Spammer Report Thread (use this one)

[Lucas88]

http://www.musclegrowth.org/forum/se...archid=1167708

Farango ads in the signature

[Lucas88]

http://www.musclegrowth.org/forum/showthread.php?t=3967

Only one post since March 1, 2011 that doesn't have an ad in the signature.

[Lucas88]

http://www.musclegrowth.org/forum/sh...ad.php?t=23911

Follow your passion?

[nypup2train]

Originally Posted by Lucas88

Follow your passion?

Passionately shown the door.

Originally Posted by Lucas88

Only one post since March 1, 2011 that doesn't have an ad in the signature.

Wow! That thread was like flypaper, wasn't it? ...Sorted.

I also noticed, recently, that the General Introductions Thread is really handy... a lot of the spambots actually do introduce themselves there, in a misguided attempt to seem like legitimate users!

[Lucas88]

Originally Posted by nypup2train

Passionately shown the door.



Wow! That thread was like flypaper, wasn't it? ...Sorted.

I also noticed, recently, that the General Introductions Thread is really handy... a lot of the spambots actually do introduce themselves there, in a misguided attempt to seem like legitimate users!

Thanks!

I saw the introductions, too, but wasn't sure at first. It's like a live human figured out how to throw off suspicion for a while or something...or at least tried.

[Lucas88]

http://www.musclegrowth.org/forum/showthread.php?t=4181

All the way back to March 10th (the most recent being "an intro") and even one last July.

[Lucas88]

http://www.musclegrowth.org/forum/sh...ad.php?t=23338

"Lowell" is in a few threads but this one is just PRECIOUS lol

[nypup2train]

Originally Posted by Lucas88

All the way back to March 10th (the most recent being "an intro") and even one last July.

Yikes! That one is chock-full, isn't it? Good find. Working through them now...

[Yachirobi]

jdibk816 at http://www.musclegrowth.org/forum/sh...09&postcount=1

afrajimmy at http://www.musclegrowth.org/forum/sh...11&postcount=1

[Lucas88]

http://www.musclegrowth.org/forum/sh...ad.php?t=23933

2 for 2 on this thread

Thanks for the clean up efforts, nypup2train!

[Lucas88]

http://www.musclegrowth.org/forum/se...archid=1171253

This one actually mimics messages other guys have posted in the same thread. Now, that is special!

[Lucas88]

http://www.musclegrowth.org/forum/se...archid=1171269

Replica watches

[Yachirobi]

http://www.musclegrowth.org/forum/sh...3&postcount=61

Williamsmith4444 has hijacked my inbetweeners thread! Please, destroy the bot!

[nypup2train]

Originally Posted by V.R.Goh

SharieLickisss has posted the same thing (link to Vietnamese-sounding site) 16 times in 13 different places. I do not dare open the links, because it might be a virus or worm or other such malware.

Excellent instincts. Hang on to those, they'll serve you well.

...That spammer footprint you describe is fairly troubling, because it represents a departure from their usual modus operandi.

Generally the spambots have contented themselves with roughly 3-5 posts seeded around the site, then gone dormant[COLOR="Red"]*[/COLOR]... probably to avoid calling attention to themselves.

If they're getting bolder, it may mean they realize we're on to them and will eventually delete their posts, so they're shifting towards a carpet-bombing strategy where they immediately flood the board with posts, hoping to score as many eyeballs as possible before we swat 'em off the site.

...Always an adventure! If there are any outstanding reports at the end of this thread, I'll start on them now. Thanks to all the reporters for their time & energy! Especially Lucas88, who's been catching so many spammers it's starting to seem like that's the real reason he visits the site! ;-)

[COLOR="Red"]*[/COLOR] – In fact, want to know how dormant? A few threads have some old spam posts from more than a year ago — ones that can't be dealt with normally, because they're beyond our 90-day target window. (As a safety measure, only accounts < 3 months old can be irreversibly destroyed via "Ban & Clean".) Those year-old spammer accounts have never *once* been reused, beyond the week of their initial attack.

[nypup2train]

Originally Posted by Lucas88

Thanks!

I saw the introductions, too, but wasn't sure at first. It's like a live human figured out how to throw off suspicion for a while or something...or at least tried.

