Spambots

Silk

Robin9 wrote: »

Have I missed something but how do you reply to 2 & 3 if you're not registered ?

But the spammers are registered and can make multiple posts which is what the problem is ...even if they couldn't start a thread they could post replies

custardy

Silk wrote: »

First post approval doesn't stop you joining nor does it stop you posting a question nor being able to search for answers etc
The only thing it causes you a problem with is the slight delay in your post going live

Given the time it takes to clear simple spam. That slight delay could be 24 hours plus.

Silk

custardy wrote: »

Given the time it takes to clear simple spam. That slight delay could be 24 hours plus.

Which is why first post approval saves the time of having to waste time deleting the spam as well as improving the integrity of the site.
Hence the delay should be nothing like 24 hours

droopsnoot

We also need a "report user" button. So many of the messages I see and report on here are from the same username, so if a totting-up procedure per user basically locked out that user and held all their posts off-line until they were checked by a mod, it might make things easier.


And if more than x% of a post text is made up of foreign characters (relatively easy to check in code), it should be suspended and placed on a list for review prior to being seen by the rest of us. If you create an account, post several messages, all of which are more than x% foreign characters, user account is suspended until approved manually.


Sorry, reading that last paragraph makes me sound quite xenophobic, I just can't think of a better word than "foreign" to describe the character set(s) I am seeing. Doesn't help with the "sOlVe L0Ve Problems" junk, but it's a start.


Oh, and spelling words with numbers to make it look (a) like you're trying to get around a spam filter or (b) like you're writing text-speak? Instant ban.


Looking at the "baba ji" posts while marking them, any post that has more than a certain number of repeating shrieks (!!!!!!!!) in the message text should raise a flag, too. These all seem to have many, I don't know if it's the swear-filter that puts them in, or the idiot writing the posts.

Cornucopia

Silk wrote: »

That would work in this instance but wouldn't work with that last attack a few months ago by that kitchen place or whatever it was

All they would need to do is post replies rather than threads

as above they could just post replies

Also as above would only work with foreign ones

I'd have thought (hoped)a spammer is going to be suspended well before 24 hours

Yes, they can post replies rather than new threads, but that is much less effective and less disruptive, I think. It's very off-putting when the New Posts screen is mostly full of spam at certain times of day.

The issue is how to get around the lack of moderation resource at MSE, and there are only really three ways to go-

- Get more moderators (including volunteers).
- Use forum members to control spam in such a way as to reduce Moderator effort.
- Use automation.

droopsnoot

And while we're at it, a simple database of the phone numbers and URLs that appear in these messages could be created - new user creates an account, posts a message containing one of those things - user is suspended straight away.

Silk

Cornucopia wrote: »

Yes, they can post replies rather than new threads, but that is much less effective and less disruptive, I think. It's very off-putting when the New Posts screen is mostly full of spam at certain times of day.

It's been going on since 3am from what I've seen, even if they just post as replies rather than starting new threads you would see the same effect

Cornucopia wrote: »

The issue is how to get around the lack of moderation resource at MSE, and there are only really three ways to go-

- Get more moderators (including volunteers).
- Use forum members to control spam in such a way as to reduce Moderator effort.
- Use automation.

Getting more staff and using more volunteers is just getting more people to help bail out the sinking ship.
The only way is to stop it at source which means FPA

droopsnoot

Cornucopia wrote: »

- Use forum members to control spam in such a way as to reduce Moderator effort.

This is a good point, several boards I use have a "trust rating" for members which varies according to their contribution to the board, and can sometimes afford extra privileges such as the ability to mark spam etc. After all, if it's only setting a flag on a message rather than deleting it completely, it's easy to review and reverse decisions if someone suddenly took it into their heads to mark a block of non-spam as spam.

Silk

droopsnoot wrote: »

This is a good point, several boards I use have a "trust rating" for members which varies according to their contribution to the board, and can sometimes afford extra privileges such as the ability to mark spam etc. After all, if it's only setting a flag on a message rather than deleting it completely, it's easy to review and reverse decisions if someone suddenly took it into their heads to mark a block of non-spam as spam.

We've already got the ability to mark a post as spam, which me and many others have already been doing

Cornucopia

Silk wrote: »

It's been going on since 3am from what I've seen, even if they just post as replies rather than starting new threads you would see the same effect

Not quite. The New Posts page would be full of real threads that had been spammed, so the titles would be real, but their presence in New Posts was affected by a spam reply.

Getting more staff and using more volunteers is just getting more people to help bail out the sinking ship.
The only way is to stop it at source which means FPA

Sorry if this has already been covered, but what's FPA?