What's with the recent uptick in TV show spam?

[MikeS]

For the last few weeks GQ has seen a few spam threads a day (on average) advertising some kind of "watch TV shows online" service. Presumably other fora are seeing this too, although since I spend most of my time in GQ and SDC I haven't seen one outside of those two.

I assume that the mods are aware of this and have been thinking about how to stop it, but I figured I'd ask: Are there any measures that can be taken to cut down on this? Are the posts coming from a consistent set of IP addresses that could be blocked? Or is the situation more complicated than that?

[samclem]

It's more complicated than banning a few IP addresses. We ban 'em but they're using more than you can imagine. Many come from India, where life(and human spammers) is/are cheap.

We're very frustrated with it.

[aldiboronti]

Unfortunately forum spam is one of the growth areas on the net. It's expanded exponentially over the last few years and all boards, large or small, suffer from it. I have to say the staff here do a remarkable job in keeping this place spam-free, it can't be easy keeping up with all the new dodges these pests use to sneak in.

[Digital is the new Analog]

Originally Posted by samclem

It's more complicated than banning a few IP addresses. We ban 'em but they're using more than you can imagine. Many come from India, where life(and human spammers) is/are cheap.

We're very frustrated with it.

Maybe we should fight fire with fire, and start an offshore Banning Corp?



-D/a

[srzss05]

Just so that this place doesn't feel special, the exact same posts are happening on other boards I read, and for far longer than a few weeks.

[dropzone]

Is there a way we can monetize incoming spam?

[Digital is the new Analog]

Does SDMB make money by showing ads, or by people clicking on them? We might already be monetizing them.


-D/a

[TubaDiva]

No, it's just low level spammers trying to make a dishonest living.

[GreasyJack]

They don't even post in the right forums. "Catch tonight TV shows online" should really be in Cafe Society, whereas "biggest europe cup match" should be in the Game Room.

[Musicat]

Originally Posted by GreasyJack

They don't even post in the right forums. "Catch tonight TV shows online" should really be in Cafe Society, whereas "biggest europe cup match" should be in the Game Room.

Right -- we need spammers with integrity, who read the FAQ. That'll happen.

[Khendrask]

Disallow any post with links by someone with under 10 posts.

[Musicat]

Originally Posted by Khendrask

Disallow any post with links by someone with under 10 posts.

I don't think that is a solution. It may stop them from creating active links, but it won't stop them from posting. I don't think the problem is merely the links.

I've seen this used on other boards, and it makes it hard for new but legitimate users to participate. Besides, what's to prevent a spammer from making 10 quick posts before the mods catch 'em?

[Turek]

nm

[Czarcasm]

Originally Posted by Khendrask

Disallow any post with links by someone with under 10 posts.

This would mean first-timers couldn't provide a link to the proper column in CoCC/SR.

[MikeS]

Originally Posted by Czarcasm

This would mean first-timers couldn't provide a link to the proper column in CoCC/SR.

Unlike the current state of affairs, where they rarely do anyway.

[Marley23]

Originally Posted by Musicat

I've seen this used on other boards, and it makes it hard for new but legitimate users to participate. Besides, what's to prevent a spammer from making 10 quick posts before the mods catch 'em?

Spammers and bots often make a couple of innocuous posts before dumping their spam on the forum, although that's not what these TV show spambots are doing. Anyway there's no particular cause in this very annoying uptick as far as I can see. Just a new bot or something. We're banning the email domains and IP addresses when it's possible and looks like it'll be effective, and we're hoping that helps.