Every time I look at the forum the most recent posts seem to be spam. So for a newbie 2 questions:
1) why can't this be prevented?
2) what on earth do they spammers gain? The spam messages seem to be links to reddit, so even if one were to follow the link what is the benefit to the spammers?
Spam messages infiltrate all forums. I never click on any of the links. My understanding is that if you don't have good firewall protection clicking on the links can leave your computer open to all kinds of issues.
As I understand it as long as someone signs up with a legitimate email address, the program has no way of knowing that it is a spammer. I do think some types of posts are flagged but until the webmaster and crew see it it will stay out there. As you may notice most of these posts are done on weekends and holidays when there is no one monitoring the forum.
Bill G
happy trails.
I just "Reported" 6 spam posts on the "Tips & Trips Reports" "Rick Steves Tours". All from different posters but all similar and all using
"reddit" to click thru. We all need to be watchful and "Report" these spams.
Hi Charlie: They do seem to get deleted, but from what I've been able to tell, they're only deleted 5 days/week during business hours.
A lot of spammers are paid per post. And the longer those posts stay "up" on a site, the more frequently they'll spam it. No doubt about it, the rascals have been very busy here lately! But you folks here are smart enough not to feed them, and wise enough not to click on any URLs. They're annoying, though.
Any time you post a reply, like what they can do with their links, it brings the thread to the top. Better, find a legit post below them and reply to it, bringing it up above the spam.
I wonder if there is a way for a number of regulars (no more than five, I would think) to be moderators on the weekends and nights, and have the power to delete posts. Then, the deleted posts by the "volunteers" would go to a special Inbox where the Webmaster can then make the final decision regarding the post (restore it or delete permanently).
Honestly though, I miss out on all theses spams I think. I rarely see them, and ignore them if I do. Someone must be taking care of them by the time I log on!
The new "report" link at the bottom of all posts (you see it after you sign in) makes it very easy to report spam to the webmaster. It wasn't hard before, but now it is REALLY easy. Whenever I see a topic title that looks questionable, I check out the post and report it if it is inappropriate. These things seem to run in cycles, with a 2-5 day period of LOTS of spam then a week or two (or more) with little to no spam.
Just reported my first potential spam. It was super easy to do.
The problem remains in full bloom.
They are posting faster than the spam can be deleted by the web staff. Yesterday I reported 5 spams one right after another. Went back to General Europe, and 6 more had popped up while I was reporting the first five!
I don't know why they bother doing this because none of us are going to click on their links!!
Thank you for all your hard work, Andrew, Kate, and the Web Crew!
