Spam account notification thread

[pebble]

Thought it might be useful to have a place to post notification of spam accounts so they can be removed. I'm meaning accounts whose sole purpose is to post commercial links unrelated to permaculture.

Here's one from today http://forums.permaculture.org.au/search.php?searchid=63470

[milifestyle]

The report function is also a good idea.

I guess the downside of posting spammers links is in the end the account will be deleted and the link will be a broken link. Otherwise its a positive move, good one Pebble.

[ppp]

user Ianpeterson is clearly a spam account

[9anda1f]

Thanks ppp, got him. I've been looking at as many new user's accounts as I can for links in their sig line like that. There's lots, and lots I miss.

Good thread Pebble, thanks.

[pebble]

Glad we can be of help. I hate seeing spam not being able to do anything. Thank-you mods :)

[pebble]

Here's another one:

http://forums.permaculture.org.au/search.php?searchid=63656


btw, did anyone find out if it's possible to make newbie's first post conditional on their being no links in the post or signature? Or newbies needing their first post approved before it shows? I don't know if that's more work for the mods or not though.

[milifestyle]

I made this thread a "Sticky" so it won't get lost in the crowd.

[pebble]

There's been another couple today. I thought the forum was set so that the first post had to be approved? Are these being given the benefit of the doubt?

http://forums.permaculture.org.au/showthread.php?6866-Solar-Cooking&p=60531#post60531

[milifestyle]

Not sure if that has been initiated on this board. It worked well on the phpBB board.

Something for Craig to look into.

Thanks Pebble!

[9anda1f]

There are many spammers now putting a link into their signature line. Some just "view their own profile" over and over when they log in and some actually try to post with the linked sig. Funny thing is, when you view the posted message in the moderation queue, it doesn't show the sig line ... you have to view that member's profile to see the sig or approve the post, then view it to make sure some spam sig line didn't slip by.

I ban as many of these "signature spammers" as I can, but there is a constant crop of new ones signing up all the time. As the spam bots get more sophisticated, moderating form spam gets more exacting. = /

Oh, and Eric, there is a mod queue now ... haven't you seen it yet??

[pebble]

How annoying for the mods. Thanks though :-)

[Grahame]

janet986w is clearly a spam account in the 'hello from solair' thread

[ecodharmamark]

G'day Mods and Craig. I have noticed what appears to be an awful lot of spammers (poor bastards; hard way to make a living) signing up of late. You know the ones; FastLoans001, PreMature008, etc. Obviously they are trying to get in through the back door, but with the vetting taking place, I doubt whether they would make the grade. However, out of interest I did check out a couple of their profiles, and yes they are leaving multiple spam hotlinks there, in their signatures. Is there any way we can zap their asses out of here? For those who might be new to permaculture, the presence of spammers could be sending out the wrong messages. Cheerio, M.

[pebble]

Marko, do you mean they're getting past the vetting process and then putting spam links in their profiles and signatures? Can you please post links here?

[ecodharmamark]

G'day pebs


Marko, do you mean they're getting past the vetting process and then putting spam links in their profiles and signatures? Can you please post links here?

I have not seen any actual posts from spammers, so I think the vetting system is working fine. It's just seems that every time I drop by of late there seems to be a whole new rack of 'members' in the 'currently active users' box (front page) with profile names such as need_cash_now005 (http://forums.permaculture.org.au/member.php?51639-need_cash_now005) lurking about. Upon clicking on names like this, and then clicking 'about me', one is usually confronted with the spiel, followed by the spam-links. Not disconcerting for me (I ignore spam), but it may be off-putting for people in the early stage of their permaculture experience. Not sure if we (you good people and/or Craig) can do something about it, other than perhaps taking a scythe to the members list in order to cull them out?

Cheerio, Marko

[Michaelangelica]

We have just had to put limits on personal messaging; lots of spammers sneaking in on that one of late.
it should not interfere with regular members/ users
Let us know if there are problems

[pebble]

I see what you mean Marko, good point.

How cool that there are 200 guests online right now!

[9anda1f]

Mark,
You are correct ... there are nearly 100 new members signing up daily. However, many/most of them are spammers of one sort or another, and the spammers are now using every forum resource possible to either post a message or get their links picked up by the search engines (which elevates their position on searches). The forum allows them all to register and thusly, their username shows up as a "new user". However, we now get an email for each new user and, although it's not instantaneous, we do comb through each registration to eliminate spammers.

