So much spam recently... more BG's please??

Edinburghlass_2

mountainchrisriver wrote: »

There seems to have been a huge increase in the amount of spam since the site started regularly attracting more visitors (about the same time as Martin's new prog started to air [understandably])...

I can't say that I have noticed any increase in the spam since IPTW has aired, the type of spammer who spams all the boards I would suggest are not viewers of IPTW

mountainchrisriver wrote: »

I was not suggesting you did a particularly bad job... although weekends are sometimes really bad if we are being honest... hence the suggestion for some more BG's, to help you folk out...

In fact its rare that spammers only hit at the w/end, they have a life to lead too!

mountainchrisriver wrote: »

I (and many other "spam busters!" on here) report stacks of spam from most boards on MSE (if we spot it) and if this indeed "only a small part" then I would say you do need some more help!?:D

The reason its only a small part that you see is because the rest has already been deleted however that is not exactly what Forum Manager said, he did in fact say that spam is only a small part of everything we deal with and personally I would add to that, in my opinion, its the least important thing that I deal with. No-body is going to stop reading MSE because they happen to read a spam post nor, I'd hazzard a guess, immediately think that because Oprah Winfrey endorses their spam that they need to sign up to it

Quasar wrote: »

I think at present we are all coping well. As soon as a spammer appears, there's always one of us posting immediately afterwards declaring that it's spam, thus warning other users to ignore the thread.

Only last night Chameleon stalked a spammer and posted "spam" on each thread. It seems we can all help by being vigilant and looking out for one another.

And this I, again personally but no offence to Chameleon, see as more of a problem as posting on every thread gives it even more exposure and then invites other users to post sometimes very nasty comments which hardly puts MSE in a very good light.

a11waysindebt wrote: »

I was chasing one around the board early this morning.So annoying.

(did everyone see the signature announement today by the way)?

I'm not being lazy here,but can someone please forward a link.

As above, why "chase" anyone round the board it simply isn't necessary. One post on the first thread to say you have reported the thread and the user is all that is needed. And yes you are being lazy, the announcement is on the top of every board, same with how many BG's there are, you'll find all the information you need here.

dmg24 wrote: »

Today is a prime example of why we do need more Boardguides.

The current BG's cannot be expected to be online all the time, but the amount of spam and threads posted in the wrong place is getting silly.

Spam and threads in the wrong place are two different things and often a matter of personal opinion however no matter how many BG's there are people will always post in the wrong place but they should be treated with the same courtesy that all users are and a quick pm to the relevant BGs will alert them to shift a thread. No point in posting to this effect in the midst of a thread as that assumes that the BG's are reading all threads/posts.

a11waysindebt wrote: »

Funny thing is,the other morning I was chasing spammers around the board whilst the board guide was looking at another thread.

Amazingly the spammers post was still there an 1 hour later.

I understand it is voluntarily but then to volunteer and not do the job?

As above, there is no need for you or anyone else to chase any poster around the board and equally none of your business what a board guide is looking at :rolleyes: however if you feel a BG is not "doing their job" then by all means follow the rules and I quote....

If you ever feel a Board Guide has said/done something that needs to be reported please report it as you would any other site user’s post/pm to [EMAIL="abuse@moneysavingexpert.com"]abuse@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL].

Edinburghlass_2

And now I have, at last, got all that off my chest I would suggest that we try something that was mentioned years ago I think by aliasojo, bless her heart, that we start a thread in this particular board that any user can link to spammers that are on the boards then it is easily seen by the Forum Team and BG's alike.

One post after a spammer on one thread is all that is needed but it must be reported so no point in posting "spam" if you don't actually report the user.

Poppycat

I am fed up of reporting posts or informing people that they have posted in wrong forum any more. It takes ages sometimes to get posts removed. I agree we need more BG's but I have said this many times before, but sadly nothing gets done.

dmg24 wrote: »

Today is a prime example of why we do need more Boardguides.

The current BG's cannot be expected to be online all the time, but the amount of spam and threads posted in the wrong place is getting silly.

eyelinerprincess

Only other thing I can think of is to put new users on "probation" for their first few replies, but it would take too much of the BG's time.

sparky61

Edinburghlass wrote: »

And now I have, at last, got all that off my chest I would suggest that we try something that was mentioned years ago I think by aliasojo, bless her heart, that we start a thread in this particular board that any user can link to spammers that are on the boards then it is easily seen by the Forum Team and BG's alike.

