I copied this from another forum I frequent and thought it would apply to our latest member.
Folks, all forums on the net get spam. They keep finding better and better ways to get in, regardless of your security precautions. And with more and more jobs being 'outsourced' to other nations, particularly third-world ones, it's now economically feasible to hire real people to register at forums and thus defeat a lot of measures set up for automated spam.
The good news is that most spam is 'hit-and-run,' and relies on the automated functions most forums offer: in particular, "Subscribe to this thread."
Knowing that, we have a _slight_ tool in our favor. Sadly, it's a double-edged sword.
See, they join, then they run away, and wait for someone to either go "Hey, you know, I'd like to learn how to make elevem million dollars watching TV. That's why I joined this crochet forum, after all; let me ask this MAKECASHNOW124 for more information." As soon as a reply is posted, then the forum notifies that member that a reply has been posted. They don't come back to answer anything, as they usually include links, etc in their posts.
But what they _do_ like to do is record the address that generated the hit. Maybe it's someone interested in the add, maybe it's someone saying "SSSSPPPPPAAAAAaaaaaaAAAAAAMMMMMMmmmmm"
But either way, it's confirmation that they have found an active forum. They can now continue to bombard that forum with even more spam, as well as the money they make selling 'good sites' lists to other spammers.
We update our security measures as often as possible, but it's hard to stay ahead; we need everyone's help.
What can be done?
Well, for one, watch what you say, in terms of vocabulary. In short, no swearing. It's against the rules of this forum anyway, as I find it particularly insulting to the person doing the swearing, and to everyone else on the board whom that speaker has decided has no more self-respect than does the speaker himself.
But beyond the social etiquette, let me offer a very real "'frinstance:"
Every try to remember something you saw on the net, but couldn't recall the name of the site of the address? So you googled a particular phrase or descriptive passage you remembered from that site?
Well Spambots do the very same thing, and sadly enough, that form of 'entertainment' that involves nekkid folks is the most common form of spam out there. Now think about the most commonly-used vulgarities, and consider some of the truly wierd forms of 'entertainment' around there.
The very real 'frinstance:
early in the second incarnation of the board, I got a phone call at seven AM on a Sunday. I don't know what most folks do on Sunday, but as long as I can remember, it's been my only day off from any job I've worked. I can tell you that at seven AM, I am _not_ doing anything that would involve being awake...
While at the dealer the week before picking up an air filter, I had encountered a man and a his sixteen year old daughter picking out riding apparel. They had just ordered her a Rebel. Jim-- the guy behind the parts counter-- knew I had this site and suggested to him that he speak to me. I gave them the (at that time) address, and we discovered that we lived six blocks from each other. In fact, he was the preacher at the church on the edge of the neighborhood. We made some plans to get together after church when his daughter's bike showed up and begin instructing her on riding, then we went our separate ways.
Anyway, before church the next day, she decided to check out 'all the great stuff' that Jim and I had told them were on our site.
First thing she found was SPAM post-- WITH PICTURES!-- of a particular form of 'entertainment' that involved one person emptying their bladder onto another person...
So got a phone call, lots of threats and arguing, lots of appologizing, and I got out of bed and pulled the stuff down.
I got curious as to why this happened and did some searching.
I found out that the word -- well, the word that ordinarily be used in an expression similar to 'that is going to tick me off'-- that word, in various forms, was posted on this board one hundred and seventy seven times!
Wonder what they keyed on...
Seems while doing some house keeping the previous week, I had inadvertantly turned off the word censor.
So watching what we say is a big help, both socially and with spam-related problems.
Another biggie:
Don't reply to any thread with SPAM in it. Don't tell them to leave; don't say "Hey! This looks like SPAM." Whoever left it-- and it's usually an automated thing anyway-- is never going to see what you say. All they are doing is waiting for someone to post. So even if you say "go away, you filthy spammer!" all they see on their end is "Someone has replied to your thread." Which, in Spammish, means "There's activity here! Spam away, and invite all your friends!"
I know we all want to do something about it, and I appreciate that. The best things we can all do is to watch what we say and not reply to any spam post. If you see a spam thread, either alert one of the staff in a PM, or start a new thread with the title "Found SPAM" and give a link to the thread in which the spam is posted. One of us will get it as soon as we discover it.
Thanks folks.
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