What's with the sudden influx of spam accounts?

[D365]

Any ideas at all, could it be some kind of targeted attack?

 

[class387]

I've also noticed this. I've had to report three threads in the last 20 minutes!

Could it be looked into please?

 

[ExRes]

It's more than likely either the Russians trying to hack into the minds of the membership in order to take over the railways of the UK for nefarious purposes or advertising for a new Monty Python series, I know which one my money is going on

 

[D365]

My suggestion would be to either put a temporary block on brand new/unverified users making any posts, or to look into barring the IP address where this 'spam attack' is originating from.

 

[class387]

My suggestion would be to either put a temporary block on brand new/unverified users making any posts, or to look into barring the IP address where this 'spam attack' is originating from.

Are new member's posts not moderated?

 

[DaleCooper]

My fault, I ordered spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, beans and spam.

 

[Darandio]

Are new member's posts not moderated?

Only when they post in the disputes section.

 

[class387]

Only when they post in the disputes section.

Perhaps it would be good to start doing it on all posts now then.

 

[Darandio]

Perhaps it would be good to start doing it on all posts now then.

I'm not sure how workable that would be for volunteer staff though. I suppose it depends on how many new accounts are created daily.

 

[SS4]

Perhaps they're trying to gain access to users' information? It could be a DDOS or try and spam malware/phishing.

On a related topic can we get https support for the forum, especially for registration and login?

 

[J-2739]

I'm not sure how workable that would be for volunteer staff though. I suppose it depends on how many new accounts are created daily.

Maybe we should make a new moderator suited for that role.

Definitely not gonna be me!

 

[richw]

Every single one of the posts have had a hyperlink which I presume contains something to steal details of clickers

 

[trainmania100]

Our company websites are often targeting my russian and India we use IP tables to block IP range

 

[ExRes]

One thing I simply can't understand is why are people viewing the threads when they are obviously spam? leave them alone, ignore them and just leave them for the moderators to delete, do any of you open spam emails? I delete each and every email that I don't know the sender of or trust the supposed origin to be above board, these posts on here are no different as far as I'm concerned

 

[DaleCooper]

One thing I simply can't understand is why are people viewing the threads when they are obviously spam? leave them alone, ignore them and just leave them for the moderators to delete, do any of you open spam emails? I delete each and every email that I don't know the sender of or trust the supposed origin to be above board, these posts on here are no different as far as I'm concerned

I suppose somebody has to flag them to the mods as they don't necessarily see everything.

 

[Howardh]

But we might get that Nigerian Prince who wants us to look after his money. Or a Tory MP. Don't want to miss out on that opportunity.

 

[IanXC]

We do appear to be suffering a bit at the moment don't we!

To those who have made suggestions I can assure you that we have exactly the kind of measures listed in place for the most part. I hesitate to quote the iceberg example but it is fair in this instance!

We do of course keep our anti spam measures under review. The biggest help to us is reports, whether spam threads or individual posts, as due to the size of the forum it is very difficult for us to read everything!

 

[najaB]

One thing I simply can't understand is why are people viewing the threads when they are obviously spam?

Because that's where the 'Report' button lives.

 

[richw]

One thing I simply can't understand is why are people viewing the threads when they are obviously spam? leave them alone, ignore them and just leave them for the moderators to delete, do any of you open spam emails? I delete each and every email that I don't know the sender of or trust the supposed origin to be above board, these posts on here are no different as far as I'm concerned

To hit the report key. Moderators aren't going to necessarily see every thread. It will also speed getting rid as it then alerts the mods. No harm is done by opening the thread as long as don't click on links etc

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Maybe we should make a new moderator suited for that role.

Remember that all moderators and administrators on this website act on a voluntary basis, so we cannot expect any such "making"...:roll:

 

[J-2739]

Remember that all moderators and administrators on this website act on a voluntary basis, so we cannot expect any such "making"...:roll:

I meant 'Moderator Role'.

It was just a suggestion.

 

[J-2739]

But we might get that Nigerian Prince who wants us to look after his money. Or a Tory MP. Don't want to miss out on that opportunity.

Do you have to think of it that way?

 

[D365]

Remember that all moderators and administrators on this website act on a voluntary basis, so we cannot expect any such "making"...:roll:

Nobody has required that said moderator must be human..!

 

[DaleCooper]

Nobody has required that said moderator must be human..!

Dolphin perhaps?

 

[IanXC]

Dolphin perhaps?

Much as I like this idea I do wonder whether those of us human moderators might end up feeling flippered out.

 

[ainsworth74]

As my colleague Ian suggested earlier before he flipped it is very much the tip of the iceberg. The attached is what page two (page one is doing alright at the moment but has been this bad previously!) of General Discussion appears like to moderators after all the spam you don't get to see is deleted.

So for the odd thread that does sneak through please report it so we can swiftly delete it. If you see a spam post in a proper thread please also report it (much harder for us to spot) and do not reply to it. If you reply we then have to delete you post as well which creates extra work and, if we're not on the ball, we might miss your reply which means the spam will still be visible!

Right, I'm off to go and hunt some more spam!

 

[D365]

Right, I'm off to go and hunt some more spam!

Do you ever compete to find out who is the quickest to target spam?

 

[yorkie]

Most attempts by spambots to register are thwarted.

Some do get through, but their attempts to post are usually thwarted.

Some get through all the measures we have in place, but it is a tiny proportion. Simply click the report button.

(No need to report any more than one post per spambot account ; we have a magic button that deletes all their posts)

Reports are gratefully received; I do apologise we do not have time to thank people for the reports, but I will say thank you here.

 

[A Challenge]

As my colleague Ian suggested earlier before he flipped it is very much the tip of the iceberg. The attached is what page two (page one is doing alright at the moment but has been this bad previously!) of General Discussion appears like to moderators after all the spam you don't get to see is deleted.

So for the odd thread that does sneak through please report it so we can swiftly delete it. If you see a spam post in a proper thread please also report it (much harder for us to spot) and do not reply to it. If you reply we then have to delete you post as well which creates extra work and, if we're not on the ball, we might miss your reply which means the spam will still be visible!

Right, I'm off to go and hunt some more spam!

That picture is very interesting. The problem with universal new post moderating is in the Quizzes and Games if a new user posts there, as in a fast moving thread say it is ten minutes before the post it may be on the next page already!

Also, surely all of the spam isn't automated, and so that gets through the bot checker?

 

[Busaholic]

Genuine question - how do I spot spam, or am I too unworldly to recognise it?