Spam...

you have missed it all week
Yes that's possible, I don't click on spam posts and there seem to always somebody online before me to report it.

However I was researching about spammers and what interested me most is about how they circumvent IP ban.
One possibility is they have botnets, but for this they need skills and their botnet would soon become useless (so not an economic option IMO)

Another possibility that doesn't require any skills is use of software such as Psiphon:

There are thousands of servers that psiphon uses, so how about learning their IP's and block them or at least try to correlate spammer IP's with Psiphon IP's to determine whether they use such tools for spamming?

If that turns out to be true, you could ban IP's upfront before spammers even try to register.

Similar to how tor network is blocked by some websites, the same principle can be applied to any other similar network like psiphon.
 


from @AlphaObeisance ....

Spam = unwanted or intrusive advertising on the internet.

all of the nonsensical posts, eg fg, hz, etc etc, all progress to University adds.......which are both unwanted and intrusive

In particular , none of them have screw all to do with Linux.
Quoting my status outside of context, making it sound as though I'm some how defending spammers. Offtopic/General belong in Offtopic/General; adverts and bots should be warned, banned and deleted. That's basic forum 101; a concept our moderators are well aquainted with.

Every night at like 11pm CDT this forum gets hammered by bots that post nonsensical adverts, links, and what all else.

My status within it's intended context (albeit intentionally vague) was in reference to users frequently asking about my forum signature and I happened to have obliged their inquiry by explaining the situation one day; I made 1-2 responses to the individual and apparently the post needed "cleaned up" and it was asked that we "not respond to spam posts". My posts and the posts related to the signature inquiry were the only ones removed for being "spam". So unless the inquiry about my signature was AI generated by some bot account; I'd just assumed it was basic natural human interaction.

I didn't complain beyond making that statement because conversation, linux or linux.org related (in this case, a linux.org forum signature) is not in fact spam; it's called human interaction. I chose to do nothing more than post that status because ot me it was 50/50.

The dude should have just DM'd me instead of posting inquiry in a thread, and I shouldn't have been lazy about it and should have DM'd instead of responding. But it was no more than 2 replies on my part addressing the inquiry and at the time I was a bit bothered that my answering an inquiry was considered spam when this place legitimately struggles with flood spammers rather frequently.

Spite my pointless emotional offenses KGII made the right move by deleting the inquiry about my signature because someone else later jumped on it and it would have completely hijacked the thread. I must have had my tampon twisted at the time because for whatever reason I took it slightly personal.

Either way, it's irrelevant now because I don't really care. The "Spam" that bothers me are the flood bot accounts that literally fill up the screen every night. The trolls that keep joining just to complain about linux, or the random "hey come check out this completely unrelated post" without being in general.

And in regard to this kind of spam, I give kudos to the moderator team because it always seems to get cleaned up relatively quickly. Bots show up, I take it as a sign to go to bed, I wake up and get to work and when I check in over coffee it's all cleaned up. That's a lot of work considering I think the only mods I know of for sure are Brickwizzard and Wizardfromoz; KGII tends to let the mods do their thing and only steps in when necessary.

They're firm but fair and I think I've only ever had one run in with the mods and it was shortly after I'd joined the forums and I was testing the waters to make sure this community wasn't just another purple haired off topic political gossip group like every tainted discord server I'd ever joined. This was legitimately my attempt at finding a real Linux "community" that didn't turn into a toxic cesspool.

Its because of this that I hold linux.org in high regard. The administrator and the moderators are firm but fair, and they work together to ensure that this forum stays on point. The Linux point.

Context is key.
 
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I think the only mods I know of for sure are Brickwizzard
Sorry to disappoint you, I am just a member like you. We have what I call 3 working Mods, [Wizardfromoz, KGiii and, JasKinassis]. All working under the leader Rob.
 
Sorry to disappoint you, I am just a member like you. We have what I call 3 working Mods, [Wizardfromoz, KGiii and, JasKinassis]. All working under the leader Rob.

