Spam Attacks

[Elisa]

The spam is going on much longer than anticipated (Elias' says) b/c he and I were just talking about it. Doesn't anyone know about bots out there, and can help fix this problem.

[jrnyc]

there seems to be a few repeat offenders...2 or 3 "forum member"
names keep popping up..often with a green symbol under their "forum name"...
i do not know how they managed to join this forum under false pretenses...
i wish there was a way to block their posts once everyone realizes that they
are not scoli patients or anything near to that but simply disgusting spammers
using a forum meant to help people with spinal problems....

i do not understand how any organization could possibly think ANYONE would buy
anything they are selling or promoting once they try to use this forum for their
own selfish greed....
how stupid, selfish, greedy, deceitful....and what a waste of time!
i take it that this spam is generated from some hackers' computers...?

jess

[mamandcrm]

New spam member today...

can tell by the nonsense name. Maybe can zap before it gets started?

[LindaRacine]

They've figured out a way to bypass the normal registration process, so there's currently no way to avoid having them register.

[jrnyc]

they have no right using a patient help forum to "point" to their
websites...
that IS advertising!!

jess

[LindaRacine]

Just a reminder to folks to NOT click on any links in anything that appears to be spam. The same spammers appear to be coming back again and again, and I fear that is because they are tracking clicks. If no one clicks on links, there will be no benefit to spammers to continually posting.

Thanks!

[jrnyc]

this "annockams" group must be the worst of the spammers here...
do they not recognize how alienating spam is to people on this forum...?
do they believe they can sell anything this way???
i don't get it....?

jess

[LindaRacine]

Unfortunately, my hands are tied. I do not have the ability to delete or ban users, and I cannot remove posts when there are >50 (he's managed to post 180 over night). I've sent a message to the NSF, but I don't think they read email over the weekend. For the time being, I would recommend everyone refrain from posting, as your posts will surely get lost amongst all the crap.

Sorry.

[LindaRacine]

Oh, and please, if you see this, don't report any more posts until we get annockams under control, as they are just filling my email.

Thanks.

[rohrer01]

Haven't reported any today. But will refrain in the future. Thanks for letting us know.

[LindaRacine]

It's OK to report them normally, but when there are a lot, it gets a little overwhelming. Thanks.

[Singer]

Holy crap -- three pages of spam this morning!!

[titaniumed]

Could this be a spambot?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spambot

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forum_spam

Ed

[LindaRacine]

You know, I thought it was, but I'm not certain. It's got to be partially automated. Whatever it is was smart enough to figure out that I was not deleting messages as soon as they were posted after about 10PM every night.

[rohrer01]

I'm wondering if they damaged the program on the server. I can't block the spammers, or at least I can't block annockams. When I update the block list, it won't do it. If it does work, I find it unblocked the next day. It's getting very frustrating. I think that stupid green symbol has something malicious attached to it, as ALL of the spammers seem to have it. That is probably how they are getting into the system.