How to stop spam

davidhk129

Senior Member
I have been spotting spams very regularly.
One fact to be certain is ....... the spam post is also always the first post by the "new" member/spammer.

In some forums, the FIRST post of a new member does not get posted automatically until it is "approved" by moderation.
This definitely will stop spams from flooding the forums.
Perhaps, the admins here would give this practice a consideration ?
 
This was discussed only recently by Mike and myself which resulted in the rule that new users cannot post links as part of their first post. Obviously for some reason spammers are still getting through but rest assured we want them gone as much as you do. The settings will have to be reviewed to hopefully counter the small amount of spam still getting through.
We do appreciate everyone's help in reporting spam as we sometimes miss it ourselves, Thank you. :)
 
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This was discussed only recently by Mike and myself which resulted in the rule that new users cannot post links as part of their first post. Obviously for some reason spammers are still getting through but rest assured we want them gone as much as you do. The settings will have to be reviewed to hopefully counter the small amount of spam still getting through.
We do appreciate everyone's help in reporting spam as we sometimes miss it ourselves, Thank you. :)


Same person I reported a day ago has reappeared. Yuan Tange at Win 8 Help & Support.
 
Thank you. Somehow this spammer is bypassing our security. I also feel David you are taking all this somewhat personally or you feel we are not doing our jobs properly. Just to be clear we are attacked many, many times every day and sure some still get's in. I know it's maddening as hell and if it pisses you off imagine how it makes us feel.. These guy's don't simply give up they are at it 24/7 and for some reason seem to get some weird thrill out of it....
 
Gotta agree with Ross. The posts are infuriating. I am ignoring them with difficulty. Not much anyone can do. I get the same, even on my telephone, these days.
 
These spammers may be using multiple computers or unsecured wifi making it harder to block. I report them as soon as I see one.
Joe
 
Spammers do like to create slaves = bot computers. I once got a message that my computer is used as one, and that was when I didn't have my own computer, but used a public library computer... I've understood that true spammers may have up to thousands of computers they use as slaves.

In an effort to do marketing, I once tried a mail program, freeware, it was capable to send tens of thousands of messages in a minute, picking addresses automatically! I dropped it, as I didn't like the idea, having thought about it a bit more.

I have two separate protection agreements for my phone, paid for, and still I get direct marketing. Very annoying. I can say no, but I live in a limited horror for the day when my son, just pass two years, picks the phone... I may end buying the Bahamas!

Gotta agree with Ross. The posts are infuriating. I am ignoring them with difficulty. Not much anyone can do. I get the same, even on my telephone, these days.
Agree 100%. The easier it gets, the easier it gets. Jesse James and likes had to really work for it.
 
Thank you for the support guy's it's always appreciated by the team. :)
 
[QUOTE="Pauli, post: 619086, member: 58283
Very annoying. I can say no, but I live in a limited horror for the day when my son, just pass two years, picks the phone... I may end buying the Bahamas!.[/QUOTE]

No problem, my 5 year old granddaughter bought them last week
 
We are working hard on methods to detect and deter spam automatically, but ultimately, some content will fall through the cracks. The vast majority of spam on the website is captured before it ever reaches public view. However, in the rare instances where it does get through, we still will always rely on both our moderators and community to alert us of potential problems on the forums. This is simply the nature of online forums. They are targeted because they know that many of these sites are understaffed and you will find many obscure forum sites that have become completely inundated with spam - literally taken over as a spam haven for bots. We will not allow this to happen here, but the threat continues to evolve. As one person put it to me it is a "virtual arms race" as far as the technology that spammers are using. Do not hesitate to report posts that look like viable spam. The problem is that, as we work to fortify the process of stopping spam, we get into a situation where we must take into account whether or not we are taking important functionality away from legitimate non-spamming members. We remain mindful of the fact that for every problem we solve, we are capable of creating two new ones. So this does require some tinkering. This is something that we are constantly being attentive of.
 
For whatever its worth, spam does bug me but I'm happy to see it gets removed almost as fast as it is reported... well done.
 
How does windowsforum.com stand on windows activator ?
If it is a no no, please go to Profile section and remove Windows 8.1 Activator.
The "new" member does not include a link, but the mere mention of it is an indication of intent. An intent to advertise the product.
 
You probably refer to the new member "xxx" mentioning the activator. I reported it earlier today.

All these reports of spam and bots and stuff were painstaking when I was a moderator on another site - several persons reported and made alarm, leading to the fact that several moderators and admins worked with it... quite so many working hours in vain, because the job was duplicated. As a matter of fact, it is one of the objectives of these vile ones, that to bind.

How to solve it, in order to deal with it in an effective way, I don't know. Those who willingly do, easily do much extra work. It's much easier for those who only want to harass, they just shoot.

Or we can do one of my favorites: call the tanks!
 
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Spam and other harassment can hardly be stopped. It's like stopping "Drink and Drive" - how to do it? Or common violence? We simply have persons who... I don't know why, but they just want to... whatever. Why, I don't know.

Ill meaning ones should be stopped. As soon as possible. It's for the best of them too. Besides the fact that the Staff here does everything, I would agree with Mike:

...we still will always rely on both our moderators and community to alert us of potential problems on the forums..

Alertness is a virtue? Don't throw bricks on everyone,but keep the site safe.
 
Just as way of a mini update regarding the spam situation. It would seem we have the upper hand and spam is at an all time low. This however could change at any moment so we are not putting our guard down.
We thank everyone for all their support and vigilance.. :)
 
Just as way of a mini update regarding the spam situation. It would seem we have the upper hand and spam is at an all time low.

Until some guy named "SirSpamAlot" registers, and then I break my keyboard. :)
 
[QUOTE Just as way of a mini update regarding the spam situation. It would seem we have the upper hand and spam is at an all time low. :)[/QUOTE]
I have noticed that as well. Never seen so little spam for a long time. :up:
 
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