Spam

jeffpn

jeffpn

Well-known member
I am really disappointed in all of the spam at the forums here. Lately, we've been getting hit with long posts that have web addresses that aren't even hyperlinks.

Today, there were first posts by two different new members that made no sense at all. Very short one line posts. Clicking on their profile shows their true reason for joining - spam in their signature line.

I follow 2 other forums, including rcgroups. I NEVER see any spam there. If Jim can keep rcgroups free of spam, why can't he do the same here? Color me disappointed!!!
 
It's getting to be like a shopping channel. If only there was some kind of verification. Tied into interlink perhaps.
Just a thought.
 
I notice at least a couple of spams a day on rcgroups. They tend to be in forums at the top of the list like the batteries and chargers forum and these days they often have "forum appropriate" subject lines so you can't tell that they are spam until you read the threads.

I've found that you can stop ~100% of spam by disallowing new registrations from freemail addresses like yahoo, gmail etc. but you probably trim about 10% of legit posters who don't have or don't know how to use a non-freemail email address.
 
I don't see restricting membership to those who have paid email accounts. Many do like you say, but there are some extremely worthwhile people here who don't.

I do only follow the simulator subforum at rcg. I've never seen any there.

I like the idea of the first 10 posts of any new member needing manual approval by a mod. I bet that'd stop close to 100% of the spam. I'd even volunteer myself to do that. The RF forums aren't that big.
 
I've tried that too, but I've noticed that a significant number of seemingly legit users never post again if their first posts are held for moderation. Of course, some people never post more than once or twice anyway so it's hard to precisely quantify, but it does appear to drive some away in my experience.

As a spam-hater, I wouldn't be against it though.
 
Heck, approving the first 3 posts of new members would do it. It's easy to pick out members who have no idea what they're posting. And it's not that big of a deal. I've been subjected to it myself.
 
Orion said:
I've found that you can stop ~100% of spam by disallowing new registrations from freemail addresses like yahoo, gmail etc. but you probably trim about 10% of legit posters who don't have or don't know how to use a non-freemail email address.
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I would say that would limit 2/3rd's of the legitimate people here. Free Email from yahoo, gmail, hotmail etc have advantages over a email account that you get from your ISP. One is IMAP (gmail) and when you change service providers, you don't have to change your email address every time you do so. I have had gmail since it was beta and will never change it since IMAP is just better than POP mail but i have also had my hotmail account since 1996 :p
 
csgill75 said:
I would say that would limit 2/3rd's of the legitimate people here. Free Email from yahoo, gmail, hotmail etc have advantages over a email account that you get from your ISP. One is IMAP (gmail) and when you change service providers, you don't have to change your email address every time you do so. I have had gmail since it was beta and will never change it since IMAP is just better than POP mail but i have also had my hotmail account since 1996 :p
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Same here I have used Gmail for years I don't even bother with my providers email unit, I just have it there for my provider to inform me of any changes ect.
 
Whizgig said:
Same here I have used Gmail for years I don't even bother with my providers email unit, I just have it there for my provider to inform me of any changes ect.
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It wouldn't really affect you then, because you'd only use it to click on the forum activation link once.
 
Personally I like to create a throw away GMail/Yahoo account to give to people/sites I don't care to hear from but that NEED an address from me, and then never refer to it again. Think of it as reverse spam. :cool:
 
The word "spam" reminds me of old fish scraps. :eek:
245.gif
 
It seems like every time Internet Explorer, Windows, AOL, Yahoo, and the rest have an update there is a rapid resurgence of spam posts
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Choice of browser and Internet Service Provider has NOTHING to do with forums being spammed.

This thread has really gotten off topic.
 
We or at least I have reported spam on many occasions
However
That s all done after the fact....Lets work on reducing it so I and others don't have to report it in the first place
 
This is relatively new and we are watching for all reported spam. I am also keeping on eye out for spam. Reporting spam does not mean it will be instantly removed, but a moderator will check in and remove it. We have a day mod and a night mod so the removal should be pretty quick. The mod will also ban the spammer. Posting my name in spam threads does not notify me in anyway. Reporting the spam is the only that we are notified of an issue. While there is no way to totally stop spammers we are doing everything we can to take care of the issue. Thanks in advance for the reports.
 
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