SPAMers are Creative

[jsburger]

New user Garagebondit joined on 21 Apr 22 and has made two posts. In his first post on 21 Apr he resurrected a 2020 thread "Mouse pad platform for chair arm" in the Beginning Woodworking forum. He edited that one on 12 Dec and added a link. In his second post he resurrected a 2017 thread about LED light bulbs in the Community Forum on 2 May 22. On 20 May he edited his post and added a link.

Both posts were some what on topic but not really in the context of the thread.

Both posts have been reported.

[chapmanruss]

John,

I love seeing new members except when they are spammers. Thanks for your vigilance in helping keep our forum "cleaned up" from these unwanted posters.

[dusty]

What made these posts inappropriate. Why is editing to add a link considered bad for the forum.

I guess my real question is What is SPAM???

Do we have a mutually understood definition for SPAM.

[beeg]

I guess my real question is What is SPAM???

Do we have a mutually understood definition for SPAM.

1. ANY first time poster with any URL in the post,

2. No!

[JPG]

1. I would add non relevant url as a definer. FWIW a relevant url is an endangered species.

[HopefulSSer]

Here's what wiki has to say:

Most forum spam consists of links to external sites with the dual goals of increasing search engine visibility in highly competitive advertising domains such as weight loss, pharmaceuticals, gambling, pornography, real estate or loans, and generating more traffic for these commercial websites. Some of these links may contain code to track the spambot's identity so that if a sale goes through then the spammer behind the spambot can collect a commission.

Spam posts may contain anything from a single link to dozens of links. Text content is minimal, usually innocuous and unrelated to the forum's topic. Sometimes the posts may be made in old threads that are revived by the spammer solely for the purpose of spamming links. Posts may include some text to prevent the post being caught by automated spam filters that prevent posts which consist solely of external links from being submitted.

Alternatively, the spam links are posted in the user's signature, in which case the spambot will never post. The link sits quietly in the signature field, where it is more likely to be harvested by search engine spiders than discovered by forum administrators and moderators.

The last few instances I've seen are in the signature. I never considered the case that the spammer could put the spam links in their sig and never need to post.

[jsburger]

Thank you HopefulSSer. That exactly describes the two posts I referenced in this thread. IMO it is easy to see a first time poster that posts an "on topic" post that is not in context to the thread as a potential SPAMer. Particularly when it is a very old (years sometimes) thread. Then the trick is to lay dormant and add the link weeks or months later when nobody notices. In the case of this SPAMer he added the link to one of his posts 6 months after the original post.

I have started to take notes on the ones that seem suspicious and go back and check.

[dusty]

I guess my real question is What is SPAM???

Do we have a mutually understood definition for SPAM.

1. ANY first time poster with any URL in the post,

2. No!

Non-relative URLs I totally understand BUT if the URL is appropriate for a woodworking site why should it be blocked/banned???

Certainly not simply because it is contained in a "first post"!

[HopefulSSer]

I have started to take notes on the ones that seem suspicious and go back and check.

Same here. If I see one that looks suspicious I open that post in another browser tab and check it every now and then. If it gets edited to add a link, I report it.

if the URL is appropriate for a woodworking site why should it be blocked/banned

Not that I've seen a bunch of examples nor have I been keeping count, but I can't recall a case of a 1-post users adding a link where the link was totally appropriate and commensurate with the topic & forum.

[kenbu]

This trick is pretty common. Many forums prohibit editing a post after a short period of time (hours) to stop it.

Ken