Spam messages are easy to spot, but the links in signatures, visitor messages, biographies, and such are much more difficult to find without extensive mouse clicking, and with such a volume, many still get through the sieve. Your (all members) help in identifying spammers is greatly appreciated. As Michael mentioned, the "visitor messages" function has been altered so that first time posters don't have this feature, but there are still many ways for spammers to post links.

So, keep up your vigilance! Any help we can get to identify spammers is needed (and we thank you!).

Bill Kearns

[pebble]

We thank you!!! I see hardly any spam at the front end now, so you are all doing a wonderful job.

[pebble]

Bryan92

http://forums.permaculture.org.au/showthread.php?12658-E-books-and-E-book-readers&p=86008#post86008

[eco4560]

Thanks Pebble. I have deleted the web link in his signature for now. I'll keep my eyes out if he makes anymore posts and SPLAT him if it isn't appropriate.

[briansworms]

Not sure if this is relevent to this thread but I often get emails from people offering to help me promote "My Website, The Permaculture Forum" further up the search engine ladder. They really aren't that smart.

[eco4560]

It is probably related to having your email address in your signature. Apart from changing it to 'admin at brainsworms dot com' to confuse the spambots - I don't think there's anything much we can do at this end.

[briansworms]

I just smile and delete them. Not really a worry. The good thing is people doing Google searches seem to hit on the Composting Worms for Sale thread. It comes up on the first page about 6 down. Almost everyday my site stats show hits from this Forum so I hope it is working both ways. We both pick up exposure

[Lesley W]

There are too many linkcowboys to list unfortunately. On the positive side this forum includes an advanced search by joining date (range). 482 new members since start of this month already. I agree that a 'report' button, if available, would be useful. If that happened perhaps we could have a "spammers weeding week" where we jump in and chip away.

My 10 minutes linkcowboys weeding shows that most new members have 0 posts and include links in their profiles. Here are a few...
http://forums.permaculture.org.au/member.php?60679-01proper42
http://forums.permaculture.org.au/member.php?60946-aaggkkddss
http://forums.permaculture.org.au/member.php?51758-0450_apply_for_loan
http://forums.permaculture.org.au/member.php?51697-0336_direct_payday_loan
http://forums.permaculture.org.au/member.php?61194-bodylogicvb
http://forums.permaculture.org.au/member.php?60956-buyerglore12

etc etc etc

[Michaelangelica]

Thanks
this is a major fault of the software
Even if you ban them Their spam remains visible

[9anda1f]

Even if you ban them Their spam remains visible

True, but the LINKS they include are gone. The whole reason these "spammers" create an account with a link in their signature is to increase their site's standing in search engine rankings. The more links they can get "out there" to be seen by the search engine spiders, the higher their site will appear on search results. Banning them at least deletes their signature links.

Spammers that actually try to post spam are weeded out by our "first three posts are moderated" rule. Compared to the numerous daily new spammer accounts, very little actual spam hits the forums.

Thanks for the info Lesley. We're continually trying to ban those types of accounts.

[eco4560]

Can we throw them all in the compost and turn them into something useful?

[Michaelangelica]

Banning them at least deletes their signature links.


How many are there though that slip though?
eg
http://forums.permaculture.org.au/member.php?60946-aaggkkddss

banning does not remove signature this has to be done manually eg
01proper42

[Lesley W]

Michaelangelica, Given that this forum is very ranking on Google it's not surprising that over 50% of the recent new members that I clicked on have commercial links in their profile pages. Hundreds would be slipping through each month.

[eco4560]

Are we ranking high because all the spammers join, or do all the spammers join because we rank high?

(Grahame if you answer 'it depends' I'll come and hit you....)

[Michaelangelica]

Lesley W Thanks for bringing this to our attention
Craig is organising a major purge
However it may mean that people who have never posted here but have registered might go
So newbies "post or die"

[Grahame]

Are we ranking high because all the spammers join, or do all the spammers join because we rank high?

(Grahame if you answer 'it depends' I'll come and hit you....)

I don't know what you mean Eco 8)