This morning, the plague thought to be cured all the way back in March-April again appeared.
Threads like this are appearing in every single section, made by users with 10 posts being the same thread. And they are much more frequent as well - every single time I check the main page, at least one or two are on the "Recent posts" tab.
Really, this needs to be fixed. How about a word filter that blocks even the creation of threads with "gift code", "giveaway", "free" and similar taglines in their names/content but with a notice that you can report this to a moderator so he can approve of it (so that infrequent real giveaways will have a chance to live)?
Forum staff could simply add a filter (without announcing it) that if the title contains specific words, such as "gift codes", the post does not get made and the user receives an automatic +1 infraction point.
Forum staff could simply add a filter (without announcing it) that if the title contains specific words, such as "gift codes", the post does not get made and the user receives an automatic +1 infraction point.
This is why this would not work.
How would the filter distinguish:
Can I gift people minecraft?
Yes, you can gift minecraft by buying a minecraft gift code from minecraft.net
to
I am giving away 500 gift codes if you sign up for this site spamspamspametc
Both would get picked up, the filter does not understand context.
We have reported the spammer to the VPN/private server service they are using and continue to block any new IP address ranges the spammer is using. A solution is being put in place to filter this out.
We have reported the spammer to the VPN/private server service they are using and continue to block any new IP address ranges the spammer is using. A solution is being put in place to filter this out.
I reported them to Google last night, as they own Blogspot on which the spammers were hosting their redirects to the survey scam sites.
When the spams started showing up again this evening, I saw that they still had their Blogspot account.
I also followed the link to the first survey they pop up (using Firefox with NoScript enabled on the site). It balked about me blocking their javascript. Since allowing it would have been foolish, security-wise, I just closed the page.
This type of scam will ask you for personal information they can use for marketing purposes, or your mobile number so they can bill you $9.95/week for useless services you don't really need, or worse the scammers will try to drop actual malware.
Even when I frist saw these spams I was 100% certain this was a scam, and that there were no free gift codes.
We have reported the spammer to the VPN/private server service they are using and continue to block any new IP address ranges the spammer is using. A solution is being put in place to filter this out.
Glad to hear that its quite annoying to be reporting that stuff.
We have reported the spammer to the VPN/private server service they are using and continue to block any new IP address ranges the spammer is using. A solution is being put in place to filter this out.
Marched into FD to give someone what-for and it looks like you're already on it. Yay!
They just need to simply ban the spammers IP address. But at the same time... I feel that nothing is going to work. So basically minecraft forums is ruined? :/ I can't even look at the "mods" section because of these damn posts.
If so then it must be really bored person , the profiles been coming up every 10-15 min for last several days .
Then it should be made activation of the account via e-mail .
These spammers make money from users using their gift codes sites (through the requires surveys) so they have an incentive to spend their time and money manually creating accounts and posting.
I made some changes earlier to hopefully reduce them and it seems to have helped somewhat.
Threads like this are appearing in every single section, made by users with 10 posts being the same thread. And they are much more frequent as well - every single time I check the main page, at least one or two are on the "Recent posts" tab.
Really, this needs to be fixed. How about a word filter that blocks even the creation of threads with "gift code", "giveaway", "free" and similar taglines in their names/content but with a notice that you can report this to a moderator so he can approve of it (so that infrequent real giveaways will have a chance to live)?
With todays technology people bypass all the anti-spam equipment on the forums easily.
This is why this would not work.
How would the filter distinguish:
to
Both would get picked up, the filter does not understand context.
If all else fails
Lock the forums
Mostly moved on. May check back a few times a year.
I reported them to Google last night, as they own Blogspot on which the spammers were hosting their redirects to the survey scam sites.
When the spams started showing up again this evening, I saw that they still had their Blogspot account.
I also followed the link to the first survey they pop up (using Firefox with NoScript enabled on the site). It balked about me blocking their javascript. Since allowing it would have been foolish, security-wise, I just closed the page.
This type of scam will ask you for personal information they can use for marketing purposes, or your mobile number so they can bill you $9.95/week for useless services you don't really need, or worse the scammers will try to drop actual malware.
Even when I frist saw these spams I was 100% certain this was a scam, and that there were no free gift codes.
Glad to hear that its quite annoying to be reporting that stuff.
Marched into FD to give someone what-for and it looks like you're already on it. Yay!
Though why are they spamming only the Mods forum, but none of the others?
Mods section is the most visited section of the site.
Or maybe a modder called the guy a n00b or something.
I did so for a second time, which is telling me that they are not doing anything about it.
there is captcha...
and yes, they are human
there is activation by email
I made some changes earlier to hopefully reduce them and it seems to have helped somewhat.
Anyone who appears to agree with the OP in any of these spams and has less than 10 posts is most likely a scammer shill.
This,
Since we don't post the bot owner decides to bump it.