope these help.

      Hey guys,

      The area is grey, but I developed a cookie stuffing solution to manually place cookies on review posts. Depending on the affiliate program this can fly. It depends on the vendor.

      Just saying the practice in it's entirely is not unethical and worthy of being disparged on. Though it seems to be leveraged more unethically than ethically. Especially when all the chatter about it surrounds it's unethical application. It switches the allure from responsible cookie management to nefarious technique.
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  • Profile picture of the author Andrew1122
    Banned
    You can not cookie stuff with a single link to the image,unless user click the link.The imagefile must be loaded automatically ad it is usually a 0pixel x 0pixel image file,you would not see it only in the source code.Also,c-stuffers are usually banned in no time from networks,and no dont pm please im not gonna tell you how to do it..
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    • Profile picture of the author tpw
      Originally Posted by Andrew1122 View Post

      You can not cookie stuff with a single link to the image

      You are wrong.

      But in order to show you the error of your ways, I would have to post the recipe for the world to see.
      Signature
      Bill Platt, Oklahoma USA, PlattPublishing.com
      Publish Coloring Books for Profit (WSOTD 7-30-2015)
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  • Profile picture of the author christhurman
    Cookie stuffing what? What affiliate program is targeted enough for wf? Your amazon rate would be like a tenth of one percent.
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  • Profile picture of the author SandraLarkin
    Banned
    Cookie stuffing is extremely hard nowadays as well, especially to get paid. Hostgator allows it because if the customer does not stay for 3 months, hey do not get paid. It is very easy to catch now.
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  • Profile picture of the author DubDubDubDot
    Just remember, kids, cookie stuffing can get your front door kicked in by the FBI. It falls under wire fraud and is a felony.
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  • Profile picture of the author WillR
    The mods have already looked at ways to try and rid the forum of this problem. Most solutions though would have a negative impact on those people who are using the forum responsibly. Other features are just not possible within the current vbulletin framework and would require some special modifications/programming.

    Possible solutions:

    - Allow image posting only for War Room Members
    - Allow image posting only after a certain number of posts

    Both of these solutions would mean certain responsible users were not able to post images. So the question is, would the little inconvenience made to a group of members be worth it if it meant we could rid the forum of this time-consuming problem?

    That's one for admin to decide.

    I wonder how many legitimate users (under say 50 posts) really have the need to post many images? I understand these image cloakers could easily rack up 50 posts but by the time they got to 50 most of them would be caught out by their vague and useless posts. At least if they were not earning any money they would probably go and look for easier targets.
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    • Profile picture of the author tpw
      Originally Posted by WillR View Post

      The mods have already looked at ways to try and rid the forum of this problem. Most solutions though would have a negative impact on those people who are using the forum responsibly. Other features are just not possible within the current vbulletin framework and would require some special modifications/programming.

      Possible solutions:

      - Allow image posting only for War Room Members
      - Allow image posting only after a certain number of posts

      Both of these solutions would mean certain responsible users were not able to post images. So the question is, would the little inconvenience made to a group of members be worth it if it meant we could rid the forum of this time-consuming problem?

      That's one for admin to decide.

      I wonder how many legitimate users (under say 50 posts) really have the need to post many images? I understand these image cloakers could easily rack up 50 posts but by the time they got to 50 most of them would be caught out by their vague and useless posts. At least if they were not earning any money they would probably go and look for easier targets.

      I bet the first one would work fine.
      Signature
      Bill Platt, Oklahoma USA, PlattPublishing.com
      Publish Coloring Books for Profit (WSOTD 7-30-2015)
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  • Profile picture of the author RedShifted
    Interesting because I had my browser hijacked not too long ago.

    Someone had also got into several of my accounts, here and my bank account. A few days later I got a call from lifelock telling me someone tried to make 2 charges from my bank account.

    Luckily they didn't go through. But now I keep my eyes open no matter what I do. There are definitely some hackers/scammers on this forum trying to raise hell.

    -Red
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  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    Another thing is ... if you see a cookie stuffer or spammer in action, please don't quote them and post. When you quote a cookie stuffer, you're stuffing cookies in the new post, so even if he has been banned, the cookies live on in your post.

    I've seen quite a few people quote the cookie stuffer saying things like ... he's a cookie stuffer/spammer. The cookie stuffers have gotten smarter. Instead of posting irrelevant junk posts, they are going into the WSO forum and other forums and posting relevant posts that people tend to quote and answer.

    I'm sure their strategy is that even if they get banned, all the people who have quoted them are doing the work for them. I find those and report them also.
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  • Thank you Frank for informing us about this growing problem.
    I will inform admins every time I will see that cookie stuffing happening around.

    Keeping a forum clean is very difficult, but I think who Warrior Forum admins are doing their best.

    Thanks,
    Alessandro
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