# SDMB should do something about the spammers **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [April 19, 2018, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-should-do-something-about-the-spammers/812698 "2018-04-19T09:55:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2018, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-should-do-something-about-the-spammers/812698/21 "2018-04-19T18:18:17Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > Like Col, above, I am astounded he keeps it up. He CAN’T be making much - if anything - from it. I can’t imagine it’s salaried work. It must be performance based and I don’t think there can be much performance. > > . . . But what if he IS on salary? And what if he’s a fan, and like so many of us, reads the SDMB at to escape his boring work? So any time his supervisor comes by he just flips his screen and starts typing a SPAM post . . . :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2018, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-should-do-something-about-the-spammers/812698/22 "2018-04-19T18:32:00Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Is it possible restrict new users from editing posts? But we _don’t_ restrict new users from posting links (although other sites do), so his making posts without links and then editing them in is just wasted effort on his part. He’s using a strategy adapted to other boards that is pointless on this one. So we wouldn’t gain anything by this strategy. As \*\*engineer \*\*says, he also makes dummy posts as a strategy for boards that require a certain number of posts before posting links, even though that also is wasted effort on his part. > [@CarnalK](#): > > Maybe the SDMB is his spam testing lab. It’s populated enough to be useful and has a good active moderator to member ratio. So anything that works here for a while will be great on a board with less attentive moderation. As noted, he doesn’t seem to pay much attention to what strategies we use. He does a lot of stuff that takes more effort even though we don’t use that particular method of blocking spam. And as I mentioned, these days he almost never tries to post more than one message from a given username/email address. He abandons them and generates new ones even before the previous one is banned. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2018, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-should-do-something-about-the-spammers/812698/23 "2018-04-19T18:51:19Z")
I see spam less than once a month on the SDMB. I guess I don’t get around much. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2018, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-should-do-something-about-the-spammers/812698/24 "2018-04-19T19:05:00Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I see spam less than once a month on the SDMB. > I guess I don’t get around much. You probably don’t get up early enough. I’m at work and beginning to kill time on the internet at 6:00 AM East-coast time, and there will be up to a half dozen or so posts in GQ, typically with a subject line that advertises Android phones but the body is a bunch of links to alleged streaming sites. The posts are disappeared by 7 or 8 -ish. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2018, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-should-do-something-about-the-spammers/812698/25 "2018-04-19T23:27:55Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > You probably don’t get up early enough. I’m at work and beginning to kill time on the internet at 6:00 AM East-coast time, and there will be up to a half dozen or so posts in GQ, typically with a subject line that advertises Android phones but the body is a bunch of links to alleged streaming sites. The posts are disappeared by 7 or 8 -ish. Yep. The guy in Bangladesh is posting while I sleep. Sometimes **ecg** is awake due to insomnia and fries the little bugger. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-should-do-something-about-the-spammers/812698/26 "2018-04-20T12:45:00Z")
Would it be possible to restrict the ability to edit posts? Make it Members only or something? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-should-do-something-about-the-spammers/812698/27 "2018-04-20T12:57:15Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Would it be possible to restrict the ability to edit posts? Make it Members only or something? I can see one spammer buying a membership and sharing the login info. The Marketplace will become a vast swamp of spam. (not entirely serious) 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-should-do-something-about-the-spammers/812698/28 "2018-04-20T15:49:51Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Would it be possible to restrict the ability to edit posts? Make it Members only or something? See posts #19 and #22 above. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-should-do-something-about-the-spammers/812698/29 "2018-04-20T16:56:52Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > It’s not difficult to implement a solution so that new members can’t post links - … There are various methods to combat spam. The above is one of them. Another method is to hold a member’s first few posts until a moderator has checked it. Each methods has its advantages, and its flaws. It is sometimes very inconvenient for new members of a forum if they can’t post a link. I remember one time a couple of years ago when I wanted advice on a particular repair job. I registered at a DIY forum to ask, but was blocked from linking to photographs of the problem. I prefer the way it’s done on the SDMB, where new members aren’t stymied the way I was. The price of that is occasionally a spam message gets through. It’s just something we have to live with. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-should-do-something-about-the-spammers/812698/30 "2018-04-20T17:21:57Z")
Right. We regard the current level of spam we get as annoying but not sufficiently bad to justify implementing solutions that might discourage new members. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-should-do-something-about-the-spammers/812698/31 "2018-04-20T17:25:43Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Another method is to hold a member’s first few posts until a moderator has checked it. It should be noted that this solution would actually make a lot _more_ work for the mods. As it is we only check suspicious or reported posts. If we had to check every single post by a newbie it would cost a lot more time for no real benefit. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-should-do-something-about-the-spammers/812698.md?page=1)