October 5, 2015 at 7:49 am
Wow the spam is just raging out of control again. It seemed to be under control for a few months but now there is once again the amount of spam welcoming me to my Monday morning "Active Threads" exceeds the actual post count probably 4 to 1. This is very unfortunate as there are likely some people who really want some help but I can't sift through the mountains of spam to find them. Something must be done or the quality of this site is going to start declining as more and more of the regular posters get fed up with amount of spam. I know myself I only come to the site a couple times a day anymore because the quantity of spam is overwhelming. What can we do to reduce this?
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Cross Tabs and Pivots, Part 2 - Dynamic Cross Tabs - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Crosstab/65048/
Understanding and Using APPLY (Part 1) - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/APPLY/69953/
Understanding and Using APPLY (Part 2) - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/APPLY/69954/
October 5, 2015 at 7:59 am
Guess I'd better get another bottle of BBQ sauce. 😀
I wish there was a way to get back at those spammers. They won't stop until it costs them something.
For best practices on asking questions, please read the following article: Forum Etiquette: How to post data/code on a forum to get the best help[/url]
October 5, 2015 at 8:06 am
Alvin Ramard (10/5/2015)
Guess I'd better get another bottle of BBQ sauce. 😀I wish there was a way to get back at those spammers. They won't stop until it costs them something.
Or we find a way to make so difficult for them to post their crap it isn't worth the effort. It is a tough battle for sure because you want to make it difficult for invalid posters but easy for valid ones.
_______________________________________________________________
Need help? Help us help you.
Read the article at http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Best+Practices/61537/ for best practices on asking questions.
Need to split a string? Try Jeff Modens splitter http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Tally+Table/72993/.
Cross Tabs and Pivots, Part 1 – Converting Rows to Columns - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/T-SQL/63681/
Cross Tabs and Pivots, Part 2 - Dynamic Cross Tabs - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Crosstab/65048/
Understanding and Using APPLY (Part 1) - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/APPLY/69953/
Understanding and Using APPLY (Part 2) - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/APPLY/69954/
October 5, 2015 at 8:13 am
agreed. they added code that insta-deletes anything Celko posts(thank you for that!), so they can reuse that same code, and just add something that detects the new user spamming multiple forums in x seconds., and start expanding the spam detection rules from there.
Not sure, but do the spammers have to register and also confirm registration via an email link before they can post? or can they just register with fake@gmail.com and go crazy?
Lowell
October 5, 2015 at 8:22 am
Lowell (10/5/2015)
agreed. they added code that insta-deletes anything Celko posts(thank you for that!), so they can reuse that same code, and just add something that detects the new user spamming multiple forums in x seconds., and start expanding the spam detection rules from there.Not sure, but do the spammers have to register and also confirm registration via an email link before they can post? or can they just register with fake@gmail.com and go crazy?
They have to confirm the email but that isn't really too complicated. It is painless to setup a gmail account. Given the nature of most of the spammers around here it should be relatively easy to filter them out because they all seem to be the same thing. Some live feed of a sporting event.
Maybe it could be as simple as don't allow any link to be posted until you have a certain point value or have some logic to check posts for people with fewer than 10 points.
_______________________________________________________________
Need help? Help us help you.
Read the article at http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Best+Practices/61537/ for best practices on asking questions.
Need to split a string? Try Jeff Modens splitter http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Tally+Table/72993/.
Cross Tabs and Pivots, Part 1 – Converting Rows to Columns - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/T-SQL/63681/
Cross Tabs and Pivots, Part 2 - Dynamic Cross Tabs - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Crosstab/65048/
Understanding and Using APPLY (Part 1) - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/APPLY/69953/
Understanding and Using APPLY (Part 2) - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/APPLY/69954/
October 5, 2015 at 8:35 am
Lowell (10/5/2015)
agreed. they added code that insta-deletes anything Celko posts(thank you for that!), so they can reuse that same code, and just add something that detects the new user spamming multiple forums in x seconds., and start expanding the spam detection rules from there.Not sure, but do the spammers have to register and also confirm registration via an email link before they can post? or can they just register with fake@gmail.com and go crazy?
Is that true about Celko? I wondered where that thread about "IN clause very slow" had gone.
Something really needs to be done. There are various strategies already in place in other fora around the Internet: I don't see why they couldn't implement a few here.
The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
Martin Rees
You can lead a horse to water, but a pencil must be lead.
