Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Spam slipping through (edited post)

tracycn69 - 6-8-2020 at 01:45

Thanks for reporting spam. there have been half a dozen over the past couple of days – that I know of.

All but one were old accounts that registered more than a year ago. It seems the bots create the accounts and then use sleeper acvcounts for posting spam in a timer basis. We have a bit of a resurgence at present. It has happened before: a cyclic thing.

The other account was a "window" registration. When a mod opens an account for a new member it is possible for a spambot to register in the short period while registrations are open. Totally an opportunistic thing. We expect a few of these and deal with them accordingly.



[Edited on 6-8-2020 by j_sum1]

Belowzero - 6-8-2020 at 02:19

I am betting this is not hardcore chemistry :D

B(a)P - 6-8-2020 at 02:29

This is the second one to slip through recently. I absolutely am not criticising the mods just for the record. I am curious to know what access request looks like from what is presumably a bot? If it isn't too much trouble, I would be curious to see tracycn69's request for a login. AND Thank you very much to all who are responsible for keeping the crap out of this amazing forum!

Syn the Sizer - 6-8-2020 at 19:41

Is it possible to remove any account older than a year with minimal activity? If they registered a year ago and haven't posted or only a couple times they probably aren't coming back, or a bot. If they are real and lost their account, sorry.

B(a)P - 6-8-2020 at 19:52

Would it help to have a rule that people do not replay to a post that is quite obviously spam? This might make it easier for mods to identify and delete them fast?

j_sum1 - 6-8-2020 at 22:47

Take a look at the registration dates of any spam that appears. It is all late 2018 or early 2019 at the moment.
There are literally hundreds of thousands of sleeper accounts on the system. If it was up to me I would clean up the database but that is quite a job I know.
And a cleanup based on activity creates its own problems. We recently had a member registered and inactive for five years suddenly make his first post. (And it was a good one too.)
As forums go, this aint no ordinary place.

For the spam, just report it. No real need for replies or conversation. It makes it a bit quicker to clean if nothing else is in the thread.
Today was an exception. But I can usually clean up the spam before the first report anyway. Like I said there is a bit of flux at the moment. But even that is only 3-4 per day.

outer_limits - 6-8-2020 at 23:05

Quote: Originally posted by Belowzero  
I am betting this is not hardcore chemistry :D


squirting from reflux condenser :D

symboom - 7-8-2020 at 00:59

tracycn69
Out of curiosity why is your username have no hyperlink and it says unregistered.

That's j_sum1?? Or something the mods do to post?
Edited on 6-8-2020 by j_sum1

Sleeper accounts damn spammers are persistent for a website that doesn't have much traffic from the general public

Also thanks for explaining the most efficient way to help get rid of spam.

Interesting I found what they were using sucks they couldn't be a way to block them from registration maybe disable the cut and paste function in registration portion of the site I found what is used by copying the user name and pasting it into Google was hoping to find out if they used it for other sites.
Here is what they used.
https://jooko.info/faq
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disposable_email_address

It seems like the mods have the spam problem under control.


[Edited on 7-8-2020 by symboom]

[Edited on 7-8-2020 by symboom]

B(a)P - 7-8-2020 at 01:57

Quote: Originally posted by j_sum1  
Take a look at the registration dates of any spam that appears. It is all late 2018 or early 2019 at the moment.
There are literally hundreds of thousands of sleeper accounts on the system. If it was up to me I would clean up the database but that is quite a job I know.
And a cleanup based on activity creates its own problems. We recently had a member registered and inactive for five years suddenly make his first post. (And it was a good one too.)
As forums go, this aint no ordinary place.

For the spam, just report it. No real need for replies or conversation. It makes it a bit quicker to clean if nothing else is in the thread.
Today was an exception. But I can usually clean up the spam before the first report anyway. Like I said there is a bit of flux at the moment. But even that is only 3-4 per day.


How do you go about reporting a spam post? Apologies if this is something obvious that I have missed.

symboom - 7-8-2020 at 08:29

No worries glad others can help in fighting off spam.
On every post in the upper right corner there is a blue button that says report then in the discription type the reason just type spam.

B(a)P - 7-8-2020 at 11:52

Quote: Originally posted by symboom  
No worries glad others can help in fighting off spam.
On every post in the upper right corner there is a blue button that says report then in the discription type the reason just type spam.


Thanks, I had never noticed that!