Notice Regarding Spam Posts

harveyc · 02-19-2016, 02:20 PM

Shortly after 8am an alert was posted by a member about numerous spam posts. I got to work on it quite quickly, deleteting 346 spam posts but quickly learned more were being posted by other users with the same IP address. I banned all 13 or 14 users but could not afford taking any more time to delete what appears to be at least a couple of thousand posts. I sent am email to forum owner/admin Jarred (MediaHound) in hopes he could use some mechanism to delete them more readily as well as block this IP address from future attacks.

We do not need any more alerts from members about the spam messages, I know they are there. I'll work on them as time allows if Jarred doesn't get to them first.

Mark Dragt · 02-19-2016, 11:05 PM

Harvey,
Thank you for the thankless job you do for the org and its members.

CGameProgrammer · 02-20-2016, 12:45 AM

The posts are not the only problem; it's that there's no filter for fake accounts. This one IP is creating thousands of accounts and there's no check to prevent that. There's also no captcha.

harveyc · 02-20-2016, 01:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CGameProgrammer

The posts are not the only problem; it's that there's no filter for fake accounts. This one IP is creating thousands of accounts and there's no check to prevent that. There's also no captcha.

For a period of time we had an annual membership fee which eliminated 100% of this sort of thing but it was somewhat controversial. Once the membership fee was eliminated, it became open season.

I have no control over admin features like that. The last I checked, there were not any other accounts created by this user but I'll keep checking and hope that our admin blocks them.

EDIT: rats, spoke too soon, more users under a different IP address.

Sorry, but I've got to suspend my efforts on this. I just banned the latest round of spammer accounts and will send Jarred another email. This sucks.

crazy banana · 02-20-2016, 01:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by harveyc

For a period of time we had an annual membership fee which eliminated 100% of this sort of thing but it was somewhat controversial. Once the membership fee was eliminated, it became open season.

I have no control over admin features like that. The last I checked, there were not any other accounts created by this user but I'll keep checking and hope that our admin blocks them.

EDIT: rats, spoke too soon, more users under a different IP address.

Sorry, but I've got to suspend my efforts on this. I just banned the latest round of spammer accounts and will send Jarred another email. This sucks.

Thanks for all you do, Harvey.
I would not mind a membership fee if we could eliminate problems like that.

harveyc · 02-20-2016, 11:16 AM

Jarred has said he will look into this problem. Sorry for having to put up with this.

Snarkie · 02-20-2016, 11:59 AM

We all understand. Thank you for your efforts.

I used to be an admin on a huge firearms forum, and we had a ton of mods to oversee things. Each forum had its own group of moderators, plus super moderators that oversaw all forums, and of course, the admins who had full control over everything. I'm sure there enough regulars on here to get a full set of mods to help keep this sort of thing in check.

CGameProgrammer · 02-20-2016, 12:21 PM

A membership fee sucks because that would severely reduce the number of new people joining. Often someone would want to make a quick account just to ask about bananas once, or identify one variety, etc. They won't pay just for that; they'd go somewhere else. Also hardly any forums have membership fees yet they can still combat spam.

You need a captcha for creating accounts, possibly a captcha for creating new threads, and if you want you can require either a certain amount of time to pass or a certain number of posts before new accounts are allowed to create threads.

griphuz · 02-20-2016, 12:35 PM

Good luck fighting this crap, much appreciated!
I don't understand why people write scripts like this,...what's there to win?

Kind regards,
Remko.

Mark Dragt · 02-20-2016, 12:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by griphuz

Good luck fighting this crap, much appreciated!
I don't understand why people write scripts like this,...what's there to win?

Kind regards,
Remko.

I agree. What's the prize? What's the goal? Are these users upset at the org? Did they eat a bad banana? Pointless posting!

37.667910 · 02-20-2016, 01:18 PM

Bunch of idiots

Snarkie · 02-20-2016, 02:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark Dragt

I agree. What's the prize? What's the goal? Are these users upset at the org? Did they eat a bad banana? Pointless posting!

I reported one last month for a babysitter! There are all kinds of spam posts on here, but this one looks like a targeted hit. I don't think it's ire against this forum; just a flood that probably hit a lot of forums.

To them, if they make one sale out of it, it is worth the effort. In all honesty, how many of us have actually followed a spam link on email at some point? It does work, and that is why they continue to use it.

I hate captchas; I can't read them half the time. There is an alternative that asks you to answer a simple question, like "What is the Name of This Site" or "2+2=", or "The Cat in the ____".

JP · 02-20-2016, 03:29 PM

Many thanks! Your work is appreciated.

Mark Dragt · 02-20-2016, 05:00 PM

Do all of these spam posts have to be deleted one at a time? Or can a user name and all the posts that go with it be deleted all at once? If it's one at a time, that's a lot of work for the moderators.

harveyc · 02-20-2016, 05:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark Dragt

Do all of these spam posts have to be deleted one at a time? Or can a user name and all the posts that go with it be deleted all at once? If it's one at a time, that's a lot of work for the moderators.

