Spammers

Thread Starter

Wendy

Joined Mar 24, 2008
23,415
I can understand bots, they are automated and therefore cheap.

But we seem to get a lot of folks who really write real replies, though most not too long. Doesn't matter in the end, they all go down as soon as they are noticed.

Spamming simply can not pay that well. Wonder how much they really get?
 

TheFox

Joined Apr 29, 2009
66
Maybe it's the owners/webmasters/techs of company who are out there, doing it for free, trying to get their business off the ground.
Either that, or a bunch of people in china using Google translate. Beats working in a sweat shop
 

SgtWookie

Joined Jul 17, 2007
22,230
You know, the Newsgroups archives are chock full o' spam, and they're hosted on this site with instructions to log on to the Forums.

Examples:
Spam in newsgroup:
http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/newsgroups/viewtopic.php?t=77161
http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/newsgroups/viewtopic.php?t=77107
http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/newsgroups/viewtopic.php?t=77165
http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/newsgroups/viewtopic.php?t=78094
http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/newsgroups/viewtopic.php?t=78173
http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/newsgroups/viewtopic.php?t=77173
http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/newsgroups/viewtopic.php?t=77168
http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/newsgroups/viewtopic.php?t=77167
http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/newsgroups/viewtopic.php?t=77165
http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/newsgroups/viewtopic.php?t=77164
http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/newsgroups/viewtopic.php?t=77162
http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/newsgroups/viewtopic.php?t=77161
http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/newsgroups/viewtopic.php?t=77160
http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/newsgroups/viewtopic.php?t=77158
http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/newsgroups/viewtopic.php?t=77159
http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/newsgroups/viewtopic.php?t=77156
http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/newsgroups/viewtopic.php?t=77151
http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/newsgroups/viewtopic.php?t=77149
http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/newsgroups/viewtopic.php?t=77148
http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/newsgroups/viewtopic.php?t=77145
http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/newsgroups/viewtopic.php?t=77144
http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/newsgroups/viewtopic.php?t=77143
http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/newsgroups/viewtopic.php?t=77142
http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/newsgroups/viewtopic.php?t=77138
http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/newsgroups/viewtopic.php?t=77137
http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/newsgroups/viewtopic.php?t=77136
http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/newsgroups/viewtopic.php?t=77135
http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/newsgroups/viewtopic.php?t=77134

Any chance at least some of the junk in the Newsgroup archives could get dumped?
 

SgtWookie

Joined Jul 17, 2007
22,230
Yes, they are inactive archives - but you could still find that content doing a seach.

Maybe if the spam content in the newsgroup archives were deleted, the spam here would slow down?
 

Thread Starter

Wendy

Joined Mar 24, 2008
23,415
Don't know, I'm not a mod there though. Jrap has some really good tools installed, we only see about 10% that is attempted, and a fair percentage of that is moderated before it shows. Of that you guys help, and one report all spam from a vendor is gone, it is automatically hunted down and removed.

Basically I think we present a challenge. Like Broadway, if they can make it here they can make it anywhere.

I do know that jrap and Dave are extremely busy with their lives right now. Lots going on, so I would not hold my breath of anything happening.
 

Thread Starter

Wendy

Joined Mar 24, 2008
23,415
You've seen the history of AAC? We have used a several media for this site, VBulliten is just the latest. I also think it is the best, though there are a few things I would like to see tweaked (nothing jrap can do, has to come from the parent company).
 

Dave

Joined Nov 17, 2003
6,969
AAC serves up over 3 million pageviews a month, this in itself makes manual spamming worth considering in the hope some of it goes under the radar. It is a never ending battle, one that over the years we have always tried to keep on top of.

As for the newsgroup archive, these are just posts aggregated from a range of sources. People are only able to view them and not contribute to them, hence why they are pointed here to the forums should they wish to ask a question. Linking back to a discussion in the archive is always encouraged. Unfortunately it is one of the more unloved parts of the site.

Dave
 

HarveyH42

Joined Jul 22, 2007
426
I think Spam can be a dangerous thing, no telling what's going to happen to someone's computer, if they click the link. Most of us, use the security features, control cookies, firewalls, virus scanner, spyware, and so forth. But a lot of that can get confusing, some doesn't play well with other software, and some people are a little lazy, or just don't care, leaving their system wide open. I don't open Email, if it's not clear who sent it, or click on links blindly.

I doubt that spam can ever be completely wiped out, and people will stop using it. Would be surprised that some of the people involved in developing the software to protect, are also involved in circumventing it. They have to test, challenge their methods, also need to get others to give it their best shot, to find weaknesses. There is also job security... People pay for protection, and I'm sure there are people, who would pay for information on how to get past the protection as well.
 

debjit625

Joined Apr 17, 2010
790
I use "Report Post" option for spam...but sometimes I get confused over some posts, I can't decide if it’s a spam or not...
 

