Feedback on NI Community
Stopping Spam
@Wolfgang wrote:
Today the CVI forum received more than a dozen SPAM posts, no end in sight - all by the same user. I notified the operator of the first one but then I decided to be too lazy. NI is not even commenting on the discussion here
..
It is sufficient to report one and simply say that there are more by the same user. Long ago I suggested that there should be a "report user" on each user page instead. Maybe there should be a direct menu entry or button "report spammer". These are so obvious that no explanation is needed. After a certain user has been marked by a few active users (e.g. "active" and above), it could automatically hide all his posts until a moderator either clears or deletes them. (Users who misuse that mechanism can be excluded and will no longer be able to participate in the reporting).
Jordan commented briefly here on the lastest spam attack.
@johnsold wrote:
I think that it would be bad to make new users wait. One of the great things about these Forums is that responses are often very quick.
Perhaps more appropriate would be to limit new users to one or two new threads per day. And maybe a limit on how many responses to other threads (not originated by the new user) the new user could post as well. That would frustrate the current spammer(s) without keeping a new user from getting some help promptly.
It is not clear how useful it would be to "frustrate" the spammer. He might just start creating more new user accounts, making the cleanup a little more difficult. As mentioned elsewhere, the forum could just keep him busy by keeping the posts visible to only him. As long as he thinks he is posting successfully, he's not creating new accounts or spamming elsewhere. The posts could be automatically deleted after a few hours. 😄
This seems to be a day where the responsible forum admin has a day-off or "important meetings" so (s)he cannot do it's job on deleting SPAM messages in a proper way…
Come on NI-Lithium: do you really cannot setup filters for those ever-the-same SPAM messages?
Saturday morning had this SPAM issue as well. And here I thought they had it mostly taken care of...
All you need to do is immediately report the spam.
If the moderators can pounce on a spammer quickly, it lowers the incentive to see this forum as a viable target. Spam needs some permancence to be profiltable and spammers are very aware of profits, even though any spam run is very low cost.
(Litihium has apparently implemented some additional checks such that most of the obvious spammers are blocked very quickly and automatically. Only very few get through these days, but fighting spammers is dealing with a moving target that constantly adapts their tactics to get around the new measures.)
Forums users are also encouraged to inspect the profile of new users and report any suspicious profiles. I noticed a recent uptick in new profiles that never post anything, but plaster offtopic spam links on their profile page (cleaning services, debt relief, etc.). Since links are by default hidden, the hired minions are apparently trained to immediately change the privacy options to make the link on their profile visible. Typical SEO tactics that are of no benefit to ni.com.
