# What sort of hack/scam can this be? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 6, 2010, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-hack-scam-can-this-be/559667 "2010-11-06T03:54:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-hack-scam-can-this-be/559667/1 "2010-11-06T03:54:00Z")
Some people have registered at my website but never posted a single thing. What’s weird is that users don’t have to register to post or to browse the site. The only benefit to registering is that, if you post, your username gets associated with your submission. So, is there a hack that can be achieved only by attempting to register for a website? Does the activation email that the website sends them potentially contain some information that hackers can use to hack into a site? That is, do these guys register for a bunch of websites, checking for vulnerabilities, and once in a while find the information they need to hack the system? Of course, it could be that some of these people registered but changed their minds, but given the number of them, it seems a bit unlikely. Also, I Googled some of these usernames and found them being registered on other websites with zero posts. Any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-hack-scam-can-this-be/559667/2 "2010-11-06T13:41:19Z")
Perhaps they register for a bunch of sites in bulk, most of which do require registration to post. Yours doesn’t, but it’s easier to register for all of them than to find out which ones they don’t really need to register for, and single them out. … Step 3: profit. (maybe step 2 is the spam posts we see here now and then, with a poster registered a while ago more believeable than one who just registered. I dunno. At least you got a bump.) ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-hack-scam-can-this-be/559667/3 "2010-11-06T15:44:51Z")
The SDMB has a LOT of people who register, and then never post, for whatever reason. We require email confirmation, which weeds out a lot of the stupider human spammers and spambots, but even the ones who complete the confirmation often just never get around to posting. If I look at a page of new registrants, I never see more than half of them with one or more posts…and quite frequently the percentage is lower than that, even if I go back several pages. So, all I can tell you is that your experience is not unique. ---
**Author:** ![enigmatic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@enigmatic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enigmatic)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-hack-scam-can-this-be/559667/4 "2010-11-06T16:09:59Z")
It’s also possible that some of them are harvesting user details. Registering for a forum is often required to access user detail pages. ---
**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-hack-scam-can-this-be/559667/5 "2010-11-06T17:47:05Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > even the ones who complete the confirmation often just never get around to posting. Yeah, these are the ones that puzzle me the most. They register, and then click on the confirmation email to complete their registration, and then never post. I think some people just change their minds and don’t post, but I suspect that for some of them, registering is a sort of probe into a website, and depending on the info they get from the registration process, they can see whether the website is vulnerable to hacking or not. ---
**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-hack-scam-can-this-be/559667/6 "2010-11-06T17:54:21Z")
> [@enigmatic](#): > > It’s also possible that some of them are harvesting user details. Registering for a forum is often required to access user detail pages. Good point, I hadn’t thought of that. ---
**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-hack-scam-can-this-be/559667/7 "2010-11-06T17:57:23Z")
After some searching, I found [this discussion](http://www.stopforumspam.com/forum/t782-called-spammers-register-never-post%3F), which shows that this is common, and is often done by spammers and/or bots for a variety of reasons. For example, one reason mentioned is that “botnets register these accounts in bulk at different sites and then sell them to spammers” ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-hack-scam-can-this-be/559667/8 "2010-11-06T21:30:29Z")
Some people register to claim their name. I registerd Markxxx with a lot of sites just to make sure if I ever wanted to post I’d have claim to one name all over the Internet. I found out it’s not really a good thing to do, and dropped it for every site but this. ---
**Author:** ![CatherineZeta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@CatherineZeta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CatherineZeta)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2010, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-hack-scam-can-this-be/559667/9 "2010-11-07T02:02:43Z")
I’m one of those infrequent posters. I’ve been a lurker for nearly 4-5 years…I just enjoy “listening” so to speak…I like reading posts and hearing all of your anecdotes, etc., but I don’t feel a huge need to contribute. I finally registered so I could use the search function and have the ability to post if I want to ask a question that I can’t easily find the answer to on Google or if I want unbiased opinions (as in, opinions from people who don’t know me personally therefore would be more likely to give an honest answer). Also, maybe someday I will feel a huge need to contribute. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2010, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-hack-scam-can-this-be/559667/10 "2010-11-07T02:21:28Z")
> [@CatherineZeta](#): > > Also, maybe someday I will feel a huge need to contribute. You mean like in this thread? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![CatherineZeta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@CatherineZeta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CatherineZeta)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2010, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-hack-scam-can-this-be/559667/11 "2010-11-07T02:41:53Z")
Indeed! I’ve actually been inspired to contribute to a few threads tonight. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2010, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-hack-scam-can-this-be/559667/12 "2010-11-07T18:32:54Z")
Yes, I’ve seen you. Welcome. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2010, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-hack-scam-can-this-be/559667/13 "2010-11-07T22:23:25Z")
I registered here so I could use the “go to first new message” function on threads I was reading. It makes lurking much easier. Posting a reply…which I’ve actually done twice today, makes lurking more difficult. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-hack-scam-can-this-be/559667/14 "2010-11-08T01:13:59Z")
I lurked for a few months before I finally decided to register, too. But I did it because y’all were pay to post, and I didn’t want to start posting here, like it, and not be able to continue posting (since I didn’t have a credit card). When I finally registered, I had to make up an excuse to post so that I wouldn’t feel stupid. My lurking habits quickly declines, as you can see by my post count. ---
**Author:** ![mattwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@mattwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mattwan)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-hack-scam-can-this-be/559667/15 "2010-11-08T02:49:20Z")
I registered here to use the search function, I think. This should be my first post.