Re: Spam on the rise

chirpa · ‎2012-09-30

I see spam posts are starting to get out of control. Moderators like mdgm already clean up 99% of it. I'm leaving the recent ones up, in hopes that NTGR will realize that cutting back on resources of maintaining this site properly is a mistake.

mdgm-ntgr · ‎2012-09-30

I've already suggested some anti-spam measures that could be implemented that would be very effective in cutting down spam but so far they haven't been implemented (only admins can implement them). I know they work because I've seen them in action on another forum. All it took to find out about them was a quick google search. As phpBB3 is very common software to use for forums it's unsurprising that some tips to cut down spam have been developed and I'd expect more to be made over time as spam bots find ways to get around anti-spam measures.

beisser1 · ‎2012-10-01

im deleting spam myself if i notice it. cant be everywhere at the same time though.

mdgm-ntgr · ‎2012-10-01

The point is though that by implementing some simple measures and by having a larger group of active moderators (either sourced from NetGear or the community) this problem could be effectively dealt with so that hardly any spam gets through.

What currently happens is unsustainable and believe it or not I can't be on the forum at all times so having some effective anti-spam measures in place is very important.

PapaBear1 · ‎2012-10-01

I am glad that there are several member mods, as I thought initially that only the admins were moderating. Of course that could have been because either Yoh-Dah or Chirpa were covering it.

chirpa · ‎2012-10-03

mdgm and beisser have been the 99% to clear the spam on here in the recent months. Jedi's have all but disappeared from contributing 😞

beisser1 · ‎2012-10-04

just deleted a ton of spam 🙂

keep reporting it when you see it. makes it much easier to spot the report in the moderator panel.

mdgm-ntgr · ‎2012-10-04

The thing is though that if new better anti-spam measures were implemented there would be less spam made public than there is now.

beisser1 · ‎2012-10-05

mdgm wrote:
The thing is though that if new better anti-spam measures were implemented there would be less spam made public than there is now.

sure thing, but i have no control over this. i only have super-mod rights, but cannot modify the forum in any way.

chirpa · ‎2012-10-06

For the crazy amount of Global Moderators that now exist, I'd expect better spam control, and assistance to customers.

memberlist.php?mode=leaders

Looks like around 20 new L2 agents onboard now. #learningcurve #engrish?

chirpa · ‎2012-10-06

The signatures of some say 'CSS Corps', which is one of the outsourced tech support agencies used for L1 and L2.

chirpa · ‎2012-10-06

I just removed around 30 posts of spam. Was tired of seeing new replies in threads I watch.

PapaBear1 · ‎2012-10-07

Viewing profile - NouttospitRor has 57 Spam posts spread through the forums. This has gotten serious. He started at 10 minutes before noon (EDT) and finished at 12:32 PM (EDT).

Meanwhile, Viewing profile - durosmoro, has 15 spam posts in Russian (cyrillic alphabet) spam posts still on from last night.

There are scattered others, Irrerewoofews, has one in Russian date stamped 6:14AM this morning (EDT).

I Pre-Sales, we have spammers replying to spammers!

How can someone register and post 57 spam posts in the first 40 minutes after they register? Most forums limit the number of posts of a new member for a few days or so. A spam post on this forum used to be very rare, and even on major forums 57 posts by one spammer is unusual.

chirpa · ‎2012-10-07

OOM-9 changed the Anti-Spam question on sign up, made it even easier for the bots to register.

chirpa · ‎2012-10-07

I cleaned up those bots. Also changed some of the antibot signup questions.

Until NTGR steps up with proper forum admin, this is going to keep happening.

chirpa · ‎2012-10-07

And again, with the massive influx of L2 global moderators, I'd expect there hardly be any spam with them on here cleaning it up. And since they are global around the world (such as the lovely India call centers), there should be coverage on all timezones.

AMRivlin · ‎2012-10-07

Netgear is slipping. Can we just implement the "Report Post" button and after 3 clicks the post is deleted.

After an IP is responsible for 3 reported posts, they are banned, subject to human review.

chirpa · ‎2012-10-07

I would agree to that. But it still takes someone at NTGR to implement it, I no longer have access to the server since I left NTGR.

chirpa · ‎2012-10-07

I pruned a bunch of spammers again this evening, since NTGR doesn't care to.