Apparently there are no Moderators on this forum!

[Blue Cat]

It seems that there are no moderators on this forum, as evidenced by the many recently created "spam" threads. Everyday, there is at least one new incoherent spam/advertising thread. I flag them as they come up, some more than once, but to no avail. So, apparently anything goes on this website. I find that annoying and discouraging.

Just wanted to put in my $.02.

[ElaineKramer]

Originally Posted by Blue Cat

It seems that there are no moderators on this forum, as evidenced by the many recently created "spam" threads. Everyday, there is at least one new incoherent spam/advertising thread. I flag them as they come up, some more than once, but to no avail. So, apparently anything goes on this website. I find that annoying and discouraging.

Just wanted to put in my $.02.

I know what you mean, Blue cat. I flag the spam when I see it too, but I never remember to check back to see if the Moderator has taken it down. Do you check back?
I've also noticed that the spammers seem to do their dirty work in the wee hours of the night. I usually notice those weird, nonsensical posts when I'm here first thing in the morning, but not so much if I log in later in the day.

[Blue Cat]

Originally Posted by ElaineKramer

I know what you mean, Blue cat. I flag the spam when I see it too, but I never remember to check back to see if the Moderator has taken it down. Do you check back?
I've also noticed that the spammers seem to do their dirty work in the wee hours of the night. I usually notice those weird, nonsensical posts when I'm here first thing in the morning, but not so much if I log in later in the day.

I do check back after I've flagged a thread to see if it's gone, and on one occasion (maybe 2) I saw that it did indeed go away. But recently, there have been several new ones--one or two daily, and though we flag them, they remain.

As for the "dirty work" being done in the "wee hours of the night"--judging from some of the nonsense I can make out in the posts, I suspect the culprits are posting from somewhere in Asia, so it's day time for them whilst we sleep.

[Knotlob]

Originally Posted by Blue Cat

I do check back after I've flagged a thread to see if it's gone, and on one occasion (maybe 2) I saw that it did indeed go away. But recently, there have been several new ones--one or two daily, and though we flag them, they remain.

As for the "dirty work" being done in the "wee hours of the night"--judging from some of the nonsense I can make out in the posts, I suspect the culprits are posting from somewhere in Asia, so it's day time for them whilst we sleep.

I usually see them in the morning European time. I flag them religiously, but there are a terrible number of parasitic SPAM threads, which if not sorted will kill this forum stone dead - seen it happen elsewhere.

Perhaps the mods/admins are on holiday - it's that time of year. Some forums have deputy mods though that is usually to control flaming - but this forum is pretty well self regulated in that regard.

I would just delete the accounts of each spammer I see immediately.

knotlob

[Enah]

Originally Posted by Knotlob

I usually see them in the morning European time. I flag them religiously, but there are a terrible number of parasitic SPAM threads, which if not sorted will kill this forum stone dead - seen it happen elsewhere.

Perhaps the mods/admins are on holiday - it's that time of year. Some forums have deputy mods though that is usually to control flaming - but this forum is pretty well self regulated in that regard.

I would just delete the accounts of each spammer I see immediately.

knotlob

I've noticed those strange emails in the morning as well. Usually they stop by about 9:00 US time, though, so it's not completely out of control.
I've also noticed that these spam attacks are usually in the form of about ten posts by the same screen name. That seems to indicate that if you were to delete even one account, that would cut down the amount of spam immediately.

I hope the Administrator is paying attention.

[Blue Cat]

Oh--and the spam threads are easy to spot because they usually start out with a 5-star rating (generated by the author). A couple of times I've gone in and given a spam posting a 1 star rating, thus leaving the thread with an average rating of 3 stars. But most, if not all, of these recent spam threads begin with 5 stars.

[mamabear1]

Originally Posted by Blue Cat

Oh--and the spam threads are easy to spot because they usually start out with a 5-star rating (generated by the author). A couple of times I've gone in and given a spam posting a 1 star rating, thus leaving the thread with an average rating of 3 stars. But most, if not all, of these recent spam threads begin with 5 stars.

This is a pretty active thread.

Another indicator that you're dealing with spam is the screen name. Lately they've been following the same formula: four consecutive letters of the alphabet, like "defg", and then three apparently random numbers.

Hopefully well enjoy a restful weekend with friends and loves ones, and then return to the forum on Monday to find all the spam emails cleaned up and the perpetrators banned . . . until the next ones come along.

[Foxyboxer]

Originally Posted by Blue Cat

It seems that there are no moderators on this forum, as evidenced by the many recently created "spam" threads. Everyday, there is at least one new incoherent spam/advertising thread. I flag them as they come up, some more than once, but to no avail. So, apparently anything goes on this website. I find that annoying and discouraging.

Just wanted to put in my $.02.

Hi Blue Cat.

