Seriously guys, this is becoming very annoying. Can't anybody do something about the spam-bots? Where are the moderators? I wonder why I have to "Prove that I'm human" when I want to post in the forum...
Spam 24/7
(29 posts)-
Posted 5 months ago #
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Like CyberMarco said, I was amazed I could earn $650 a week working from home! :D
Posted 5 months ago # -
Not much we can do but clean up the mess after the fact CyberMacro. And the Mods can only clean up the forums. I can't do anything on the other side of the site.
Posted 5 months ago # -
Every forumite should be armed with a stick with a nail in it!
Posted 5 months ago # -
Yeah I've noticed that there's been a massive increase in spam again XD
This is why we need a thumbs up and down for comments. If a comment gets thumbs down so many times it "hides".
Or a report button next to comments or something XD
Posted 5 months ago # -
Yoshi man, why not go to full nine and equip every poster with a perma-ban hammer. I'm sure that nothing could possibly go wrong if we did that...
Posted 5 months ago # -
^ there is always the possibility that said spammers could use the Ultimate Hammer of Justice against legit users!
What I would like to see is to get rid of that Captcha verification box for verified users...
Posted 5 months ago # -
Impossible! It may only be wielded by the just!
Posted 5 months ago # -
I dont know but sometimes they make interesting topics on the forums like the cosplay and favorite cartoon ones, in some cases is a nice change of pace ;)
Posted 5 months ago # -
^ Oh joy a spambot with a sense of humour... The rise of the machines has begun :-/
Posted 5 months ago # -
/smites catherined
Posted 5 months ago # -
/Actualy Smites cathrined
Posted 5 months ago # -
My power is so terrible to behold that I must use an agent to carry out my will. You have done well OlderGamer... You may continue smiting spambots in my name.
Posted 5 months ago # -
I can see the captcha check before the reply. This can not suspend Spam?
Posted 5 months ago # -
^ I think captcha is useless, what's the point in using it, when spammers/spam-bots can still spam on the site and in the forum?
Only legit users like us have to deal with this nonsense.
Posted 5 months ago # -
Trust me when i say this, the spam on the forums would be ten times worse if it wasn't for reCAPTCHA. reCAPTCHA's reliability is well proven in the market. No security is infallible, unfortunately.
I honestly don't know why the spam is so prevalent on the main site, but it's not like they want it there either. Don't blame the staff for the actions of the scumbags who go around spamming up websites with malicious links in the first place.
I'll see if I can nudge someone on Twitter to check this thread.
Posted 5 months ago # -
I appreciate the effort that is done by the site's staff and moderators like you, I know it's tough to get rid of spammers.
Regarding the captcha verification, why not make it mandatory only for new/unverified members, like less than 1 month, something like that.
Posted 5 months ago # -
@CyberMarco No functionality like that is currently built into the system, to the best of my knowledge.
Posted 5 months ago # -
We don't have moderators guys, it's all done by us, and as you know, we're a very busy team :)
We can't stop the spam at this time from what I know, but I'll ask Pat.
It annoys us as much as I'm sure it must annoy you, seriously. We know it sucks.
Posted 5 months ago # -
What do you mean we don't have Mods? I have the stick on silver badge and have been trained in the secret handshake ;) We are just limited to the forums, which is a bummer.
But I understand Pats thinking he doesn't want mods flexing muscle in day to day threads and flame wars between members.
Posted 5 months ago # -
I would be happy to help if mods/editors think I am trustworthy enough. I am usually active everyday.
Also I am hypothesizing, is there a way that mods can delete a account altogether with its messages, since it will get rid of fake accounts and spam comments in both forums and comments in one go. If someone uses his powers irrationally, the user can always make an alt account to complain which would result in the mod being stripped of powers and potentially have his account deleted.Posted 5 months ago # -
But it could be a real mess Dragon. It has been proven on other sites. I get Pats caution. When mods are also posters, it clouds the waters. You and I have had several discusions on the other side of the site. We don't agree on several things. Pat would be worried that I would abuse my power and either edit your posts, delete them, or out right ban you.
I wouldn't do that obviously. But everyone that could be asked, would also say they wouldn't do that. But it does happen. And who would be picked?
Some posters here don't like me. Some don't like you. Same is true for everyone here. When you put yourself out there, someone, somewhere will take issue with what your saying. So if Pat brodens my scope, does that mean he gets fifteen hate emails from people threatening to leave the site?
It is a no win situation.
When the site was small a few years back, it didn't draw that much attention. It was a small community and there wasn't much a need for Mods. Now, however I think the site just hit 1 million unque hits in a month. That is pretty big. It gets attention from spam attacks and trolls alike.
I agree with many other folks, the site needs(maybe three, in different regions/time zones) active moderation on both sides of the site. Other sites have them for a reason. I believe that more damage is done everytime a bot spams fifty different articles. It turns people away. Again no win situation. Pick a current mod/poster and some people will be upset, maybe leave. Do nothing and the staff are sent chasing their tail trying to keep up, and the site is seemingly covered with spam. That will drive people away too.
Like I said man, can't win. But I do think pat should pick a horse and back it.
Posted 5 months ago # -
Then why don't we get some mods for the forums and main site then? I'm constantly on the site, checking news etc etc and I'm always seeing bots XD It's so damn annoying because I want to assassinate them but I can't :(
Posted 5 months ago # -
The forum software is different to the site.
The site runs on WordPres. It doesn't have any sort of comment editing staff roles, and it doesn't allow for the creation of new ones without a lot of serious tinkering. Giving people access to be able to delete comments and stuff on the site would give them access to some very private areas of the Admin Panel, like news drafts. I think you can understand why that would be a very bad idea.
User deletion is a high end admin function only, so that would obviously be out of the question entirely.
Then there's the trust thing. A few people were given mod positions a good while back, and within the first few days someone was already deleting comments that they didn't like. Pat was not happy about that. Site comments would be a damn mind-field for drama, and Pat has enough to do already than have to deal with that shit.
Posted 5 months ago # -
The majority - 90% - of the spam posts (I deleted five "users" yesterday) all have Yahoo email addresses, as I have stated previously. This means there is an actual human someplace in a dark room with only the glow of the monitor in front of them for light, creating fake email accounts to spam sites with probably 50 other people. I imagine they are also only getting the equivalent of .25 cents US an hour. With these type of human bots, there is only so much we can do - we can only continue to mark the posts as spam, and delete the user account.
We'll keep fighting the good fight though. Promise.
Posted 5 months ago # -
@IM, They should have clearly got me then XD I'm one of the most collected people when it comes to commenting these days. Sure I'll get annoyed at some articles but hardly never comments and if I did why would I want to delete them XD It's best to have that good banter :P
Posted 5 months ago # -
@Dragon
Come on dude, you edit and change your own shit when it suits you...
Don't make a grab for power...
Posted 5 months ago # -
Don't know how many different things have been tried. But I've always wondered if it would be possible to create anti-spam bots. I'd have said "anti-bot bots", if I hadn't seen the comments about these being actual humans acting as bots. (What a sad life that must be.)
My thought is that these posts all have a common thread, which a smart-enough bot could insta-kill when it is recognized. The rules could be made as easily modifiable as possible, so that the bots could be reprogrammed quickly as needed. Just a concept. I have no clue about implementation hurdles. The devil is always in those.
Posted 5 months ago #
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