Sorry about all the spam!

[GoodCat]

Aleesha and I have been away for a little bit, but I'm back now and took care of all the spam I saw. Sorry about all that spam. It should be better now!!

Cathy :heart

[delmar]

Thanks. It was looking a bit crazy.

[walnutty]

Yeah! Thanks!

[Aleesha Sattva]

Yes sorry folks I'm in Brazil... I'm working on a bunch of spam now.

[Aleesha Sattva]

I'm off to class... hope I got it all.

(((hugs))) to everyone!!!

[buffalogal]

Thank you for all your efforts to keep the spam off this great website! I'm sure it can get pretty frustrating!

[robh]

was it raw vegan SPAM, I hope?

[Raw Angel Mom]

Glad that i missed that, lol.... i was away too. It can gets crazy at time but you are doing a fantastic job all of you. Thank you for keeping this board a great place to come.

[The Sproutarian (Mr Raw)]

l wonder why people post spam in languages that hardly any English speaker would be able to read? Do people seriously do this for a job. You would think common sense would tell these people to at least interpret it into English when posting on a forum such as this.

[MysticTree]

l wonder why people post spam in languages that hardly any English speaker would be able to read? Do people seriously do this for a job. You would think common sense would tell these people to at least interpret it into English when posting on a forum such as this.

I don't think common sense applies because I think once an ID is set up, a lot of the actual posting is done by a program.

[The Sproutarian (Mr Raw)]

ah yes, l recall hearing that. That explains it. Some spammers also [from previous experience] also provide links and get paid per click. l just wish no-one would click on the obvious spam, but people still do. lt must be a very low strike rate when spamming sites, like really...does anyone actually buy stuff from these spammers who post random messages (the ones who don't get paid per click)? Surely the ones who don't post links mustn't be making much money; it's a terrible form of marketing.

Some forums are set up where people can't start a thread until they make a certain amount of posts. But l suppose it wouldn't work here because there are always new posters who seek advice.

[MysticTree]

ah yes, l recall hearing that. That explains it. Some spammers also [from previous experience] also provide links and get paid per click. l just wish no-one would click on the obvious spam, but people still do. lt must be a very low strike rate when spamming sites, like really...does anyone actually buy stuff from these spammers who post random messages (the ones who don't get paid per click)? Surely the ones who don't post links mustn't be making much money; it's a terrible form of marketing.

I know I don't but yes, I expect there are those that do :(
Mostly fake stuff, often fake sites. Always a rip-off of one sort or another!

[Living Food]

Yeah, we were starting to get more spam posts then real posts!

Do you get rid of the posters as well as their posts? Because right now I see a lot of spammers online:

"jefapalups"
"jefaqujygw"
"jefarysywx"
"jefawohinv"
"teujefacejojc"
"teujefaguqotl"
"teujefamotizn"
"teujefavewamp"
"tameAcrommole"

I do wonder why people spam about things completely incongruous with the site they're on.

[MysticTree]

I don't see them getting banned but the forum allows those in charge to subject spammers posts to the moderation queue. There by the membership of the forum remains high but the nuisance is lowered. I don't know if this is applied as I don't track any of the spammers (better things to do) and sometimes they have such similar names.

[GoodCat]

I ban (get rid of the poster and their post) when ever I see them on the forum. If they are on the blogs, I can only delete them, and then ban them later.

We are just getting an abnormal amount of spam lately. Not sure why. And their names are always changing and are almost identical to eachother.

Its crazy, but hopefully we'll get a handle on it sooner then later :)

Cathy

[MysticTree]

Would it be possible to implement some of the anti-spammer measures such as restricting links in posts until a certain number of posts are reached for example. People who tried to spam up to that level would soon be spotted and thus never reach the magic post number. Those who were obviously genuine could be granted a fast track to full privileges. Just a thought.

[GoodCat]

I totally agree but its not my call. Hopefully something like that will happen in the future :)

Cathy

[MysticTree]

I totally agree but its not my call. Hopefully something like that will happen in the future :)Cathy yes, I realise it's not up to you but it would make your job much easier and I would imagine there are better measures now than 6 or so years ago when I was modding a forum of the same sort.

[streetsurfer]

Thank you Sweethearts!

[MysticTree]

still going strong ... your modding fingers must be exhausted.

[ReneeH]

Yea... Stevelol is today's troll...

Appreciate your efforts mods!!! :-)

[GoodCat]

Thanks everyone... Yes.. I need to do finger stretches in the mornings ..lol.. Crazy spammers!

[laughalways]

Thank you...it appears to be a never-ending job this week. You are appreciated!

[Living Food]

I don't know if this is applied as I don't track any of the spammers (better things to do) and sometimes they have such similar names.

I happened to be checking who was online and saw how 4 people had such similar (and nonsensical) names, and so did another 4 people, so I checked them out (took all of 2 minutes) and posted their names in case it would help the moderators.

[Aleesha Sattva]

Unfortunately we can't ban someone unless they actually spam the boards. After all, there are members here currently who's usernames seem "spammy" and it wouldn't have been very welcoming of us to ban them before they posted LOL

We are hopeful though that this run of spamming will come to an end soon. Usually it's in January but this year it was mild then... so I guess they all decided to switch it up to August. LOL

Just keep hitting the little triangle whenever you see spam and notify us. It makes our job much easier and quicker! We sooooooo appreciate your help. (((hugs)))

in light,
Aleesha
Admin

[MysticTree]

Why won't you use the anti-spam functions? They help enormously.