I really think wiliamsmith4444, at least, was a live human. Probably some minimum-wage idiot who answered a "WORK FROM HOME!!" classified ad. That's a more plausible explanation, IMHO, than an AI that could generate posts that were that convincing.

Doesn't make him/her any less of spambot, tho! They should be out of your hair now, Yachirobi. ('Til the next sortie...) :-P

[Lucas88]

Originally Posted by nypup2train

...Thanks to all the reporters for their time & energy! Especially Lucas88, who's been catching so many spammers it's starting to seem like that's the real reason he visits the site! ;-)

Funny but, NOT! I AM a muscle addict, lol. Plus, I work on my computer most of the time and at all kinds of hours (when I'm not working out or the partner is home from business trips, that is ) and I'm subscribed to WAY too many threads on here . When I get a few emails I'll come on and see what's new.

I've had viruses and bots hit me twice and don't wish them on anyone even if I've bumped heads with you on this forum (I'm a stubborn sort). It just takes clicking on the wrong link once to royally [COLOR=red]F-UP[/COLOR] your day.

Thanks for staying on top of these...they're like freaking ANTS. You step on one and the family moves in...all 10 thousand of them!

And...here's another

http://www.musclegrowth.org/forum/se...archid=1172069

[Lucas88]

http://www.musclegrowth.org/forum/se...archid=1173076

4 or 5 messages within minutes and an ad in the signature

[Lucas88]

http://www.musclegrowth.org/forum/se...archid=1173079

san jose insurance

[Lucas88]

http://www.musclegrowth.org/forum/se...archid=1173081

london escorts


(and I'm on automatic pilot...coffee hasn't kicked in yet )

[Lucas88]

http://www.musclegrowth.org/forum/se...archid=1173101

he's on now (advertising NOSE SURGERY?) so there may be more by the time anyone gets to him

[nypup2train]

Just checked on the most recent reports, looks like somebody else already swooped in and whacked 'em all.

So, then I realized that the advanced search interface of the Member List allows join date as a parameter. I went down the list of all 309 new forum members (!!) since the 1st of the month, and checked on any who've actually posted anything. (Surprisingly few.) I actually could have run the search with a post count requirement of 1+, I realized later.

Either way, by doing this I've been able to track down and whack another 6 spammer accounts, so far. (I'm only halfway thru the list.)

There are also some accounts which seem to be spammer-created, but can't be targeted with "Ban&Clean" because they haven't posted anything. Possibly that's due to some failure in their normal process, but either way I don't expect it'll be a problem ? these accounts almost NEVER return after their initial signup. I expect they're orphaned, rather than spam grenades.

(I also don't understand how a user named "connect iphone" can _NOT_ be a spammer ? or is a crashingly inept one, as they've done no spamming here. But I guess that just demonstrates why it's so important that we examine their posts before making the call!) ;-)

[nypup2train]

Originally Posted by nypup2train

Either way, by doing this I've been able to track down and whack another 6 spammer accounts, so far. (I'm only halfway thru the list.)

The final count was 14.

That was so effective, I did the whole previous month as well. Out of 31 accounts (joined in April, post count >= 1), I only found 5 or 6 spammers, mostly REALLY stealthy ones where I was only able to make the final determination based on the fact that they hadn't used their account SINCE that first post.

The low count for April shows that "cleanup crews" *ARE* getting to most of them, at least eventually. Which wouldn't be possible without the efforts of all you vigilant reporters!

[Lucas88]

http://www.musclegrowth.org/forum/se...archid=1174616

signature ad

Great job, nypup2train!!!

[Lucas88]

http://www.musclegrowth.org/forum/se...archid=1175504

no explanation needed

[Yachirobi]

http://www.musclegrowth.org/forum/sh...ad.php?t=24049

Dididada. Worst spambot ever.

[V.R.Goh]

http://www.musclegrowth.org/forum/sh...ad.php?t=24072

Dewingssea. Really? Selling cd keys for, among others, a game that's being beta tested this summer (Diablo 3) and one that's been in development hell for, literally, ten years? (Duke Nukem Forever)

Fail!

