Please get a handle on the spammers!

[Mr James]

Where the hell did you find them?

Just look at Who is online : Our newest member and registered users....and check them...

[eric1959]

New ones !!!!
die5tattrdkd34m

bos4otonb2o

brasj2gnntc2izd

fe7tcerg3pai

nor8bythlondont

44tingspenser



So easy to find...

[eric1959]

datiowkr8d2d

pro8gnfessioncq

nai6qijlfunguaw

They are never online hidden, it seems.

Ok, I quit....

[vbrummond]

It would be wise.

[ComputerBob]

Here's a generic spambot message that one of my 6-year-old Journal postings (subject: forum software) received this morning, along with the requisite hyperlink to the spammer's website.

"Attractive section of content. I just now came across your site and in accession capital to say that I get actually really liked account your website posts. Anyway I'll be subscribing to your augment and also I achievement you entry regularly rapidly."

[Bulkley]

Another forum I help with uses the script I mentioned above. This morning it blocked a spammer with 14 usernames and 3IPs, from the Ukraine. Before installing the script we would spend an awful lot of time and effort chasing a spammer like this as he re-registered with different names.

StopForumSpam.com Integration With Your phpBB Forum

[eric1959]

http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=80267

[eric1959]

Doing a Google search :

Code: Select all

site:forums.debian.net "Posts 1"

You will find a lot of spammers still not reported.

[pcalvert]

Here's what I don't understand. I'll report a spam post and it will be deleted. But later when I follow up on it, I find that the spammer's other messages haven't been removed, and the account is still active. And it's not like this is an isolated case; what I've been seeing seems more like the rule rather than an exception. So if the spam fighters are overwhelmed, this might be a big part of the problem.

Phil

[eric1959]

and the account is still active

Yep...they are even on the list of BIRTHDAYS Congratulations to.........

[Bulkley]

Here's what I don't understand. I'll report a spam post and it will be deleted. But later when I follow up on it, I find that the spammer's other messages haven't been removed, and the account is still active. And it's not like this is an isolated case; what I've been seeing seems more like the rule rather than an exception. So if the spam fighters are overwhelmed, this might be a big part of the problem.

That's what was happening at the small forum I help moderate. When we finally learned how to identify spammers I checked all the inactive members and all those with 0, 1 or 2 posts. I found and removed about 70 spammers. There are probably a couple I didn't find but our hassle is way down.

It is not enough to delete spam when it appears. Human spammers will register, make one or two posts and lay dormant for days, weeks or months. Eventually, they will change their personal information and tag lines. They may also look up other members and send spam to private email addresses. These people have to be rooted out and deleted.

Something else we found. Erase anyone registering with @explodingemails.com. These email addresses become non-functional after 20 minutes, just long enough for a spammer to register here.

[eric1959]

That's what was happening at the small forum I help moderate. When we finally learned how to identify spammers I checked all the inactive members and all those with 0, 1 or 2 posts. I found and removed about 70 spammers. There are probably a couple I didn't find but our hassle is way down.

It is not enough to delete spam when it appears. Human spammers will register, make one or two posts and lay dormant for days, weeks or months. Eventually, they will change their personal information and tag lines. They may also look up other members and send spam to private email addresses. These people have to be rooted out and deleted.

So the question remains, why are these accounts not deleted....? It would we nice to be able to report newly created ( with still 0 Posts ) or older accounts with spam links in their profile. I've mentioned a number of them in former posts in this thread, but nothing has been done...they still exist

[roseway]

I presume that the spam hunters don't have the authority to ban people, so all they can do is apply a bit of sticking plaster instead of really dealing with the problem. The people who do have that authority should be banning spammers immediately, not giving them a second (.. third, fourth...) chance.

[eric1959]

I presume that the spam hunters don't have the authority to ban people

That's right, they don't have...Number of spam hunters : 2

The people who do have that authority should be banning spammers immediately, not giving them a second (.. third, fourth...) chance.

But it looks they don't care....

STATISTICS Total members 38307 ( number of still existing spammer accounts ???? )

[Bulkley]

It does not help one iota if the spammers are not erased from the database and blocked from returning.

[golinux]

It does not help one iota if the spammers are not erased from the database and blocked from returning.

Exactly. I thought Debian folks would be more savvy than this. Very disillusioning . . .

[nadir]

You are one step away from insight about "the staff" and how much they do care...
you all can propose as much as you like (it won't happen).

[golinux]

Are we approaching heresy?

[eric1959]

You can recognize these new members as spammers according to their usernames :
chepfapnorth5ae see the links.
car9ztinsuranc2 no links yet, but you can guess...
bla7mckberryhqk no posts yet...

The list goes on....

[pcalvert]

Some spammers sign up for the forum but never post any messages. They think that the links that they put in their profiles help them, but it doesn't help them at all. On some forums it may, but not on this one. Only members who are signed in can view the profiles; for everyone else, it's as if they don't even exist.

Phil