Stan Laurel
October 5, 2015 at 8:40 am
Lowell (10/5/2015)
agreed. they added code that insta-deletes anything Celko posts(thank you for that!), so they can reuse that same code, and just add something that detects the new user spamming multiple forums in x seconds., and start expanding the spam detection rules from there.Not sure, but do the spammers have to register and also confirm registration via an email link before they can post? or can they just register with fake@gmail.com and go crazy?
Really? Are you funnin me? (sorry had to throw in a movie quote)
I'm not aware of the history there but it must have been something special to get that kind of attention. That being said wouldn't disabling the account be easier...
October 5, 2015 at 8:59 am
Perhaps we could have a spam reporting policy that works something like this:
If a trusted user (meaning perhaps a user with a certain level of points of higher) reports a new post (created in last 24 hours and having 0 replies) as spam, then the post immediately becomes invisible and will remain so, unless a website administrator (like Steve) manually overrides the spam flag.
"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho
October 5, 2015 at 9:14 am
Eric M Russell (10/5/2015)
Perhaps we could have a spam reporting policy that works something like this:If a trusted user (meaning perhaps a user with a certain level of points of higher) reports a new post (created in last 24 hours and having 0 replies) as spam, then the post immediately becomes invisible and will remain so, unless a website administrator (like Steve) manually overrides the spam flag.
Something like this is good, but I'd take it further.
If the 'spam account' is new (created in the 'last 12 hours', say), their account is disabled.
To have the account re-enabled, the user has to request it (manually).
An admin reviews the requests for re-enablement (excuse the made-up word) and actions as necessary.
The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
Martin Rees
You can lead a horse to water, but a pencil must be lead.
Stan Laurel
October 5, 2015 at 9:16 am
We're just looking at this now, but it's likely that it's just a URL structure that our spam filter hasn't learned yet. It should start to fade away as it gets used to the format/target of these posts.
October 5, 2015 at 9:24 am
Dave Convery (10/5/2015)
We're just looking at this now, but it's likely that it's just a URL structure that our spam filter hasn't learned yet. It should start to fade away as it gets used to the format/target of these posts.
Thanks Dave. We appreciate everything you and the whole team do to keep this site as great as it is.
_______________________________________________________________
Need help? Help us help you.
Read the article at http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Best+Practices/61537/ for best practices on asking questions.
Need to split a string? Try Jeff Modens splitter http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Tally+Table/72993/.
Cross Tabs and Pivots, Part 1 – Converting Rows to Columns - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/T-SQL/63681/
Cross Tabs and Pivots, Part 2 - Dynamic Cross Tabs - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Crosstab/65048/
Understanding and Using APPLY (Part 1) - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/APPLY/69953/
Understanding and Using APPLY (Part 2) - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/APPLY/69954/
October 5, 2015 at 12:41 pm
Some of these spam posts are so poorly translated, it's not obvious if they're actually trying sell or promote something, if it's randomly generated gibberish, or if the poster is simply deranged.
"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho
October 12, 2015 at 3:09 am
I have an idea.
If the subject of a post contains either "http://" or "https://", mark it as spam.
The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
Martin Rees
You can lead a horse to water, but a pencil must be lead.
Stan Laurel
October 12, 2015 at 5:55 am
Lowell (10/5/2015)
they added code that insta-deletes anything Celko posts
Still dates the thread though, so I visit the thread trying to work out what has changed. Clearly no new post ... so I then work my way through the threads trying to find an EDIT with a recent date ...
Other forums that I use, with newer software, seems to be much more immune to SPAM - e.g.
Trusted members (e.g. > Nnnn posts) who flag a post cause it to be quarantined immediately so at least subsequent visitors, including "regulars", don't see it. Multiple FLAGging by folk with fewer posts has the same effect. I see the same username here posting SPAM repeatedly ... a flagging system that quarantined their account would be my solution.
New forum software has lots of facilities for limiting what Newbies can do - e.g. attach images, use URL tags, and so on. Also distribution of a centrally maintained list of suspect IP addresses.
October 12, 2015 at 11:24 pm
I have been a member of SSC for a great number of years although admittedly only active in recent months and was frankly appalled at the amount of spam that is being received.
Could I suggest that membership longevity also be made a metric in whatever strategy is employed, as I am pretty certain that you would not wish to block someone, like me, who has enjoyed the benefits of the site without having made an early contribution (much to my regret).
(In fairness I lost me previous account details which was active prior to 2010!!!)
Or how about a new "Topic Key" which could be a bold black X which is changed on a topic as soon as it is reported?
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