spam on the forum

It's not a bad suggestion, although I think they may have some reluctance to take additional steps along those lines (probably out of security concerns over opening up their system, even ever-so-slightly, by granting elevated admin privileges to non-employees; at most places, the IT security staff would veto such a proposal, and with some justification). I agree the problem does seem to be escalating - there seems to be a new wave recently. That said, this seems to happen from time to time, it spikes, then it (usually) wanes after a while. Maybe the current activity will do the same.

FWIW I am online at all hours and see the spam generally hits in the evening PT (so, daytime on the other side of the world, where much of this originates, and after hours here; they've also figured out that the forum is generally not actively staffed over weekends, so FRiday evening spam often lingers until mid-morning PT on Mondays). I report it relentlessly (probably a couple dozen times every day lately).

I've managed many web forums before, it's a constant nuisance in many places. No perfect solution.

As you can see at the bottom of each forum post page, it says "Please do not reply to violations of our community guidelines". By not replying to those threads, they get pushed lower down the list by valid threads that do get replies.

The way some other forum sites work including the one I worked on a decade ago, they have community moderators that are not employees of the company who have been vetted and given the authority to hide posts or no designated moderators but instead a way for all users to report a post and will automatically hide posts once enough users who are in good standing report a post. Then when an employee is on duty s/he can review those and either unhide them if they don't violate policy or delete and take action with OP.

Bob, the "vetted volunteers" has been suggested before.

I'd just be happy with some way to shove them quickly off the front page until an RS moderator can bizbag 'em. Can't think of any good way to do that, currently. Yep, it's a problem on most forums (I've some firsthand experience with forum spam/ad cleanup) and rather than the scoundrels knowing about lack of weekend moderation, I think it's more that we're seeing the amount that the mods usually wipe during business hours during the week. Then again...

The ability to elevate a handful of community moderators (and give them extra powers) will depend on the specific forum software they're running, and how that's set up.

This forum seems quite different from others (structurally), I don't believe it's one of the well-known, off-the-shelf packages that are more familiar to many of us. It's uniqueness is probably a double-edged sword: on one hand, I'm guessing that it's non-trivial to make changes (because they may have to have someone do custom coding work, which is expensive and complicated). That limitation is undoubtedly an annoyance to staff. On the other hand, it probably makes it (at least a little) more secure in that it's not vulnerable to exploits that are targeted at widely-used forum software.

The rub may be that there's no built-in provision for a "community helper" role (or whatever you want to call it) that would allow vetted volunteers to help, which didn't also give them enough access to cause trouble (intentionally or just inadvertently). Any company is going to be very, very cautious about handing keys to someone they don't really "know" (ie an employee). So I'd understand their reticence to open up that volunteer option (although I'd raise my hand if they did).

It's worth remembering that this forum is not a direct revenue-producing asset (although it's definitely valuable). They don't have a big IT department and lots of resources. They're surely trying to keep the cost of running it down.

If you think about it, other than the occasional glut of spam, I don't recall there ever being a major outage, I don't recall ever seeing it has been hacked. That may just be a matter of time, of course (I figure that everything gets hacked eventually). This forum system has been up and running here for a long time. Very likely there's old code, it's not easy to switch, and I can easily imagine sleepless nights in some parts worrying about The Day Something Bad Happens. Lets all hope they have good, frequent backups. :)

At least the spam in Chinese is instantly seen to be just that, spam. Why anyone thinks it is a good idea to post in Chinese on an English language forum is a mystery. If there are any Chinese contributors to this forum, please tell us what the posts are about.

There are five on the Beyond Europe page that just popped up today.
No, I don't want any gold dust, thank you.

At least the spam in Chinese is instantly seen to be just that, spam. Why anyone thinks it is a good idea to post in Chinese on an English language forum is a mystery

I ran the last batch through a translator, and they were all about how to obtain a phony UK diploma. But, they were posted in the - IIRC - Italy reviews! (moused over and looked at the URL info)

I just don't reply to spam, and if possible, reply to posts that will push the spam post down past the 'recent posts section'.

"Why anyone thinks it is a good idea to post in Chinese on an English language forum is a mystery"

Does it have something to do with the algorithms search engines use, so that if you post on more forums, you get put higher in a search? I don't know, but that would explain some of the spam that has lots and lots of descriptor phrases - the kind that get found by the search engine "crawlers."

Again, I don't work in the field, but remember hearing about ways to make things go to the top of a search engine.

The recent Chinese spam have all come from one source (although always new accounts), some idiot who purports to be selling fake diplomas to dozens of universities, scattered across the US, Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand. These all come in after 9 pm Pacific Time, usually between 10 pm and midnight PT, occasionally a few hours later. They stop by 8 am. I'm seeing roughly 10-15 of these every night.