Thread Starter

Wendy

Joined Mar 24, 2008
23,415
A valid concern, occasionally the mods have to discuss among ourselves to make the distinction. I'd click it, then let us figure it out.
 

bertus

Joined Apr 5, 2008
22,270
Hello,

If you are in doubt if the post contains spam, just report it and let us decide if it needs to be removed or not.
It is better to have a double report as none.

Bertus
 

JoeJester

Joined Apr 26, 2005
4,390
The name spam is generic to unwanted correspondences.

Unfortunately, Marketing 101 includes all sources of social media. Yes, there is a chance that someone might be interested in your product and services and that's where people would produce an advertisement in a forum like this. They know it will be closed, but probably not deleted. Then that post is picked up by various entities, so it becomes out there for anyone to see when searching.

Combatting that type of spam is a full time job. Closing, deleting the thread, and banning the IP address is about all the owners can do. That doesn't mean some robot hasn't cataloged it prior to it's deletion, preserving it for all the search engines to find.

Every year there are a group of new marketing graduates with ideas on getting products and services noticed. Some are rehashed ideas, some are new, but suspect to run afoul of existing laws.

It's a never ending battle. Twenty years ago, no one had spam filters. Today, everyone has one.
 

thatoneguy

Joined Feb 19, 2009
6,359
The biggest thing I hate about spam-bots are those incredibly hard to read anti-OCR strings you need to type in all the time.

Some places aren't too bad. Craigslist has gone sadistic with it, to the point I hit "refresh" 3 times before I get one I can even get a good guess on what it says.

--ETA: Company (small business I help out with at times) spends tens of thousands per month on Google Ad Words and Microsoft/Yahoo/Bing Advertising. It isn't cheap. Low income companies will simply pay a guy to post all he can where he can.
 

bertus

Joined Apr 5, 2008
22,270
Hello,

There even seem to be "human solvers" for the captcha security pictures:

Human solvers

CAPTCHA is vulnerable to a relay attack that uses humans to solve the puzzles. One approach involves relaying the puzzles to a group of human operators who can solve CAPTCHAs. In this scheme, a computer fills out a form and when it reaches a CAPTCHA, it gives the CAPTCHA to the human operator to solve.
Spammers pay about $0.80 to $1.20 for each 1,000 solved CAPTCHAs to companies employing human solvers in Bangladesh, China, India, and many other developing nations.[19] Other sources cite a price tag of as low as $0.50 for each 1,000 solved.[20]
Another approach involves copying the CAPTCHA images and using them as CAPTCHAs for a high-traffic site owned by the attacker. With enough traffic, the attacker can get a solution to the CAPTCHA puzzle in time to relay it back to the target site.[21] In October 2007, a piece of malware appeared in the wild which enticed users to solve CAPTCHAs in order to see progressively further into a series of striptease images.[22][23] A more recent view is that this is unlikely to work due to unavailability of high-traffic sites and competition by similar sites.[24]
These methods have been used by spammers to set up thousands of accounts on free email services such as Gmail and Yahoo!.[25] Since Gmail and Yahoo! are unlikely to be blacklisted by anti-spam systems, spam sent through these compromised accounts is less likely to be blocked.

This is from this wiki page:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAPTCHA

Bertus
 

maxpower097

Joined Feb 20, 2009
816
I can understand bots, they are automated and therefore cheap.

But we seem to get a lot of folks who really write real replies, though most not too long. Doesn't matter in the end, they all go down as soon as they are noticed.

Spamming simply can not pay that well. Wonder how much they really get?
A little for one man = a years salary in some coutries.
 

GetDeviceInfo

Joined Jun 7, 2009
2,192
as JoeJester posted, it's basic marketing at work. A Realtor for instance will send out a thousand flyers to his target market. The effort may return a dozen calls, a couple of presentations, and a listing if they repeat the effort several times. 10 cold calls a day if you want to make a real living at it.

the internet has simply opened up the target market to be the world. Pretty cool. Someone, somewhere will consume your offering, you just need to find them. Initially, the recipients are unqualified, but once responding, move to a higher valued list with some qualifications. This process continues until you discover those that can't say no, or are very vulnerable to concentrated efforts. In many cases, the demographics of site users alone, prequalify them as a target audience. There's really no difference if you selling Iphones, debt, or sex.
 

maxpower097

Joined Feb 20, 2009
816
A little for one man = a years salary in some coutries.
This is why so many normal US SEO's outsource to other countries right off the bat. The big designers are nothing more then middle men. I wish I spoke russian or ukrainian. I could make a mint in web design and software. The language issue is where the problem comes in. They can't communicate with teh clients. So it takes a middle man to explain everything to both parties. Thats high level web design these days.
 
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