I've noticed the spam too. If you watch carefully, you will see that every few days the moderator does a "sweep" and gets rid of all the spammy posts like the ones mentioned in this thread. Look around at all the newest posts and you'll find a few series of posts that follow that screen name formula that Mamabear1 pointed out, but they don't go back more than a week or so, and it sounds like this has been happening every day for quite a while.
Perhaps they need to do those sweeps a bit more often around here. Ya gotta stay ahead of the spammers. Keep sweeping!

[Knotlob]

Originally Posted by Foxyboxer

Hi Blue Cat.

I've noticed the spam too. If you watch carefully, you will see that every few days the moderator does a "sweep" and gets rid of all the spammy posts like the ones mentioned in this thread. Look around at all the newest posts and you'll find a few series of posts that follow that screen name formula that Mamabear1 pointed out, but they don't go back more than a week or so, and it sounds like this has been happening every day for quite a while.
Perhaps they need to do those sweeps a bit more often around here. Ya gotta stay ahead of the spammers. Keep sweeping!

The spammers have obviously realised that this forum has become quite active and are therefore using it as a vehicle to SPAM.

Maybe the Admins will have to introduce a quarantine for the first 10 posts, so that these are cleared by the Admin/Mods before being allowed to post directly. It will be a lot of extra work, but it would soon dissuade the SPAMMERS if they actually have to post something vaguely sensible 10 times before being allowed free posting access. That's what they had to do on another forum I subscribe to and it's now virtually SPAM free .

knotlob

knotlob

[Blue Cat]

WOW!!! Check it out--spam is gone now! Thank you.

[Metsman]

Originally Posted by Knotlob

The spammers have obviously realised that this forum has become quite active and are therefore using it as a vehicle to SPAM.

Maybe the Admins will have to introduce a quarantine for the first 10 posts, so that these are cleared by the Admin/Mods before being allowed to post directly. It will be a lot of extra work, but it would soon dissuade the SPAMMERS if they actually have to post something vaguely sensible 10 times before being allowed free posting access. That's what they had to do on another forum I subscribe to and it's now virtually SPAM free .

knotlob

knotlob

That's actually a good idea, Knotlob. Like Enah, I hope the Admin is reading this thread.

[Sk8erBoi]

Originally Posted by Blue Cat

WOW!!! Check it out--spam is gone now! Thank you.

Nice work, Blue Cat. Thanks for making a fuss. I have a feeling that those slimy spammers aren't finished yet. You know, if you annoy the girl sitting next to you in your second grade class by making silly noises, and she tells the teacher on you, you'd stop then, right?

Not the spammers. I just don't get what they have to gain by posting gibberish on a forum like this one. Maybe they're just making silly noises. "Telling the teacher" doesn't seem to stop them though, does it.

Silly spammers.

[Knotlob]

Originally Posted by Sk8erBoi

Nice work, Blue Cat. Thanks for making a fuss. I have a feeling that those slimy spammers aren't finished yet. You know, if you annoy the girl sitting next to you in your second grade class by making silly noises, and she tells the teacher on you, you'd stop then, right?

Not the spammers. I just don't get what they have to gain by posting gibberish on a forum like this one. Maybe they're just making silly noises. "Telling the teacher" doesn't seem to stop them though, does it.

Silly spammers.

The Admins have been pretty busy dealing with the SPAM. They had to contend with SPAM BOTS, which buried their SPAM Advertising links in their signatures. The Admins have now put new rules on Signatures, which should make it harder for these SPAM BOTS to function so easily.

They will try, I think, to check for SPAM at the weekend occasionally, though this is encroaching on family quality time for them.

A never ending battle I'm afraid.

knotlob

[VAB]

Originally Posted by Knotlob

The Admins have been pretty busy dealing with the SPAM. They had to contend with SPAM BOTS, which buried their SPAM Advertising links in their signatures. The Admins have now put new rules on Signatures, which should make it harder for these SPAM BOTS to function so easily.

They will try, I think, to check for SPAM at the weekend occasionally, though this is encroaching on family quality time for them.

A never ending battle I'm afraid.

knotlob

I don't know why people post useless spam. When I see that nonsensical text it doesn't make me say "Hey, what are they selling? I want to buy it!"

I could understand if it consisted of posts like "Eat at Joe's!" Those who would do that clearly have something to gain, but the stuff I see is just a lot of letters and nonsense words piled together. Why bother? Just because someone pays them to do it? I bet some people would walk around jabbing children with sharpened sticks (Or program a robot to do the jabbing.) if someone paid them to do it.

[Knotlob]

Originally Posted by VAB

I don't know why people post useless spam. When I see that nonsensical text it doesn't make me say "Hey, what are they selling? I want to buy it!"

