Just a curiousity question

[Little Bill]

I see a lot of posts/threads that have been deleted, giving "spam" as the reason for deleting. Maybe a stupid question, but what is the spam and how do you determine it is?
Thanks

 

[tryinghard]

It's minced up ham

 

[augie47]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spam_(electronic)

 

[Little Bill]

It's minced up ham

Thanks, but that didn't satisfy my curiosity:roll:!

 

[480sparky]

Most likely, it's advertising.

Probably related to the electrical trade.

Sometimes, they're peddling high-dollar tennis shoes or cell phones.

 

[Little Bill]

Most likely, it's advertising.

Probably related to the electrical trade.

Sometimes, they're peddling high-dollar tennis shoes or cell phones.

That helps! Is it individuals or robot machines doing this?

 

[480sparky]

That helps! Is it individuals or robot machines doing this?

I would assume, since the first posts must be approved by the mods here, that it's a person doing it. Otherwise, the mods wouldn't allow it, so the spammer is probably changing (editing) the post after it's approved.

But, since I'm not a mod, I'm just shooting in the dark here.

 

[hurk27]

Of the few I have got to see look like Bots, the fact we have great mods here that do a great job of keeping this stuff out shows in how little we see of any of these postings (we just see the aftermath:grin:
I have modded a few forums and know how hard it can be to catch it, or keep up with it, while two or three step signing up to the forum can stop allot of this, they still make better Bots that can weave right through even the best defense.

 

[hurk27]

I would assume, since the first posts must be approved by the mods here, that it's a person doing it. Otherwise, the mods wouldn't allow it, so the spammer is probably changing (editing) the post after it's approved.

But, since I'm not a mod, I'm just shooting in the dark here.

There is a program called Quick Macro, it can be programed to do just about anything you can do with a keyboard or mouse, and it can use direct machine language to operate at a faster speed, while this is not the only use or program, a Bot can be made to mimic just about any person and do it on its own automatically, I have seen them sign up to a forum in droves (a good sign of an impending attack) wait for a confirmation e-mail then make its own post or several to mimic a real member, then after a sleeper timeout start spamming.

Very hard to detect or stop.

 

[hurk27]

Here is a link to Wikipedia on the subject of forum spam that might help:

Forum_spam

 

[480sparky]

There is a program called Quick Macro, it can be programed to do just about anything you can do with a keyboard or mouse, and it can use direct machine language to operate at a faster speed, while this is not the only use or program, a Bot can be made to mimic just about any person and do it on its own automatically, I have seen them sign up to a forum in droves (a good sign of an impending attack) wait for a confirmation e-mail then make its own post or several to mimic a real member, then after a sleeper timeout start spamming.

Very hard to detect or stop.

You seem to be very (cough! cough) well versed in the matter.

 

[Little Bill]

Here is a link to Wikipedia on the subject of forum spam that might help:

Forum_spam

Thanks Hurk, great link. And thanks to the rest of you before "curiosity killed this cat."

 

[hurk27]

You seem to be very (cough! cough) well versed in the matter.

Not meeeeee

 

[charlie b]

Most of the threads that I have closed due to their being spam have been attempts to advertise a product. I have deleted ads for everything from shoes and watches to "good pharm" products. Some of the spam threads contain links to a web site, and others show a list of products and their prices. When I see that another moderator has deleted a thread, I usually read the original post, out of simple curiosity. It is usually the same sort of thing.

 

[G0049]

...the fact we have great mods here that do a great job of keeping this stuff out...

Not only are they great, they have a sense of humor. About 6 threads below this is one deleted by Roger. Reason? "Long winded spam"! Add my thanks to them for all their work keeping this herd in line.

 

[broadgage]

I am a moderator of another forum.
On that forum I view the details of all new members, this will often give a clue as to whether they are real or spammers.
Links in the profile to advertising websites are a bit of a giveaway, as are certain geographical locations.
Usernames like "phonesforyou" or super discount anything are an obvious giveaway.
I suspect that a lot of spam is from automatic programs, though some is human generated.
A post containing no new information or enquiry is a bit of a giveaway, some spammers build up a post count by qouting say 10 existing posts and simply saying "great information, thanks for sharing" They later edit such posts to contain an advertising link.

 

[raider1]

Every first post from a new member of the forum is shown as "Moderated" which means that it is not visible to the general membership only the moderators can see this posts and thread. This allows a moderator to see if the member or the post is spam or not. We get quite a few spam post from spambots and from actual people.

This set up is more work for the moderators but results in less undesirable posts and threads.

Chris

 

[Little Bill]

Every first post from a new member of the forum is shown as "Moderated" which means that it is not visible to the general membership only the moderators can see this posts and thread. This allows a moderator to see if the member or the post is spam or not. We get quite a few spam post from spambots and from actual people.

This set up is more work for the moderators but results in less undesirable posts and threads.

Chris

Can you post one of the deleted posts and take out the link just so some of us curious people can see what you have deleted. Nothing dangerous or vulgar, just a routine delete that you make.

 

[roger]

Very hard to detect or stop.

We're well beyond that.

Roger