I'm able to delete 25 at a time, but I still couldn't keep up unless I could stay at it full time. I'm sure Jarred can figure out another way, he's quite experienced at dealing with such things.

HMelendez · 02-20-2016, 08:09 PM

Thank you harveyc!.....Your effort is appreciated!.....

crazy banana · 02-20-2016, 08:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CGameProgrammer

A membership fee sucks because that would severely reduce the number of new people joining. Often someone would want to make a quick account just to ask about bananas once, or identify one variety, etc. They won't pay just for that; they'd go somewhere else. Also hardly any forums have membership fees yet they can still combat spam.

You need a captcha for creating accounts, possibly a captcha for creating new threads, and if you want you can require either a certain amount of time to pass or a certain number of posts before new accounts are allowed to create threads.

I agree that membership fees suck, but oftentimes they are well worth it.
It might sound a little snarky, but how many times have we seen the same questions asked over and over, even though the answers were already there and just needed a little search. Or PMs with questions that were covered many times before or would have been interesting to other forum members. Bottom line, some forums just burn themselves out by letting new people in without limitations, subsequently leading to lower quality questions, answers and discussions. I would hate to see that happen to bananas.org.

Snarkie · 02-21-2016, 12:08 PM

Thanks to CraigSS who translated the characters and determined that this is advertising Cambodian casinos.

Gabe15 · 02-21-2016, 02:49 PM

What a bummer. I noticed it not long after it started and thought maybe I could try and delete some and ban the users, but as Harvey stated, the extent is way too extreme, and it's kind of pointless until we can figure out how to stop it from happening.

Snarkie · 02-21-2016, 03:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gabe15

What a bummer. I noticed it not long after it started and thought maybe I could try and delete some and ban the users, but as Harvey stated, the extent is way too extreme, and it's kind of pointless until we can figure out how to stop it from happening.

It's a drastic measure, but you can check the IP addresses and ban the entire slate until you set up a checkpoint like Captchas.

For example, if you determine they're all coming from Yahoo accounts, block all new accounts with Yahoo addresses for the next few days until you can get it under control. It's drastic, but temporary.

02-19-2016, 02:20 PM	#1 (permalink)
harveyc Been nuts, gone bananas harveyc's Photo Gallery Location: Isleton, Calif Find me on the map! Zone: 9b Name: Harvey Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 5,119 BananaBucks : 308,999 Feedback: 5 / 100% Said "Thanks" 6,025 Times Was Thanked 4,460 Times in 1,896 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 1,785 Times	Notice Regarding Spam Posts Shortly after 8am an alert was posted by a member about numerous spam posts. I got to work on it quite quickly, deleteting 346 spam posts but quickly learned more were being posted by other users with the same IP address. I banned all 13 or 14 users but could not afford taking any more time to delete what appears to be at least a couple of thousand posts. I sent am email to forum owner/admin Jarred (MediaHound) in hopes he could use some mechanism to delete them more readily as well as block this IP address from future attacks. We do not need any more alerts from members about the spam messages, I know they are there. I'll work on them as time allows if Jarred doesn't get to them first. __________________

02-19-2016, 11:05 PM	#2 (permalink)
Mark Dragt Location: Rochester,Wa Find me on the map! Zone: 8 Join Date: Apr 2015 Posts: 823 BananaBucks : 40,632 Feedback: 2 / 100% Said "Thanks" 3,357 Times Was Thanked 1,718 Times in 635 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 332 Times	Re: Notice Regarding Spam Posts Harvey, Thank you for the thankless job you do for the org and its members. __________________ Mark's Banana Forest Paradise Last edited by Mark Dragt : 02-19-2016 at 11:07 PM. Reason: misspelled word

02-20-2016, 12:45 AM	#3 (permalink)
CGameProgrammer Location: San Diego, CA Zone: 10b Name: Ed Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 49 BananaBucks : 12,018 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 3 Times Was Thanked 62 Times in 21 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 0 Times	Re: Notice Regarding Spam Posts The posts are not the only problem; it's that there's no filter for fake accounts. This one IP is creating thousands of accounts and there's no check to prevent that. There's also no captcha.

02-20-2016, 11:16 AM	#6 (permalink)
harveyc Been nuts, gone bananas harveyc's Photo Gallery Location: Isleton, Calif Find me on the map! Zone: 9b Name: Harvey Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 5,119 BananaBucks : 308,999 Feedback: 5 / 100% Said "Thanks" 6,025 Times Was Thanked 4,460 Times in 1,896 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 1,785 Times	Re: Notice Regarding Spam Posts Jarred has said he will look into this problem. Sorry for having to put up with this. __________________

02-20-2016, 11:59 AM	#7 (permalink)
Snarkie The Cat Whisperer Location: Charlotte, NC Zone: 8b, pushing 9a Name: D.A. Hänks Join Date: Dec 2014 Posts: 2,119 BananaBucks : 166,652 Feedback: 5 / 100% Said "Thanks" 1,218 Times Was Thanked 1,976 Times in 1,145 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 1,049 Times	Re: Notice Regarding Spam Posts We all understand. Thank you for your efforts. I used to be an admin on a huge firearms forum, and we had a ton of mods to oversee things. Each forum had its own group of moderators, plus super moderators that oversaw all forums, and of course, the admins who had full control over everything. I'm sure there enough regulars on here to get a full set of mods to help keep this sort of thing in check. __________________ Doug (D.A. Hänks) http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2955582/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1 The Only Eastern Redwood Forest in America "Nuke my 'nanners, will you?!"