I could understand if it consisted of posts like "Eat at Joe's!" Those who would do that clearly have something to gain, but the stuff I see is just a lot of letters and nonsense words piled together. Why bother? Just because someone pays them to do it? I bet some people would walk around jabbing children with sharpened sticks (Or program a robot to do the jabbing.) if someone paid them to do it.

Currently SPAM can be semi automated and even if they only get one reply from 1000 SPAMS, the SPAMMING operation is so cheap, it is worth it for them.

Personally I wouldn't buy anything advertised by a spammer out of principle and if I had ever used that company previously, I would even go as far as to write to the company and tell them that as of now I won't be doing any more business with them because of their spamming.

knotlob

[CousinMuscles]

Originally Posted by Blue Cat

WOW!!! Check it out--spam is gone now! Thank you.

I'm glad you've seen an improvement, and I'm glad you let us know about it.

[Foxyboxer]

Originally Posted by Knotlob

Personally I wouldn't buy anything advertised by a spammer out of principle and if I had ever used that company previously, I would even go as far as to write to the company and tell them that as of now I won't be doing any more business with them because of their spamming.

knotlob

That sounds like a very good policy, knotlob.

[Foxyboxer]

Originally Posted by Blue Cat

It seems that there are no moderators on this forum, as evidenced by the many recently created "spam" threads. Everyday, there is at least one new incoherent spam/advertising thread. I flag them as they come up, some more than once, but to no avail. So, apparently anything goes on this website. I find that annoying and discouraging.

Just wanted to put in my $.02.

I haven't seen very much spam around her lately, Blue Cat, so maybe they heard your lament. Thanks for bringing it up.

I've also heard rumors of new sections in Lens 101 for contact lens cleaning solutions. Stay tuned.

[Knotlob]

Originally Posted by Foxyboxer

I haven't seen very much spam around her lately, Blue Cat, so maybe they heard your lament. Thanks for bringing it up.

I've also heard rumors of new sections in Lens 101 for contact lens cleaning solutions. Stay tuned.

Actually the Admins have been very busy lately taking measures to reduce spamming and make it more effort than it is worth for the spammers. I won't detail the changes, as that may make it easier for spammers to circumvent them.

The Admins want members to report spam (include the name of the spammer in the post) and use the red triangle at the top right hand side of the post to report directly to the Admins. Direct reporting of spam to them, makes their job easier and the quicker the spam is deleted, the easier it is to use the forum .

knotlob

[hotpepperking]

Originally Posted by Knotlob

Actually the Admins have been very busy lately taking measures to reduce spamming and make it more effort than it is worth for the spammers. I won't detail the changes, as that may make it easier for spammers to circumvent them.

The Admins want members to report spam (include the name of the spammer in the post) and use the red triangle at the top right hand side of the post to report directly to the Admins. Direct reporting of spam to them, makes their job easier and the quicker the spam is deleted, the easier it is to use the forum .

knotlob

Thanks for that helpful hint, Knotlob. The less spam, the better.

[Purpleiris]

Originally Posted by hotpepperking

Thanks for that helpful hint, Knotlob. The less spam, the better.

That's a great cartoon. Thanks for sharing it, hotpepperking.

[Enah]

Originally Posted by hotpepperking

Thanks for that helpful hint, Knotlob. The less spam, the better.

No matter where you go, you can't escape the spam.

[RawBob]

Originally Posted by Knotlob

Actually the Admins have been very busy lately taking measures to reduce spamming and make it more effort than it is worth for the spammers. I won't detail the changes, as that may make it easier for spammers to circumvent them.

The Admins want members to report spam (include the name of the spammer in the post) and use the red triangle at the top right hand side of the post to report directly to the Admins. Direct reporting of spam to them, makes their job easier and the quicker the spam is deleted, the easier it is to use the forum .

knotlob

Thanks for telling us about the red triangle. I've been noticing less and less spam on this site. In fact, I don't think I've come across any today.

So much for "no moderators."

[hotpepperking]

Originally Posted by RawBob

Thanks for telling us about the red triangle. I've been noticing less and less spam on this site. In fact, I don't think I've come across any today.

So much for "no moderators."

Yeah, this site would be a total mess if no one was minding the store. As others have said, there's sometimes some weird posts in the morning, but they go away pretty quickly.

[ElaineKramer]

Originally Posted by Blue Cat

I do check back after I've flagged a thread to see if it's gone, and on one occasion (maybe 2) I saw that it did indeed go away. But recently, there have been several new ones--one or two daily, and though we flag them, they remain.

How long have you seen these spam posts remain, Blue Cat? Have any of them lasted more than 24 hours?

[VAB]

Originally Posted by ElaineKramer

How long have you seen these spam posts remain, Blue Cat? Have any of them lasted more than 24 hours?

A whole thread about spam. 26 posts long and counting.