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 https://forums.permaculture.org.au/search.php?searchid=63470
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.
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.
Here's another one: https://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.
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? https://forums.permaculture.org.au/showthread.php?6866-Solar-Cooking&p=60531#post60531
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!
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??
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.
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?
G'day pebs 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 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
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
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
Bryan92 https://forums.permaculture.org.au/showthread.php?12658-E-books-and-E-book-readers&p=86008#post86008