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What to do if you see a spambot

Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 6:09 am
by Aury
Several spambots managed to get past the registration question and didn't have blatantly obvious email accounts (as its unfortunately all I can see) recently, and I just wanted to post a reminder on what you should do if you encounter a suspected spambot post:

1) Don't reply to it
2) Use the 'report post' button
3) Contact an administrator [By administrator, I mean anyone with User Administration abilities, which includes all Global Moderators]

Re: What to do if you see a spambot

Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 1:00 pm
by rincewind
What is a spam bot?

Re: What to do if you see a spambot

Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 2:11 pm
by Chase
Yea. How do you tell the difference between a regular user and a spambot?

Re: What to do if you see a spambot

Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 2:35 pm
by Aury
Well, its hard to tell before they actually start posting: generally the bots have email addresses that are blatantly bots if they do get caught prior to activation. Otherwise... they manage to post, and the post is always highly irrelevant: generally, its both highly irrelevant and constructed in proper English. Blatant bots will have spam links and advertisements. Less blatant bots will just have mostly irrelevant topics, and I will suspend their accounts pending response from them if they are bots or not.

Re: What to do if you see a spambot

Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 4:38 pm
by Chase
So, like, we would be talking about fish for example and am 'unnamed' user comes on and say's "click here for a real deal on package tours!" right?

Re: What to do if you see a spambot

Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 5:45 pm
by Aury
Yeah, stuff like that, or you are say, talking about space stations, and suddenly someone comes in and asks a question about... installing a computer monitor.

Re: What to do if you see a spambot

Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 7:09 pm
by Chase
Ah. I see, ok thanks for telling us about what to look for. Will keep it in mind for the future. :D

Re: What to do if you see a spambot

Posted: Thu May 19, 2011 4:29 pm
by Aury
After a little... incident... this morning, I would just like to re-emphasise that you should not respond to the bots.

Also, I am changing the entrance question.

Re: What to do if you see a spambot

Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 2:14 am
by Song
Looks like I need to stop advertising those cheap Viagra deals in my profile. Damn. :evil:

Re: What to do if you see a spambot

Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 3:16 am
by alterecco
Shrike wrote:Looks like I need to stop advertising those cheap Viagra deals in my profile. Damn. :evil:
Yeah, damn... there goes my prime supplier :roll:

Re: What to do if you see a spambot

Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2011 5:28 am
by FAD
Users browsing this forum: FAD, Yahoo [Bot] and 0 guests
Saw this down at the bottom of the page where it says "Who's Online"
Are we using a Bot tracker now?

Re: What to do if you see a spambot

Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2011 6:36 am
by Matt
Shrike wrote:Looks like I need to stop advertising those cheap Viagra deals in my profile. Damn. :evil:

lmfao

Re: What to do if you see a spambot

Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 4:23 am
by Battle voyager
Wolfy wrote:Yeah, stuff like that, or you are say, talking about space stations, and suddenly someone comes in and asks a question about... installing a computer monitor.

Re: What to do if you see a spambot

Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2013 10:28 pm
by KA101
Just noticed someone with no avatar, etc posting a Dos Equis meme in the ODM Alarm thread:
http://forums.kronosaur.com/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=5086

Wasn't sure if that's an actual spambot or an amusing spam-replacement. Any insights?

Re: What to do if you see a spambot

Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2013 10:37 pm
by RPC
Ah yes, probably a spammer. Why didn't I notice that o.o