They have a separate thread on Bob's for the same reason, it seems to work well, members simply post the link to the spam post.
:beer:

dmg24

Edinburghlass wrote: »

The reason its only a small part that you see is because the rest has already been deleted however that is not exactly what Forum Manager said, he did in fact say that spam is only a small part of everything we deal with and personally I would add to that, in my opinion, its the least important thing that I deal with. No-body is going to stop reading MSE because they happen to read a spam post nor, I'd hazzard a guess, immediately think that because Oprah Winfrey endorses their spam that they need to sign up to it

Edlass, on most boards the spam has not already been deleted before we look at them! You are one of the more committed BG's (and that is no slant on any of the others), but other boards can have posts sat there for hours (days in some cases!) before they are acted upon.

Spam and threads in the wrong place are two different things and often a matter of personal opinion however no matter how many BG's there are people will always post in the wrong place but they should be treated with the same courtesy that all users are and a quick pm to the relevant BGs will alert them to shift a thread. No point in posting to this effect in the midst of a thread as that assumes that the BG's are reading all threads/posts.

I think you are seeing this through rose coloured specs a bit. Yes, on your boards things are moved quickly (this is turning into the I love EdLass thread!), but on many boards this just does not happen!

As above, there is no need for you or anyone else to chase any poster around the board and equally none of your business what a board guide is looking at :rolleyes: however if you feel a BG is not "doing their job" then by all means follow the rules and I quote....

If you ever feel a Board Guide has said/done something that needs to be reported please report it as you would any other site user’s post/pm to abuse@moneysavingexpert.com.

I'm sorry, if BG's are reported, even by multiple posters, nothing happens. Several of us can testify to this (on an unrelated matter).

My primary concern is that some members (and not just newbies!) assume that anything that is on MSE has been authenticated, and is endorsed by MSE. Therefore people act on the advertisements/ scams/ unsuitable referrals. The amount of Thanks that some scammers get is testiment to this.

What kind of an impression does it give of MSE to the people that end up being scammed because of something they found on MSE?

squeaky

Take a look here...

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showgroups.html?

Go on, humour me

There are some BG's currently on line, and the others... well it's a weekend, it's lunchtime... there are lots of good and valid reason why all the boards don't currently have someone on line right now. And more board guides is equally likely to mean that they too are on a break...

At the time of writing this post there are zero Forum Team members on line - so there's nobody to cover abuse/spam issues for those boards currently without a board guide on line. Again - it's weekend, lunchtime...

We, as you know, are all volunteers and we do the job because we believe in the site and what it stands for - and we do take protecting it seriously.

But we cannot be here 24/7 - you know that.

We can't read every post on the busier boards either - nobody has that much time.

So - paid people on shifts? Proper job type thing?

So... if you just had one person per shift as a paid spam buster how many people does it take to cover 24/7/52? There's a formula somewhere around, and the answer surprised me.

For the small amount of spam that does (agreed) hang around for a while - I don't think that sort of expense will ever be considered worth it.

Believe me, you guys don't see anything like as much spam as we do - because we do get most of it pretty quickly.

Spammers always find ways around every sort of software protection that's put in place - and the team do look for effective ways of dealing with - but there is always going to be some spam. Until we're legally allowed to put them up against the wall and shoot them, that is (bags I the first shot )

The only effective way is human monitoring. We do what we can, and any other route just isn't economically viable.

Unless you'd like to volunteer to be our permanent night shift 24/7/52 spambuster?

Edinburghlass_2

sparky61 wrote: »

They have a separate thread on Bob's for the same reason, it seems to work well, members simply post the link to the spam post.
:beer:

Its certainly something worth trying Sparky and I'll put the suggestion to the Forum Team for their consideration.

dmg, its spam and spammers we are talking about here, no-one is going to wander down the wrong financial path by reading a spam post and if it sits there for more than a couple of days then it really isn't doing anyone any harm. However today I saw one poster post "MODS!! delete please" now no-one knows if that thread has been reported or not, another I read said "I've reported too", no point as multiple reports regarding spam to abuse merely clog up the system. PLUS they bump up the thread and give more exposure to the spammer!

Above every thread, on every board you'll find written ....

Remember, this is an open forum! Anyone can post so always exercise caution when acting on info.

This applies to spam as well as any advice given to anyone, even mine

queensway_boy

Some spam can be dangerous(if a link is clicked) for the unknowing and therfore should be removed asap regardless of the type

a11waysindebt

Oh...ok fare enough,there is no need for me to chase spammers around the board.And I will not anymore.

My time is free the same as anyone else's.As for me being lazy....I've just woke up after working 30 yes 30 hours.I haven't reported any board guide and wouldn't even think of it.The whole object was to try and get more help for them.

I will just use the forum now to my advantage.

This forum runs on people offering their experiences and free time,I for one have tried to help many people,unfortunately I will no longer do this and like I said just use the board to my advantage.

As for if the boards need more guides I think yes...34 board guides Threads: 573,834, Posts: 7,185,587, Members: 273,416

Many thanks.

a11waysindebt