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View Full Version : First "report this post" spam


cyburbia
Thu 2nd Feb '06, 10:59am
A few days ago, a new user reported some random post. They had this to say to the subforum moderator:


This is the reason that the user gave:
Engaging New Book on Cuba Celebrates Life!
Just recently published and now available
online or from your local bookstores!
Espaņol Version
To Read About the Author Click Here
CUBA, I REMEMBER YOU/CUBA, TE RECUERDO
[snip]

We're damn tough with spam, with deletion and banning on sight, CAPTCHA enabled, requiring several posts before a user can post a URL, no registration from many free email services, and proactively preventing the use of usernames that are associated for guerilla marketing campaigns on other sites, among many other things. The amount of board spam we get is slowly dropping, and we haven't been hit with PM spam in a while. This is the first time I ever heard of "report this post" spam, though. Were we the first?
KingSpade
Thu 2nd Feb '06, 11:03am
Rather odd to be honest, I don't think I've honestly seen or heard of anyone being spammed from the reporting feature, although I suppose there is a first or next time for everything :).
MrNase
Thu 2nd Feb '06, 11:05am
Well I never got spam on my forums but I highly doubt you were the only one gettig this kind of spam considering it's pretty easy to send those messages out.

If there's not yet an option available one should be able to define per usergroup if they can report a post or not (maybe only after 3 posts or something). That would help you a lot.

Nevertheless: the next question is if the user was registered as a real human or not. I've heard rumors a software can crack the captcha which allows the registration of bots. Those bots can easily spam the report this post function :(
cyburbia
Thu 2nd Feb '06, 12:06pm
Nevertheless: the next question is if the user was registered as a real human or not. I've heard rumors a software can crack the captcha which allows the registration of bots. Those bots can easily spam the report this post function :(

I was under the impression that CAPTCHA decoding for forum spam was done in bulk, by a human, in the third world. A lot of the forum spam I get is from those who register with IPs in India and Pakistan.