spam

Post by **Liesbeth** » Thu Aug 10, 2006 10:55 am

I appreciate that it might be tempting to comment on all the spam that's hitting the board at the moment, but it does make deleting simpler and faster if you do not respond to it....
Thanks.

sour29 · Post by **sour29** » Thu Aug 10, 2006 11:36 am

Oops.

EDIT: They don't appear to be going away. If you're not going to make me Mod/Spam Killer, might I suggest tightening the requirments for registration? IE. one of those image codes?

Post by **Liesbeth** » Fri Aug 11, 2006 4:30 am

registration for this board has always used an image code, but these days, that doesn't stop spambots
i will check with merlin to see if anything has changed recently that might have brought on this sudden wave of spam

sour29 · Post by **sour29** » Fri Aug 11, 2006 6:22 am

Hm. Ok, I don't remember doing the image codes when I signed up. But that was many moons ago.

No You Are · Post by **No You Are** » Fri Aug 11, 2006 6:59 am

I will withold the snarkiness for actual live people.

the new girl · Post by **the new girl** » Fri Aug 11, 2006 4:22 pm

Squid · Post by **Squid** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 1:58 pm

For those who haven't seen it, there's a good article in Wired about this very topic.

The author is Charles C. Mann - cousin of Merlin?

Post by **Liesbeth** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 4:20 am

i'm quite amazed at the inventiveness of the spamming community.

Some still plaster their links all over a post that cannot be misunderstood, but this week also yielded:

- someone registering, then staying online 24-7, thus making at least me and one other boardmember curious enough to check out his (or her, if pete was a woman) profile, with the spam link in there.

- someone asking something like 'hello, hey do you like to go to church :-)", with both the comma after hello and the smiley linking to blogs. These in itself seemed to contain innocent links (I didn't go so far as to actually check them), but every blog had a medicin advertisement link way at the top - which I suspect was the real spam.

I'd like to think that some spammers recognize that it takes some intelligent ways of getting people curious to still draw a response - but then again, maybe I just have too much time to follow up on these things. Or too much of a conscience to delete a post when I'm not sure it's spam. Perhaps some lurker really wanted to start a religious discussion and I nipped it in the bud...

Betty Felon · Post by **Betty Felon** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 5:26 am

Liesbeth wrote:i'm quite amazed at the inventiveness of the spamming community.
...

- someone asking something like 'hello, hey do you like to go to church :-)", with both the comma after hello and the smiley linking to blogs. These in itself seemed to contain innocent links (I didn't go so far as to actually check them), but every blog had a medicin advertisement link way at the top - which I suspect was the real spam.

I'd like to think that some spammers recognize that it takes some intelligent ways of getting people curious to still draw a response - but then again, maybe I just have too much time to follow up on these things. Or too much of a conscience to delete a post when I'm not sure it's spam. Perhaps some lurker really wanted to start a religious discussion and I nipped it in the bud...

Yeah, I saw that one and was fooled for a minute because I didn't see the link in the smiley at first. I wondered what you'd do with it. Good call I think...

sour29 · Post by **sour29** » Fri Nov 03, 2006 7:38 pm

If you Google "shakira spambots" , the Long Winters message board comes up as the 4th link. True story.

icapants · Post by **icapants** » Sat Nov 04, 2006 6:26 am

You know, most of the spammers are at least putting their threads in Cattywampus. I just find it kind of funny that they're almost following the rules, you know?

Post by **Liesbeth** » Sat Nov 04, 2006 7:00 am

what intrigues me is that sometimes they use really old threads in, say, Band Nerd, ones from 2004 or 2005 even. There might be a Top10 list of spammer tactics out there, where 'respect the board policy and post in off-topic forum' is perhaps #1 and this old thread thing might be #9 or so - #10 being to vary tactics.

There has been an explosion of Shakira links lately, I'm wondering if perhaps too many people here actually follow those links, so the spammer thinks it's worthwile to return :-) C'mon, it's just Shakira!!

Moni · Post by **Moni** » Sun Nov 05, 2006 4:00 am

I just wanted to say that somebody should buy that silly movie already so that people can stop advertising it....

No You Are · Post by **No You Are** » Sun Nov 05, 2006 7:39 am

I've tried that logic before, and it doesn't always work....

When I was in college, the University of Iowa's greek system has a fundrasier for childrens cancer research called Dance Marathon. So every night all these frat kids are out around town trying to rasie money - which is fine. However, since they are on every corner, you may give a kid five bucks on one street, walk down another, then get attitude (even worse - FRATatude) from a kid when you don't throw him some money. I almost punched a kid one time when he asked me "Don't you care about kids with cancer?" when I had just given some cash to another kid down the street.

So my idea was this... I worked with a girl who was in a sorority and all sorts of involved with the Dance Marathon. Told her I would give her 50 bucks if she would give me a card to flash at all the kids downtown saying I had given, get off my back and don't give me the 'tude.

Didn't work.

So, long story short (too late)... don't buy the porn unless you want it for your collection. Remember, the Terminators didn't stop after Sarah Connor died, they KEPT COMING BACK (for more sequels)!!!

PS - for anybody that was wondering, it was called Dance Marathon because their big event was one of those things where you get sponsors for how long you can dance (I'll give you 10 dollars for every hour... whatever) and the frattys dance all night long at the Union.

dianna · Post by **dianna** » Sun Nov 05, 2006 2:57 pm

We've got Dance Marathon here.

Post by **Liesbeth** » Wed Nov 15, 2006 3:30 pm

today's don't make me laugh:

2Admin: Sorry if the message doesn't suit your forum. Kindly ask to move it to an appropriate section. Thank you ;-)

which section would that be, up your digital arse?

Betty Felon · Post by **Betty Felon** » Wed Nov 15, 2006 9:28 pm

How are they still registering? Must have some kind of magical spammer power.

No You Are · Post by **No You Are** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 7:55 am

Liesbeth wrote:today's don't make me laugh:
2Admin: Sorry if the message doesn't suit your forum. Kindly ask to move it to an appropriate section. Thank you ;-)

which section would that be, up your digital arse?

I belive all Shakira porn discussion belongs in Cattywampus.

Post by **Liesbeth** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 11:52 am

ah, but this was not up for discussion!

Post by **grant** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 11:52 am

Betty Felon wrote:How are they still registering? Must have some kind of magical spammer power.

They're manipulating the open door created by the BB software and running their own database scripts that pretend to be the BB signing up new users.

Magical power, yes.