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Spam/phishing. What is being done?

Tags:
  • Phishing
  • Tom's Hardware
  • Spam
Last response: in Forum Feedback
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June 6, 2013 5:43:55 PM

Hi guys... OK so I was wondering. All these comments on every damn article advertising BS get rich schemes. Is someone working on it?

I have an idea IF they are bots... Which they seem to be.

More about : spam phishing

June 6, 2013 10:56:30 PM

Report them! Mods will attack them post-haste if you hit "Report abuse" on those threads.
June 6, 2013 11:31:00 PM

jpishgar said:
Report them! Mods will attack them post-haste if you hit "Report abuse" on those threads.


While I do do that. Prevention is better than cure.

Do you know if they are bots?
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June 7, 2013 6:26:31 AM

Some of them, but mostly, it's manually written and executed spam from Bangladesh and China. Always be sure to hit Report Abuse when you see it. You can get a badge for doing that, as well. :) 
June 7, 2013 9:16:02 AM

jpishgar said:
Some of them, but mostly, it's manually written and executed spam from Bangladesh and China. Always be sure to hit Report Abuse when you see it. You can get a badge for doing that, as well. :) 


LOL badges don't mean much to me... But I do do it... Well if its not a majority bots then my idea is useless... LOL thanks for the reply.
June 9, 2013 5:56:23 AM

I had suggested a while ago a system be implemented where we would have a black list, and a white list of URLs. Any post containing a link to an external site would be automatically hidden from view until reviewed by a moderator, except those links on the white list.

The white list would contain such sites as Newegg, YouTube, venders and OEMs like Asus etc, and would be allowed without need for moderation. Whereas the blacklist would contain URLs rejected by mods.

After say, 5-10 OKs by mods on any one URL, it would be added to the white list and would no longer require us to moderate any post containing that particular URL. The same would go for the black list but in reverse - any URL being rejected by the moderation team 5-10 times, would be added to the black list. Any future post including that particular URL would simply be deleted automatically.




This is the best I can come up with, though I think it may cause more grief than it's worth, and there's ways around it. For example putting spaces or brackets in the URL to break it up as to not be recognized by the filter.

Until a system like this can be properly designed to cover all angles, and is in fact implemented, as Joe mentioned above - just report the post. It will be taken down shortly, and the user banned.
June 9, 2013 6:21:12 AM

Novuake said:
Do you know if they are bots?


Whether they are or not, if we are being specifically targeted there is very little prevention that can be done without causing severe inconvenience to members. CAPTCHA is ineffective in the vast majority of cases, and any newer techniques are eventually thwarted by CAPTCHA-breaking services which are manned by underpaid workers.
June 9, 2013 9:34:21 AM

randomizer said:
Novuake said:
Do you know if they are bots?


Whether they are or not, if we are being specifically targeted there is very little prevention that can be done without causing severe inconvenience to members. CAPTCHA is ineffective in the vast majority of cases, and any newer techniques are eventually thwarted by CAPTCHA-breaking services which are manned by underpaid workers.


Fair enough, I was thinking more along the lines of a trust system. But hey, its still based on some sort of captcha verification.
June 12, 2013 10:59:01 AM

This is along the same lines but i've seen some very old topics that these phishing/spam users tend to use (i did report one already) but are there any guidelines on posting in old topics such as this one: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/1415-46-win2000-suck ?

I don't want to report someone who just commented on an old topic but i will report anyone who seems to just advertise something out of the blue on really old topics which leads me to believe they are bots with a search protocol to post any message that relates to what they are trying to sell or for phishing purposes.
June 12, 2013 9:09:57 PM

Those same underpaid workers defeating CAPTCHA requirements are the ones posting spam. Our efforts in removing spam is picking up, and we're targeting wider area bans as of late. Should be some considerable improvement in the short term. :) 
June 13, 2013 4:53:53 AM

jpishgar said:
Those same underpaid workers defeating CAPTCHA requirements are the ones posting spam. Our efforts in removing spam is picking up, and we're targeting wider area bans as of late. Should be some considerable improvement in the short term. :) 


Awesome. It was getting seriously out of hand about 2 months ago... :pt1cable: 
June 18, 2013 12:17:31 AM

Novuake said:
Awesome. It was getting seriously out of hand about 2 months ago... :pt1cable: 

Still seems somewhat out of hand to me. Getting tired of looking at updates only to see either spam or nothing new because the spam got deleted before I had a "chance" to see it.

A simple and effective way of putting an end to it would be to add SMS verification to the account creation process: spammers or whoever pays them wouldn't be able to create more accounts than the number of cellphones they own. But that would suck for anyone who does not own one for whatever reason or people inheriting a banned number.
June 18, 2013 1:41:18 AM

InvalidError said:
Novuake said:
Awesome. It was getting seriously out of hand about 2 months ago... :pt1cable: 

Still seems somewhat out of hand to me. Getting tired of looking at updates only to see either spam or nothing new because the spam got deleted before I had a "chance" to see it.

A simple and effective way of putting an end to it would be to add SMS verification to the account creation process: spammers or whoever pays them wouldn't be able to create more accounts than the number of cellphones they own. But that would suck for anyone who does not own one for whatever reason or people inheriting a banned number.


Not to mention it would frustrate new users...
June 18, 2013 5:36:12 AM

That would certainly work to a point, but it, as Novuake mentions there, be a big burden and issue for newer users.
June 18, 2013 5:39:48 AM

jpishgar said:
That would certainly work to a point, but it, as Novuake mentions there, be a big burden and issue for newer users.


Well I am certain we can continue brainstorming for some kind of idea... I will lightbulb soon enough.
!