[Tronald]

ustaperman is selling sheds, carports and garage doors

http://www.musclegrowth.org/forum/sh...24029&p=153435

[nypup2train]

I just went through and ended up banning nearly every user who's joined the site in the past 3 weeks (it was something like 70%, honestly), so that should hold us for... a day or two. *sigh*

[V.R.Goh]

Maberry2 this time.

http://www.musclegrowth.org/forum/sh...ad.php?t=24117

[Lucas88]

http://www.musclegrowth.org/forum/se...archid=1197303

Wesley's a plant.

[Yachirobi]

http://www.musclegrowth.org/forum/sh...ad.php?t=24193
This "Gerald" is an evil thing. We must smite it.

[arpeejay]

Originally Posted by Yachirobi

http://www.musclegrowth.org/forum/sh...ad.php?t=24193
This "Gerald" is an evil thing. We must smite it.

Well, dopey, for sure but:

(a) He actually has a profile;
(b) As far as I can tell, he's not selling anything;
(c) His sig file doesn't contain links to suspect sites.

Unless someone else suggests otherwise, I'm not inclined to ban him for what he's posted thus far.

xoxo

Richard

[Lucas88]

http://www.musclegrowth.org/forum/se...archid=1198442

Sly one that puts ads in black text in signatures.

[Lucas88]

http://www.musclegrowth.org/forum/se...archid=1199943

Signature Ads

[Yachirobi]

http://www.musclegrowth.org/forum/sh...09&postcount=6

Spammer defiling Tim Tebow.

[nypup2train]

Originally Posted by arpeejay

Well, dopey, for sure but:

(a) He actually has a profile;
(b) As far as I can tell, he's not selling anything;
(c) His sig file doesn't contain links to suspect sites.

Unless someone else suggests otherwise, I'm not inclined to ban him for what he's posted thus far.

xoxo

Richard

I *mostly* concur, with the exception of this thread, which he started:

http://www.musclegrowth.org/forum/sh...d.php?p=154206

That, it could be argued, is his "ad".

It seems a laughably poor one, I know, but affecting the people on this site directly may not be the point. That text could be placed here ? and for this to work, it would also have to be on hundreds of other sites ? to goose the search results for this Ch**tix. (I refuse to repeat the name, which would only be helping them.) The more widely it's mentioned "out in the world", the more importance the search engines will give it relative to similar/competing matches.

"Well, if the post was intended to massage search results for the product, why wouldn't he post something more substantial, or at least link to their site (which would have a much more significant impact on search ranking)?"

...Well, because then we'd surely take the post down. :-)

I've also refrained from banning him, because as RPJ points out his posts don't fit our criteria "beyond a reasonable doubt", which I think has to be the standard for an action as drastic as banning.

If he is a spammer, it's doubtful he'll ever return to the site again. (They almost never do ? at least, not using the same account. And they never post anything more with the account. Why would they? It's smarter to come in under a new ID, and halve the damage should one get discovered.) So he shouldn't bother us further, regardless of whether we actually ban him.

[Lucas88]

http://www.musclegrowth.org/forum/se...archid=1200845

signature ads

[Yachirobi]

http://www.musclegrowth.org/forum/sh...ad.php?t=24213

Seems an innocent, though off topic question. The signature shows the truth.

[nypup2train]

Got it, tho banning a thread-starter has the side effect of destroying the entire thread.. including the conversation I saw that'd gone on from Spammy's initial post. Sorry 'bout that!

I also did another newuser cleanup, for the past 2 weeks. Deleted roughly half of the newly-registered accounts.

And, TBH, I'm really torn about whether EbonyB, susanj, or ella1985 makes the grade. Or Zaveira. Or geotecnia!

[arpeejay]

Originally Posted by nypup2train

Got it, tho banning a thread-starter has the side effect of destroying the entire thread.. including the conversation I saw that'd gone on from Spammy's initial post. Sorry 'bout that!

I also did another newuser cleanup, for the past 2 weeks. Deleted roughly half of the newly-registered accounts.

And, TBH, I'm really torn about whether EbonyB, susanj, or ella1985 makes the grade. Or Zaveira. Or geotecnia!

Ebony and Susan were definitely spam, so I deleted them. Hard to tell with Ella and Zaveira. I'm guessing Geotecnia is real but he needs to modify that sig file; as it is, it looks like spam but I'm thinking it's probably just an affiliation.

xoxo

Richard