# Clever spam



## Kzach (Aug 12, 2011)

Is it just me or has there been a big increase in spam accounts posting some sort of bot text in threads lately?


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## Dice4Hire (Aug 12, 2011)

I have seen a few recently that seem to be posting random junk trying to get by the word filters. IE, hiding links in random text. 

Not sure how clever they are for Enworld, those things seem to work better for emails.


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## Umbran (Aug 12, 2011)

It tends to come in waves - probably some spam-creation-software-provider had a new release, and everyone's trying it out.


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## Scott DeWar (Aug 16, 2011)

I found it in blogs here too.


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## Umbran (Aug 16, 2011)

You can (and should) report spam blog posts just like you can report message board posts.


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## Scott DeWar (Aug 16, 2011)

I did. there were a bunch that I found about 2 or 3 months ago. I still occasionally check newbs and their blogs


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## jonesy (Aug 16, 2011)

Ok, I see over 60 spam bloggers (and I'm sure there's more).

Can I report them here?

If I have to wait for the spam report filter (there's an irony for you) it'll take me over an hour to report them. 

Edit: or would you prefer I PM them to you [MENTION=177]Umbran[/MENTION] ?


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## Morrus (Aug 16, 2011)

Just a note - thanks for reporting the blog spam, jonesy! That's great!

But just so you know for the future, you only need to report each blog once, not every individual post. I get an email of each report (on my phone!) and it fills up my inbox pretty quick! 

Thanks so much for reporting them!


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## Umbran (Aug 16, 2011)

Morrus said:


> But just so you know for the future, you only need to report each blog once, not every individual post. I get an email of each report (on my phone!) and it fills up my inbox pretty quick!




Yes - once a user is reported as having a spam blog post, we look to make sure that there aren't a bunch of such posts, and eradicate all we find.


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## jonesy (Aug 16, 2011)

Morrus said:


> Just a note - thanks for reporting the blog spam, jonesy! That's great!
> 
> But just so you know for the future, you only need to report each blog once, not every individual post. I get an email of each report (on my phone!) and it fills up my inbox pretty quick!
> 
> Thanks so much for reporting them!



I was. I still have a list now of about 60 spam bloggers. Not posts, bloggers. I'm guessing that is why the filter is being so aggressive. So where do I send them?


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## Umbran (Aug 16, 2011)

If you have a list of usernames, if you PM to me, I can start weeding through them.

If you report a post by each as you see them, they won't build up on you like that.


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## jonesy (Aug 16, 2011)

Umbran said:


> If you have a list of usernames, if you PM to me, I can start weeding through them.
> 
> If you report a post by each as you see them, they won't build up on you like that.



Reporting just one takes time, because the blogs lag for me for some reason. And then after each report the filter kicks in and tells me I need to wait a minute. Which seems to take way more than the minute it says.

At the current speed I'd have about two hours of reporting if I tried to do it.

PM sent.


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## Scott DeWar (Aug 17, 2011)

If I would, I would xp you Jonesy for service to the community.


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## Umbran (Aug 17, 2011)

jonesy said:


> And then after each report the filter kicks in and tells me I need to wait a minute.




I don't spend a lot of time with the blogs, and when I do I'm not reporting things, I'm deleting them, so I have to admit, I don't know what filter you're talking about here.


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## jonesy (Aug 17, 2011)

Umbran said:


> I don't spend a lot of time with the blogs, and when I do I'm not reporting things, I'm deleting them, so I have to admit, I don't know what filter you're talking about here.



There's a message that comes up that says something to the effect of needing to wait a minute before being able to report someone else. Except it's not a minute for me, more like two. I guess it's to prevent someone spamming reports about legitimate users.


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## Umbran (Aug 17, 2011)

Ah, yes, that I know about. Just never heard it called a filter.  Now what you're saying makes perfect sense.


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## HolyMan (Aug 29, 2011)

Are these spam bots creating threads now??

http://www.enworld.org/forum/talking-talk/310802-gaming-you-audio-man.html

http://www.enworld.org/forum/talking-talk/310791-story-set-early-20th-century.html



HM


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## Umbran (Aug 29, 2011)

Creating threads is not particularly different from creating other posts, so it isn't special

If you seem problematic posts, please don't post about them here and consider them "reported".  

There's a little exclamation point in a triangle icon on the post.  Click it, and that'll send a report to the mods to look at it.


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## MichaelSomething (Sep 26, 2011)

It seems Enworld's Blog section is getting overwhelmed by spammers!  I report what I can but they just keep coming!


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## jaerdaph (Sep 26, 2011)

In Soviet Russia, spam reports YOU!


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## Scott DeWar (Sep 26, 2011)

MichaelSomething said:


> It seems Enworld's Blog section is getting overwhelmed by spammers!  I report what I can but they just keep coming!




I know what you mean. I have been trying to get there to report as well. I have not been able to do much there for a few weeks, but I am glad to see others are also checking the blog spam. It is quite ridiculous at times.


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## Umbran (Sep 26, 2011)

jaerdaph said:


> In Soviet Russia, spam reports YOU!




Don't laugh.  Sometimes spammers report themselves.


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## Banshee16 (Sep 26, 2011)

Are the two posts about wedding dresses supposed to be on the homepage?  Or are they spam as well?

They seem a little out of character for the site...

Banshee


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## Umbran (Sep 26, 2011)

They were spam, and have been eliminated.


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## Lanefan (Nov 26, 2012)

vofolfhem said:


> ...spam...



Reported.

Lan-"spam in a thread about spam, now that takes stones"-efan


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