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02-20-2016, 12:21 PM	#8 (permalink)
CGameProgrammer Location: San Diego, CA Zone: 10b Name: Ed Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 49 BananaBucks : 12,018 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 3 Times Was Thanked 62 Times in 21 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 0 Times	Re: Notice Regarding Spam Posts A membership fee sucks because that would severely reduce the number of new people joining. Often someone would want to make a quick account just to ask about bananas once, or identify one variety, etc. They won't pay just for that; they'd go somewhere else. Also hardly any forums have membership fees yet they can still combat spam. You need a captcha for creating accounts, possibly a captcha for creating new threads, and if you want you can require either a certain amount of time to pass or a certain number of posts before new accounts are allowed to create threads.

02-20-2016, 12:35 PM	#9 (permalink)
griphuz Cold-tolerant collector griphuz's Photo Gallery Location: Netherlands Find me on the map! Zone: 7 - 8a Name: Remko Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 295 BananaBucks : 88,395 Feedback: 1 / 100% Said "Thanks" 317 Times Was Thanked 290 Times in 114 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 827 Times	Re: Notice Regarding Spam Posts Good luck fighting this crap, much appreciated! I don't understand why people write scripts like this,...what's there to win? Kind regards, Remko.

02-20-2016, 01:18 PM	#11 (permalink)
37.667910 Find me on the map! Zone: 9B Join Date: Jan 2015 Posts: 172 BananaBucks : 19,048 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 164 Times Was Thanked 198 Times in 106 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 44 Times	Re: Notice Regarding Spam Posts Bunch of idiots __________________

02-20-2016, 03:29 PM	#13 (permalink)
JP Location: Trois-Rivières, Québec Find me on the map! Zone: 4 Name: JP Join Date: Nov 2014 Posts: 1,225 BananaBucks : 150,894 Feedback: 3 / 100% Said "Thanks" 1,953 Times Was Thanked 1,690 Times in 815 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 304 Times	Re: Notice Regarding Spam Posts Many thanks! Your work is appreciated.

02-20-2016, 05:00 PM	#14 (permalink)
Mark Dragt Location: Rochester,Wa Find me on the map! Zone: 8 Join Date: Apr 2015 Posts: 823 BananaBucks : 40,632 Feedback: 2 / 100% Said "Thanks" 3,357 Times Was Thanked 1,718 Times in 635 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 332 Times	Re: Notice Regarding Spam Posts Do all of these spam posts have to be deleted one at a time? Or can a user name and all the posts that go with it be deleted all at once? If it's one at a time, that's a lot of work for the moderators. __________________ Mark's Banana Forest Paradise

02-20-2016, 08:09 PM	#16 (permalink)
HMelendez The Banana Gang Enforcer Zone: 10B-11 Join Date: Aug 2014 Posts: 2,750 BananaBucks : 204,998 Feedback: 5 / 100% Said "Thanks" 11,094 Times Was Thanked 5,279 Times in 1,618 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 737 Times	Re: Notice Regarding Spam Posts Thank you harveyc!.....Your effort is appreciated!..... __________________ HMelendez Photo Gallery

02-21-2016, 12:08 PM	#18 (permalink)
Snarkie The Cat Whisperer Location: Charlotte, NC Zone: 8b, pushing 9a Name: D.A. Hänks Join Date: Dec 2014 Posts: 2,119 BananaBucks : 166,652 Feedback: 5 / 100% Said "Thanks" 1,218 Times Was Thanked 1,976 Times in 1,145 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 1,049 Times	Re: Notice Regarding Spam Posts Thanks to CraigSS who translated the characters and determined that this is advertising Cambodian casinos. __________________ Doug (D.A. Hänks) http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2955582/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1 The Only Eastern Redwood Forest in America "Nuke my 'nanners, will you?!"

02-21-2016, 02:49 PM	#19 (permalink)
Gabe15 Moderator Gabe15's Photo Gallery Location: Oahu, Hawaii Find me on the map! Zone: 12 Name: Gabe Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 3,892 BananaBucks : 13,375,807 Feedback: 5 / 100% Said "Thanks" 1 Times Was Thanked 8,243 Times in 2,200 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 8 Times	Re: Notice Regarding Spam Posts What a bummer. I noticed it not long after it started and thought maybe I could try and delete some and ban the users, but as Harvey stated, the extent is way too extreme, and it's kind of pointless until we can figure out how to stop it from happening. __________________ Growing bananas in Colorado, Washington, Hawaii since 2004. Commercial banana farmer, 200+ varieties.

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