Forum - View topic2018 Spam
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Joshua Zarate
Posts: 2062 |
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I hope that this is the right place to ask this. Can someone on the ANN staff find a way to have the people spamming the series discussion thread and talkback thread to stop permanently as it’s getting annoying to see it happen and it sours the ANN experience. Please and thank you.
EDIT: Looks like it was removed not too long after I made this post. I’ll post again in this thread in case other types of spam occur on ANN. |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18507 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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If you're talking about the Chinese spam, I just removed a bunch of it and insured that none of those posters will be able to post again.
Looks like we're in the middle of a wave of the stuff, though, so I doubt we've seen the last of it. 
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Errinundra
Moderator
 Posts: 6592 Location: Melbourne, Oz |
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Psycho101 and I have been deleting it by the proverbial load. We lock out the users but they keep creating new usernames. It's a pain.
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Dessa
 Posts: 4438 |
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In my experience with phpBB2 (the forum software), there are only 2 feasible ways to stop spam bots.
One is to modify the board software to add bot-confusing questions to the registration (my personal favorite from when I admin'd a board was a question out of the rules, that changed periodically, which also forced people to check the rules). Unfortunately, since there's no more support for phpBB2, it would be hard to find one, and it's been said previously that updating the forums are low on the priority list, so this would be very unlikely to happen. The other is to turn off user-validation of accounts. This would mean that an admin (it's not something a moderator has access to) would have to manually check every single account and manually approve them before they could post. This is a pain in the neck for a smaller board, I can't imagine the labor that would go into it on a board of this magnitude. Besides, you'd also be forcing legitimate users to wait until someone can get around to activating their account, and if it accidentally gets flagged as a potential spam bot? Yeah, not a good solution. Which means, of course, that the only thing to do is what we're doing currently: report individual threads if they pop up, and wait for a moderator to come on to address floods like we got last night. |
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Redbeard 101
Oscar the Grouch
Forums Superstar  Posts: 16970 |
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Part of the problem is also we've seen a few accounts that had normal posts for a bit, and then started spamming. Now whether this was a clever, and time wasting, ploy, or they simply had their accounts hacked is up in the air.
The problem with turning off user validation for accounts is the sheer number of accounts that get created here. Especially now that users can do so via social media and get those fancy #88854657447 accounts. That means the few admin here we have would have to wade through all of that crap on top of their normal day to day duties they do. Don't forget the admin are not just simply forum admins, they're the ones actually running ANN the business. So taking on that added time absorbing task is not something I would hold my breath on. Even if mods could do it I wouldn't want that PITA job myself (not on a board this big) on top of handling reports, browsing the forums for problems, and handling moderated posts by users on moderation. Unfortunately spammers are gonna spam and find new ways to do so to get around safeguards. You should see the amount that does get caught and automatically winds up in the deleted threads area. Yes these stupid Chinese character spammers are annoying, but to me they are far less annoying and disruptive then some daily arguments and "legitimate" posts that are posted in discussions. For now the best solution is just report them as they pop up and we will smite them down. |
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horseradish
 SubscriberPosts: 574 Location: Bay Area |
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Some of them wait weeks if not months to show their true colors (or possibly get hacked later on after their first few posts). Their posts even occasionally generate discussion beforehand. It's very sly and...odd? What would they gain from doing so? |
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Redbeard 101
Oscar the Grouch
Forums Superstar Posts: 16970 |
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Assuming for a moment those accounts were not hacked and the actual users are in fact the spammers....hell if I know. Maybe they're lonely? Maybe they have nothing better to do? Maybe they get some perverse pleasure from it? Your guess is as good as mine. |
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Joshua Zarate
Posts: 2062 |
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The spam has occurred again, this time in the series discussion thread. Posting here to try to ask again if someone can remove them. Please and thank you.
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Crisha
Moderator
 Posts: 4290 |
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While we appreciate you alerting us about the spam, rather than utilizing this thread which mods might not immediately check, report that post by clicking on the red exclamation mark in the upper right hand corner. It will go on our list of reported posts. And you don't need to report every spam post. Just one will do. Thanks!
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Joshua Zarate
Posts: 2062 |
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It’s happened again in the series discussion thread. The spam has also been reported. Just trying to get as much use as possible out of this thread as well if that’s allowed.
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Redbeard 101
Oscar the Grouch
Forums Superstar Posts: 16970 |
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As willag just said....
If it's been reported already then we'll see it and handle it. Posting here every time you, or anyone else, see one is honestly pointless compared to reporting it. So please just use the report system. |
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yuna49
 Posts: 3804 |
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As i've suggested before, since all of the Chinese spam I see comes from accounts with numeric usernames, I'd just ban posts from accounts without at least one or two alphabetic characters. I do occasionally see legitimate posts from accounts with numeric usernames, but they are very rare.
If this is a side effect of people signing up through social media, redirect any such requests to the normal registration page. |
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Dessa
Posts: 4438 |
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It is a result of people signing up via social media, and I see legitimate posts by them just as often as the spam, if not more often.
I also see the spam by non-numeric usernames, so it's not like that would do anything anyway. |
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yuna49
Posts: 3804 |
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I'm pretty sure all the Chinese ones with universities in their subject lines have come from numeric accounts.
I don't use social media, but why can't it be configured that clicking on a sign-up button just takes them to the regular website and registration page? Seems like an unnecessary vector for trouble. Update For instance, today's batch of university spams come from user #881447. |
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