[The Sproutarian (Mr Raw)]

l've just seen one bloke today who has spammed this site 34 times already. Why 34 times? Why not one or two times instead?

[Aleesha Sattva]

We do Mystic. We use all the ones at our disposal. Obviously, it's not enough though.

And I agree Mr. Raw... crazy!

[MysticTree]

You don't use new member posting restrictions, you don't ask new members to write a short bit of blurb about why they want to join and then activate their membership. Just restricting new members from posting links until they have posted say 25 posts makes a difference. This forum has always got more spam on it than any other forum i have ever been on. When you operate a global forum with all the mods (2 i think) in one country you can't keep the forum clean without using the forum functions and settings to help you more.

[Aleesha Sattva]

I agree Mystic. I don't have the ability to add any more than we are currently using. I'm hoping we can get better restrictions soon. Trust me, this isn't fun for us - we have other things to do other than check for spam every few hours. But alas, it's what we need to do at this time in order to keep things cleaned up for all of you.

We really our doing our best with what we have at our disposal. I am hopeful we'll have more at our disposal soon.

[laughalways]

You have done a great job with the spam. Thank you for cleaning up the forum!

[Aleesha Sattva]

Thanks for reporting it to us.

The hardest ones for us to find is the ones within the threads. When it's a spammer starting a new thread it's easy for us to spot. So keep reporting those ones inside the threads and we'll keep deleting them!

Thanks everyone!!!!!!!!!

[drraw]

The ultimate irony... lol.

--drraw

[Aleesha Sattva]

I know eh! LOL

34 spam messages in this thread... gone. *delete, ban, delete, ban...*

[The Sproutarian (Mr Raw)]

Some more nonsense in our highly important `sprouting thread'. Two in a row.
http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?64973-Sprouting!&p=702971#post702971

[Traceyraw]

was it raw vegan SPAM, I hope?

LOL.

tracey

[Aleesha Sattva]

Some more nonsense in our highly important `sprouting thread'. Two in a row.
http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?64973-Sprouting!&p=702971#post702971

Searching huge threads looking for spam takes a lot of time - can you please hit the little black triangle with the ! in it instead (on the spam post) and notify us?

[MysticTree]

Even just a temporary measure of moderating the first 10 posts from new members would spare us some of the filth that is on here tonight and no more work than having to search out the spam in the first place. If you think genuine users would be pit off signing up just think how many don't because they see a forum drowning in some of the nastier spam there is - for often up to as long as 12 hours.

[delmar]

I hope they ban
GepKneefavate really soon and ban his IP address!

[MysticTree]

I hope they ban GepKneefavate really soon and ban his IP address! and his freedom to own a camera and actually his freedom fullstop. I guess that's a bit beyond Aleesha's powers though.

[delmar]

maybe they should make all the regulars moderators until this attack is over.

[MysticTree]

This attack would already be over if there was new member moderation, membership approval, no link posting for new members.

[delmar]

This attack would already be over if there was new member moderation, membership approval, no link posting for new members.That seems needed! Also on the forum I help to moderate we have a feature called "one touch ban and clean". With the push of one button it gets rid of the offending spammer, deletes all his posts and bans his IP address.

[Raw Angel Mom]

Also, a minimum of 1-2 min before we can post a second post would discourage spam

[Living Food]

Also on the forum I help to moderate we have a feature called "one touch ban and clean". With the push of one button it gets rid of the offending spammer, deletes all his posts and bans his IP address.

That is very needed here...I think we've gotten more spam posts then normal ones in the last 24 or 48 or so hours.

[walnutty]

Holy Hell!!! There are 15 "spam" threads under "Forum Announcements and Assistance" right now!!!

[The Sproutarian (Mr Raw)]

Searching huge threads looking for spam takes a lot of time - can you please hit the little black triangle with the ! in it instead (on the spam post) and notify us?

ah yes, l had never noticed that ! function until now. l also notice that the link l provided didn't actually go directly to the post l thought it would have, it just went to the general thread instead. Sorry about the hassle.

[The Sproutarian (Mr Raw)]

That is very needed here...I think we've gotten more spam posts then normal ones in the last 24 or 48 or so hours.

lt always goes in cycles with forums. Sometimes they may go on for months, and other times you don't see any spam for a long time. l remember on one forum l was at years ago, we had months of porn spam, pictures and all. So yes, it could always be worse.

[Aleesha Sattva]

All in all folks we get very little spam. This is not the norm so saying people won't sign up on the forum because of it... all I can say is "like the diamond ring through the dog, this too shall pass." LOL

Alissa has someone working on upgrading the forum and the spam issues... I'm hoping it's done very soon.

My internet is back up (I moved yesterday)... so I'll be doing what I can with Cathy to keep you all as spam free as possible.

[streetsurfer]

Thank you and Bless You! It's all good. You know us healthy eaters are a little more patient than the rest of society (at times....or at least we strive to be). I am still able to get the nourishment I desire whenever I come here to read. You all ROCK!:kisses:

[drraw]

lt always goes in cycles with forums. Sometimes they may go on for months, and other times you don't see any spam for a long time. l remember on one forum l was at years ago, we had months of porn spam, pictures and all. So yes, it could always be worse.

I'm not too sure about that. My experience from admin and member on various forums is that once they find a door open and the moderators fail to close it, the spam just gets worse and worse until it starts scaring off real members.

--drraw

[MysticTree]

The first 5 and a half pages of blogs are all spam.
RobH mentioned adding Capcha to help solve the problem. He mentions it on this months challenge thread.