Spam post warning Feb 20

[Zak33]

Lo people of HEXUS

The spammers are getting a little better- today I have cleared out loads of quite well worded posts, but they're in the wrong context of the thread they're posted as replies in.

The bot software being used, after signing up by human, and trying tp make it past our first line of blocks, is copying replies from other forums and pasting it here, using thread content and title to try to match the two together. Be aware please.
Don't just jump on a rude or offensive reply immediately.... ponder it.... and maybe click the new users name and see what else thay have posted recently. Then report the thread and we will sort.

I have just deleted a load of garbage that was well written but uttery discontected to the theme of the threads and most was very positive, congratulatory and supportive.. but one was down right rude tbh... and it's not a person. It's software taking someone elses offensive statement and using it.

Once they get a foot in the forum door, those users go quiet.. and then a few months, or a year later, they come back and post with URL's tucked away in their posts to try to drive traffic and improve SEO for other people's websites. It's a harsh old world.

Our team here are pretty good as spotting spam- it's a sense we gain over many years. Spider sense tingles.. and then we do a few checks. There are websites devoted to stopping forum spam. We try hard - please help us by not beibng mortally offended by rude comments, becaus once the thread kicks off... the google, baidu and bing spiders crawl all over it and see it as "good and busy" and that helps the little scrote who spammed it to the top.

And we don't like little to help these dreggs of humanity.

Cheers all

[Saracen999]

Noted, and will do.

This has been around for quite a while, albeit maybe on a more limited scale. They may well have stepped up their campaign.

I dealt with some here and there, and it was some time back since I stood down. So there might be some that have already been seeded and dormant fir a while. one of the cheeky beggars also "said" something I thought I'd said, and upon checkjng, I had said it. That specific account didn't last long after that.

[[GSV]Trig]

Wonder if there will come a day where AI bots will actually take part in threads and have meaningful input, imagine if you were searching for some help in a thread and a bot jumped in and did all of the background Google'fu for you and posted a reply..

[Zak33]

Wonder if there will come a day where AI bots will actually take part in threads and have meaningful input, imagine if you were searching for some help in a thread and a bot jumped in and did all of the background Google'fu for you and posted a reply..

that will occur - 100%

people will be scammed by bots.

[ik9000]

that will occur - 100%

people will be scammed by bots.

In the meantime it's just pre-planned junk like the following right?

Dear <insert user name>,

<select option//

• Clearly the issue is <insert google search ref>
• Try doing what I said before
• Did you even bother reading my post
• I refer you to my previous answer
• FFS you 1W tungsten filament incandescent pearl bulb with screw thread attachment, you are clearly incompetent, incapable, or instrasigent. Kindly log-off the forum and desist from re-frequenting here again.
• But the Nazi's tried that and it didn't work
• I'm the greatest, all bow before me in wonder
• Ah, but you need to read the small print
• That is an ecumenical matter
• You're welcome.

//>

which to be fair, that's 25% of general internet forum content anyway going by my luck in searches

[kalniel]

You look like a thing and I love you*






*https://aiweirdness.com/post/1593029...lines-that-are

[Ttaskmaster]

I have just deleted a load of garbage that was well written but uttery discontected to the theme of the threads and most was very positive, congratulatory and supportive.. but one was down right rude tbh...

Ahh, so that's why all my posts have been vanishing lately!!