A spam-spotters guide

[Saru]

Thanks to your vigilance and assistance in reporting spam on the forums we have seen a substantial reduction in the amount of spam posts and registrations appearing on the boards in recent weeks. As ever we really appreciate the help members provide by reporting and letting us know when running in to spam on the forums - simply hitting 'report' on a spam post can make all the difference and helps to keep the boards clear of spam-bots. In addition to this we have just rolled out a new system that connects to a global anti-spam database and which can stop a lot of common spam-bots before they are even able to register.

Not all spam however is obvious - one of the problems we continue to face involves spam that is designed to be extremely subtle and difficult to spot, not all spammers will start topics with glaringly obvious titles and content. As such, the following is a quick guide on how to spot hidden spam on the forums.

The "brute force" spammer

Very easy to spot, this will basically be in the form of topics or posts created by a new member containing a mass of blatant advertising rhetoric about mobile phones, Nike shoes, fitted kitchens or some other irrelevant guff.

The "link hidden in a wall of text" spammer

This type of spammer will make one or more posts often in response to existing discussion threads containing a stock paragraph of information about something that's usually not related to the topic. Inside it will be one or more underlined text links promoting some product or other. It might not be obvious that this is even spam at all, often members will respond to such posts believing them to be legitimate. A telltale sign is to roll your mouse over any underlined text and see if there's a link there - once you've spotted this then it should be easy to tell if the user is spamming or not.

The "hidden image" spammer

This one has turned up relatively recently. The spammer will register and start making posts on existing threads that seem to be legitimate, but that contain a tiny 1x1 pixel image link hidden inside it, usually at the end. This can sometimes be given away by the text "posted image" at the end of every post which makes this type of spam easier to spot. The post content will again usually be some stock nonsense with little relevance to any topical subjects.

The "I'm pretending to be a genuine member" spammer

These guys can be a pain to find. They join the forum, post relevant topical messages to make them seem legit and then come back a week ( or even months ) later and put a load of spam links in their signature or profile. This let's them hide the spam underneath old posts where it is less likely to be picked up.

Note that the vast majority of spam will be posted by users who are either new or who have a very small number of posts. Spam post content will also often be disjointed or will otherwise appear to be 'off' in some way, usually because it has been generated automatically by a computer.

[Lava_Lady]

Seems like a waste of their time, does anyone ever use their links and actually buy something?

[freetoroam]

Does this mean I can`t sell my size 5 trainers, white with a red stripe on the side and flashing yellow lights on the bottom which would be a snip at only a fiver excluding p&p on here?

JOKE!!!!

Edited May 8, 2013 by freetoroam

[Keel M.]

Do you ship to the US?

[Saru]

Does this mean I can`t sell my size 5 trainers, white with a red stripe on the side and flashing yellow lights on the bottom which would be a snip at only a fiver excluding p&p on here?

Do they come with a fitted kitchen, a Samsung Galaxy S4 and a copy of Iron Man 3 on DVD ?

[freetoroam]

Do you ship to the US?

Yes, $150 p&p.

Does make me laugh when the p&p is more than the product!

Anyway, how many pairs do you want? can get more from my Chinese supplier.

[theSOURCE]

Shouldn't the title to the thread have been A Spam-spotter's Guide to the UM-verse?

[freetoroam]

Do they come with a fitted kitchen, a Samsung Galaxy S4 and a copy of Iron Man 3 on DVD ?

yes, give me time to get hold of my supplier in China.

Edited May 8, 2013 by freetoroam

[Lilly]

Observation: Kitchen remodeling is not something I would have ever pegged for spam worthy...but there's a ton of it.

[Saru]

It gets worse - we were seeing spam about funerals the other week.

[freetoroam]

The spammers are not particular on who the spamee is or was.

Edited May 8, 2013 by freetoroam

[Princess Serenity]

Thanks for this, Saru.

[Stardrive]

It's a shame to, because the advertising rates here are very reasonable. But as the saying goes, it's hard to fix stupid.

Edited May 8, 2013 by Stardrive

[Simbi Laveau]

Observation: Kitchen remodeling is not something I would have ever pegged for spam worthy...but there's a ton of it.

Those people are,well retarded ,and not in the good way .

Their profile usually has a url to a website to buy this crap too .

Who knew that conspiracy theorists and believers in the occult ,all want desperately to remodel their kitchens ...

[Simbi Laveau]

It gets worse - we were seeing spam about funerals the other week.

This I have not seen . I've been mostly playing lately .Fun and games forum ,so I am missing stuff I think . I will try to be more diligent

[Frank Merton]

Sometimes I see people offering various kinds of "readings," but I figure as long as they don't want payment this is not my business. Still, it occurs to me that this would be a way to sell such services via later offers of PM readings and so on, which if happening might lead to trouble.

[Jackofalltrades]

Seems like a waste of their time, does anyone ever use their links and actually buy something?

You would be surprised at how many people fall for this sort of thing

Over the year's I have seen numerous people complain about such things, and about being scammed out of hard earned money

I would of thought, they would of known "If something seem's too good to be true, then it probably isn't true"

.

[Saru]

I think a lot of it is aimed more towards search engine manipulation than selling products directly.

[Jackofalltrades]

I think a lot of it is aimed more towards search engine manipulation than selling products directly.

A majority of it is... but there is also some that scammer's use to lure in people, to get money out of them

There is three countries that, they normally originate from, Russia China and Nigeria

.

[+DieChecker]

I always try to report what looks like spam. A lot of times you can tell because they post the exact same "paranormal" post in 3 or 4 threads.

I always wonder why some people will post on spam threads or quote spam posts, asking if they are spam or not?? What is the point, they are not going to answer....

[Sundew]

It gets worse - we were seeing spam about funerals the other week.

Just wait, soon it will be posts from Lagos, Nigeria stating that the person is a Nigerian national with $5 million in the bank, and they only need $5,000 to clear up the paperwork for your 50/50 split of the money. I used to have a wall of these in my office when real mail was the order of the day, seen a few electronic ones since. Great fun to ridicule online!

[StarMountainKid]

Just wait, soon it will be posts from Lagos, Nigeria stating that the person is a Nigerian national with $5 million in the bank, and they only need $5,000 to clear up the paperwork for your 50/50 split of the money. I used to have a wall of these in my office when real mail was the order of the day, seen a few electronic ones since. Great fun to ridicule online!

Back in the MSN Messenger days, a woman messaged me with a similar scam. She wanted to marry me if I sent her $ for her passage to the U.S.A. She even sent me a pic of a beautiful woman, saying it was her. I kept talking to her for ever so long, just stringing her on. It was pretty funny. I kept asking her for more and more tiny details about it all. I think finally she gave up and ended the conversation. Those were the days...

[Sakari]

If a spammer ever posts selling this :

I will have to give them Kudos.....

[StRoostifer]

Hurry, hurry, hurry! I am selling a brand new pair of used men's briefs with and without skid marks and with an optional erectile dysfunction mode built right in! Act now while supplies last!

Disclaimer: Batteries sold separately.

[George Ford]

HAHAHAHA! I laugh in the face of Spam, I eat Spam sandwiches for breakfast!!