Why do they do it, when it seems so stupid to us? Mostly because they can, and because it costs them nothing. There may be some search engine optimization gaming going on, too, but it's like any other spam: even though the chances of "return" on the investment are extremely low, the cost is effectively zero.

I keep hoping that someday spam will end, once the spammers realize that humanity is not that stupid to fall for their scams. Hasn't happened yet.

I don't really find the Spam to be much of a problem. I report it and then ignore it.

I believe some of the Web team work on Saturdays so the Spam doesn't remain on the forum for too long.

I doubt that the Webmaster will want to open the system up to others as that could cause problems. I wonder if the system is even set up for remote access?

Rather than a vetted volunteer, they could just do something like put a post in ”quarantine” once it is reported x times.

One other thing you can do. Most of these have gmail accounts for their reply, and as such they are all violating gmail and Google's Terms of Service. The fraudulent docs can be used for, among others, terrorism. Report 'em to Google, here's the link: https://support.google.com/mail/contact/abuse If nothing else, hopefully their "services' will be interrupted (at least temporarily) by Google canceling the account.

You shouldn't assume that all these apparently dubious posts are spam or scams. I followed one a few days ago and ended up in contact with a nice lady in Russia who had a really great deal available, provided I had the cash and was able to wire the money to her within the hour.

I admit I was surprised to hear that London Bridge was for sale, especially at such a low price. Now all I have to do is work out where to put it when it arrives.

Can't wait!

LOL, Steve!!!!!

Sometime ago, I suggested a limited access, direct email address that might alert the webmaster to a problem sooner rather than relying on the reported problem feature currently in the system. We use a similar arrangement for emergencies within our family. For us it works pretty well. The risk you run with volunteer moderators is sometimes someone gets over eager and that can cause problems greater than problem you are trying to prevent.

These spammers aren't trying to get purchases from the forum members. I think what's happening is that they know this site is quickly indexed by search engines and has quite high page ranking, so they're using the board as disposable advertising for people who are looking on search engines for things like fake ID or bogus degrees.

Which might explain the annoying practice of numerous identical posts in the same location...

I admit I was surprised to hear that London Bridge was for sale, especially at such a low price. Now all I have to do is work out where to put it when it arrives.

You got scammed. I had already put a down payment on the Bridge before you bought it.

You both definitely got scammed if you were sold London Bridge. This is London Bridge (boring): https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/London_Bridge_Illuminated.jpg
This is Tower Bridge. A non-boring bridge mistakenly called London Bridge by many tourists: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/Tower_Bridge_London.jpg

Now I can really do you a good deal on Tower Bridge!

Many of these posts seem to take advantage of the time difference. Posted on Saturday or just after end of office hours US west coast time. That way they stay "up" through the Asian day, and most of the European day until working hours start on the US west coast.
I like the idea of if you have enough reports (must check the reports are all from different people), then the post doesn't appear in the listings until the webmaster has checked it. That way they don't have to give special access rights out to people in different time zones.

Hi all,

Thanks for your comments and concern. Thanks to Bob, Frank, and others for their ideas. There are many considerations when trying to manage spam and a number of you are quite insightful about the subject, with a particular nod to David. I'll say that we did build our own forum software, but all the old code from the original Helpline system is long gone. I don't like to say much more as I could end up confirming something that can be used against us by spammers. However, I will say that we don't rule out the concept of having volunteer helpers, though we would indeed have to build something to support such a program. In the long term, we try to focus on what we can do to limit spam (and the recurrence thereof) or eliminate it from particular sources (I once blocked a whole country). There are certain things that moderators or automation can do that volunteers couldn't do beyond simple cleanup. To that effect, it is a huge help when you use the Report feature. I can't understate that. I hope that the Report link has been something quick and easy for you to use so that you can move on and continue to enjoy the forum. Thank you thank you to those who take the time to report spam and other guideline violations. We take your concerns seriously, and we'll make it through this spam wave as we've done before.

Thanks, Webbie.

If you ever do do volunteer assistants you know you can count on me for the Europe timezones....

I don't know. Are you sure we can trust a Brit??? We have already decided that the Canadians are a threat so the British cannot be too far behind.

I don't like to say much more as I could end up confirming something
that can be used against us by spammers

Holy Hannah! THAT'S all we need! Shhhhh, ya'll. 🤫

Frank, you're killin' me. LOL.

Count me in if you need another weekend, holiday volunteer.

I prefer mine on spaghetti.

Or fried, as a breakfast side with eggs.
But I will continue to"report"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anwy2MPT5RE

Hahahah!! Thanks webmaster for planting the earworm....

I always like it served with rice wrapped in seaweed with a nice teriyaki sauce.