Lol right on, iit must be the Wizzardly thing that had me goin haha. I had it all backwards. I guess I was under the impression KGIII was the leader. I don't think I've seen JasKinassis and I can't say I've seen Rob either. But then again I only frequent every couple weeks or so.

Either way, the mod teams really good imo and they're a huge reason that this forum is even worth participating in. I can't tell you how long I'd looked to find a focused Linux Group. Trying to find one was almost as aggravating as having to fill out stupid completely irrelevant politically charged questions on an IT job application as though sharing such information will somehow be relevant to the job.
 
Quoting my status outside of context, making it sound as though I'm some how defending spammers.
@AlphaObeisance, that was certainly not my intention.

I was, in fact quoting you (as the authority) to remedy a misconception by caffeine when he said that "" these dudes don't seem to be spamming but trolling,""....when imo they are just plain spamming....in a quite screwy way, but none the less, spamming.........simply because they fit your definition.

Please everybody, let's not get our panties in a wad over the little crap.

Stay frosty !
 
I guess I was under the impression KGIII was the leader.

Nope. I'm just a mod. I just happen to be here while the site is at its busiest - generally speaking.

Hmm... I've been at it for a while. Not as long as Wizard and longer than Jas.
 
@KGIII Looks like they're at it again.

Untitled.jpg
 
They were at it for 1 hour, precisely
 
they are early today, for the last few weeks most have been between 0400 and 0600 GMT[UTC]
 
they see the appearance times of the mods and adjust their appearance times accordingly
 
they see the appearance times of the mods and adjust their appearance times accordingly
I don't think they waste their time this way, they likely have a large list of domains that they fed into their automated tool to mass spam them all.

Since they're paid for successful clickbait, if they go monitor when mods are online on numerous boards that wold lower their daily pay due to time wasted.

Unless ofc. they can automate reporting when mods are online and trigger spamming automatically depending on that.
 
New one today, tagged

dilware

 
Poof !!

he's gone !
 
yes the wicked wizard from Oz has waved his wand.
 
I don't think I've seen JasKinassis
I am still here. I don’t post very often. But I check in fairly regularly during the day and night (UK time) and will clean out the moderation and report queues. I also regularly go through the most recent signups, to check for any signs of spammers and will pre-emptively ban, or spam clean them if their account raises any obvious red flags.

Recently, the spammers seem to be most active whilst I’m asleep. A lot of the time when I check in, I’ve missed the action.
 
I am still here. I don’t post very often. But I check in fairly regularly during the day and night (UK time) and will clean out the moderation and report queues. I also regularly go through the most recent signups, to check for any signs of spammers and will pre-emptively ban, or spam clean them if their account raises any obvious red flags.

Recently, the spammers seem to be most active whilst I’m asleep. A lot of the time when I check in, I’ve missed the action.
I'm horrible with names, but instantly recognized the drummer man lol! We appreciate ya'lls efforts. While spam does make it difficult to find the legitimate content, ya'll generally get it so quickly that I seldom notice. Then again I'm generally hitting the hay bout the time they start their rounds haha.
 
Kudos to the mods, admins and powers-that-be at linux.org for the decreasing amount of spam recently after the earlier attacks. I expect it's a laborious business catching it all and stopping it from clogging up the forum. I'm grateful for that work. Hopefully readers, members or yet-to-be-members, won't be discouraged from participating and sharing their knowledge and information.
 
I know it may sound mushy, but I love you guys, collectively, for the help you provide others, for the help you provide staff, for the feedback you give (even if sometimes negative). I believe it is what helps make this community great.

And Jas

Recently, the spammers seem to be most active whilst I’m asleep. A lot of the time when I check in, I’ve missed the action.

Same applies to me and other Staff. If we didn't have you, we would miss your efforts.

Friday here in Oz

So

Avagudweegend (except for Spammers)

Chris
 
I know it may sound mushy, but I love you guys, collectively, for the help you provide others, for the help you provide staff, for the feedback you give (even if sometimes negative). I believe it is what helps make this community great.

And Jas



Same applies to me and other Staff. If we didn't have you, we would miss your efforts.

Friday here in Oz

So

Avagudweegend (except for Spammers)

Chris
images
 
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