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Norton spam
- Thread starter p33t3r
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Somebody must have been up late or very early morning to deal with the spam which is rare because there is no spam posts present on the forum. The reason I say it is rare because the last number of times spam bots have got into the system, the posts are still on the system hours later. I know this because I start work early in the morning and when they are there I see spam posts and report them and they are still there come 10am-11am, sometimes later. This then results in members leaving posts in the forum feedback section asking why the spam posts have not bee removed. A mod then comes along and posts a message saying no one was available to remove the spam posts.
Things must have changed this time.
Things must have changed this time.
We're aware of the problem and have been addressing it. I deleted a lot of spam early Thanksgiving morning, another mod deleted more after I was on my way to a family gathering. Deleted some more early this morning but there's really a lot less today since the forum software is catching them automatically.
I try to report those newbies asking a simple question about their Macs, just to have a link go to a bad site.
I do see less of these posts lately so that system software seems to be working.
and
thanks!
the Picture Gallery forum has been targeted by spam-bots. at least two pages worth!
edit: and starting to target various other fora
edit: and starting to target various other fora
There doesn't seem to be much moderator coverage in the mornings. I think most of the active moderators live in time zones that work against people being active in the mornings.
Have just spent over an hour non-stop deleting/banning spammers as fast as I could, didn't even attempt to count, but it was literally hundreds of spammers. I guess they must be using AI to generate this huge flood, it's definitely a concern - we could be headed for a spampocalypse... 😱
In the meantime, the staff wil do all we can using the tools that we have.
In the meantime, the staff wil do all we can using the tools that we have.
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Thanks for your work!
Are all the spammer accounts created over a period of time and left idle before they all post, or are they all created at the same time?
A bit like how you block us from reporting spam more than once every minute or so, if that is the case then ... hmm. Nope, I was going to say add a delay between user account creation, but that would catch innocent newbies. Are they all coming from the same IP range?
A bit like how you block us from reporting spam more than once every minute or so, if that is the case then ... hmm. Nope, I was going to say add a delay between user account creation, but that would catch innocent newbies. Are they all coming from the same IP range?
For obvious reasons, I think it would be a bad idea to disclose the details of where spammers come from or how we catch them. But I just spent awhile non-stop banning spammers again, every time I refresh the forum homepage, there are more!
Appreciate the time you guys take to clean this up. I'm a mod on a different board and deal with this almost every morning. Zapping spam is part of my morning coffee routine. 
It was certainly a shocking amount of spam, and the speed it was posted using so many usernames.
Thanks, and commiserations, to @Boyd01 and the rest of the moderation team
Thanks, and commiserations, to @Boyd01 and the rest of the moderation team
And the vast majority of it was prevented from even showing up publicly, but still needed cleaned up behind the scenes. We banned over 1,000 spam accounts today.
I know I have droned on about this before and, I reiterate, not a dig at the moderators in any way shape or form, but this is becoming untenable. Why are these filth allowed to keep posting like this. Why are there no limits to how many posts new users can create, or some kind of limitations. I just don’t understand it.
Given that AI and other technology has seemingly tipped the balance, its a great idea to put new members in a moderated group where moderators can approve (or ban) the new members/posts.
Additionally, I think the staff needs to redouble their efforts on attracting more moderators and even administrators. The site has grown, but the staff has shrunk.
Early mornings are one of the areas where we typically don't see coverage until 6:30 - 7:00am EST. the problem is that early morning in the north east of the US isn't early morning in europe so its quite impactful, unless we can get staff members who are online
My unofficial observation is that we only have 1 moderator active/online at any given time through most of the day.
I agree. I think it puts the (seemingly limited number of) mods in an awful position.
Whatever happens, the way that new users can just create accounts and post straight away has to be changed. I understand the old argument that you users won’t want to wait for their account to be moderated before posting, but quite frankly, tough, that’s no longer a valid argument in my opinion.
I also understand that this is my problem, but I am starting to not want to use this website anymore because it is being polluted by all this crap.
Whatever happens, the way that new users can just create accounts and post straight away has to be changed. I understand the old argument that you users won’t want to wait for their account to be moderated before posting, but quite frankly, tough, that’s no longer a valid argument in my opinion.
I also understand that this is my problem, but I am starting to not want to use this website anymore because it is being polluted by all this crap.
8:00am and we're still getting flooded with spam. No knock on the moderators, that's not my point but if most of them live on the west coast of US, its unfair to expect them to pick up the slack at 6:00am EST.
I reported one and the second was deleted before I could report that one. Moderation of spam is a difficult thing. My own forum has the occasional problem.
And so it begins again. Getting ridiculous now. This is just a ball ache and so easy to fix.
I feel very sorry for the mods, they are in a lose lose situation. Them in charge need to seriously think how new users are allowed to interact on the forum, and fast.
I feel very sorry for the mods, they are in a lose lose situation. Them in charge need to seriously think how new users are allowed to interact on the forum, and fast.
LOL,you saying that reminded me of this (not directed at anyone in particular)
Its clear the current process is no longer working.