Invasion

[curlyoak]

To those of you that do clean up on our website a big thank you! 

I did not know what a tamu was. Now that I know I will never do business with them. I dont understand how this bs helps their business. Or why?

Is there a software that we can collectively pay for to keep our site clean?

[Mark J]

Now there is spam in the Off Topic sub forum, posted by a new "member".  I thought members had to be on the forum for some time before having access to the Community section?

[Beechwood Chip]

On 5/4/2025 at 7:35 AM, curlyoak said:

Is there a software that we can collectively pay for to keep our site clean?

I think that there are ways to upgrade the site software to get a more effective CAPTCHA, automatically moderate new accounts, etc, but that's up to the admins.

[Von]

I recall Marc has said he's open to trying something if we can identify it. I've poked around for Invision Community add-ons without luck (not that I'm at all expert).

[Beechwood Chip]

This is ridiculous!  I'm checking every 5 minutes or so and banning at least one spammer whenever I check.  I'm going AFK (Away From Keyboard) for a bit, so you might see a bunch of spam pile up.

(Yes, I know I need to get a life, but that's a whole nother issue.)

[Ron Swanson Jr.]

On 5/14/2025 at 2:31 PM, Beechwood Chip said:

This is ridiculous!  I'm checking every 5 minutes or so and banning at least one spammer whenever I check.  I'm going AFK (Away From Keyboard) for a bit, so you might see a bunch of spam pile up.

(Yes, I know I need to get a life, but that's a whole nother issue.)

And to think, in the late 1980s, Bill Gates predicted that we'd use the Internet for research and education; and we'd be a wiser and better informed society as a result. 

Swing and a miss there, Bill. 

[Mark J]

2 hours ago, Ron Swanson Jr. said:

And to think, in the late 1980s, Bill Gates predicted that we'd use the Internet for research and education; and we'd be a wiser and better informed society as a result. 

Swing and a miss there, Bill. 

+1

[fcschoenthal]

Boy, they were busy last night.

[Von]

I think there is a pattern of them hitting hard on the weekends. My guess is hoping admins won't ban them as quickly as during the workweek.

[Mark J]

On 4/27/2025 at 8:55 AM, wtnhighlander said:

@Mark J, they way I read the forms, I believe it means of a user account gets 3 'strikes', they are blocked from posting until mods take action. I don't think it matters if those strikes are 3 other members reporting against one post, or one member reporting 3 posts, or any combination.

Based on the above, I've been making 3 reports if I'm on the forum and see a spammer pop up.  Hopefully, I'm shutting them down, and not just sending the mods excess email notifications.

[Von]

On 5/17/2025 at 6:51 AM, Von said:

I think there is a pattern of them hitting hard on the weekends. My guess is hoping admins won't ban them as quickly as during the workweek.

Well, this morning certainly erodes that theory. Thanks again to the mods.

[Mark J]

Yeah, got on this morning and found a full page of spam in the general forum - multiple fake users.

[Mark J]

I'm curious, does anyone know if this is happening on any other forums? 

[drzaius]

None of the forums I frequent are having this issue.

[fcschoenthal]

On 5/19/2025 at 8:59 AM, drzaius said:

None of the forums I frequent are having this issue.

+1

[difalkner]

On 5/19/2025 at 8:59 AM, drzaius said:

None of the forums I frequent are having this issue.

If you're not a moderator or admin on those forums it may be happening but being caught by filters and not visible to members.  As a mod and admin on about seven other forums I can tell you that we're seeing it although it tends to come in waves.  Presently I am seeing it more here than on other forums, though.

[drzaius]

Do you remember how the Knots forum on the FWW site got? Absolutely full of spam, but the forum admins did nothing about it. The forum soon became entirely useless.

[difalkner]

I had forgotten about that forum; that's been out of mind for ages now.

[JohnG]

I remember Marc opening the forum to 'guest' posts a while back. Are these spammers using that feature or are they fully registered members? 

 

[wtnhighlander]

36 minutes ago, JohnG said:

I remember Marc opening the forum to 'guest' posts a while back. Are these spammers using that feature or are they fully registered members? 

 

All I have seen were using fully registered accounts. Apparently it is possible to create an account and submit multiple posts withing a very short time span, under the current configuration.

[Mark J]

I wonder if we could/should require a delay (say 10 min) from registration to first post.  

Another thought is that new members would have to wait, say 10 to 30 min, between posts, until they have posted, say 3 times.

[Beechwood Chip]

It depends on what features are available in the forum software, Invision Community. 

[wtnhighlander]

Starting to feel more like 'InvAsion' Community. 

[Coop]

Yep! 

[Mark J]

I just saw like 5 invader posts in the off topic area.  I thought new members didn't have access to that area until they had gained some experience points?