# Lots of Spam: A better solution? Like, maybe appoint a Spam Cleaner?



## Simo (Nov 1, 2017)

I've really come to love and enjoy this forum, and I'd like to think I've done at least a small part in helping it become a welcoming, inclusive and enjoyable place for furs to visit. And I know the mods work hard to keep the spam from coming in, but at many points, it gets so heavy, that it makes me worry that people will avoid the site due to this, and as I value it a great deal, I was wondering if perhaps somebody might help clean it up.

They don't have to have any other mod related powers or responsibilities; just to help clear away spam. I think this would be a logical way to help things move along on an even keel, and to help grow and nurture the site.

I myself don't have the time, but I bet there's some furs out there willing to help.

So, whatta ya say?

And again, this is not to be naggy, but because I value the community here.


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## Yakamaru (Nov 1, 2017)

I volunteer as spam cleaner, if it's worth anything. Despite disagreements with people here, I like the forums as I've spent a great deal of time here.


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## -..Legacy..- (Nov 1, 2017)

Pretty much in the same boat.  I'm constantly online watching some of these guys loading out entire subdirectories. 

You'd pretty much require being a full mod though, since deleting a user and prior postings is at that level.


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## Yakamaru (Nov 1, 2017)

-..Legacy..- said:


> Pretty much in the same boat.  I'm constantly online watching some of these guys loading out entire subdirectories.
> 
> You'd pretty much require being a full mod though, since deleting a user and prior postings is at that level.


True.


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## Water Draco (Nov 1, 2017)

The spam bots are also getting more complex. Some can now read capcha text and derive the correct answer. 
I always flag spam that I see on the forum. It is a constant cat and mouse game for the administrators and moderators.


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## Open_Mind (Nov 1, 2017)

I dont know the technical elements behind how the forum "works" (and don't need to), but a quick scan of how it appears on my cell phone shows that _most_ --but not all -- of the spam follow a clear pattern.





If this is typical, I'd propose a filter/segregate approach. In the time I've been here, no 'real' member has used a URL web address as the title of their post. Can the system flag what it detects as a URL in the title (i.e. anything starting with http:// or https:// ) and move all those into a holding folder? It may not catch all of them but it looks like it would get about 95%.

Would sure save a lot of time for the moderators...


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## Fuzzylumkin (Nov 1, 2017)

I have volunteered many times to do this, I work nights and am usually here until around 1 am pacific time.


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## Open_Mind (Nov 1, 2017)

^^ I hope you can get traction on that. Sounds like a win-win to me


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## Lexiand (Nov 1, 2017)

I wanted to help get rid of these bots but I'm not old enough to help deal with these things.


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## Rant (Nov 1, 2017)

Open_Mind said:


> ..



You're right a filter program would be best, we have coders on these forums right? If not we can reach out to furs on FA for some help in making the filter program. If I had the power myself I would have done it long ago. 

Also is it possible to contact the companies being spammed here and ask them to cease and desist or face legal action?


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## -..Legacy..- (Nov 1, 2017)

Rant said:


> Also is it possible to contact the companies being spammed here and ask them to cease and desist or face legal action?



No, for two reasons at least. 

*Can't sue outside the jurisdiction, and I doubt the forum is based in Korea. 

*Spammers are easy to dissect from official company business anyways.  They can always claim it's not an official employee.


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## Fuzzylumkin (Nov 1, 2017)

Ugh the worst part about all of this is if the spam filters would filter this crap out instead of locking down regular furs who just post a lot, we wouldn't have to worry about spam, I am to the point where I am so sick of getting lockdowns, im ready to find another forum to hang out on. Im literally locked out 2-3 times per night


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## -..Legacy..- (Nov 1, 2017)

I woke up this morning, after a good 7 hours of sleep.  One post reply, locked out lol.  

Meanwhile, Kim Jong Un is making 30 threads.


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## Fuzzylumkin (Nov 1, 2017)

yea... I got locked out last night before I got off work.. couldn't reply at all until around 5pm tonight.. could do maybe half a dozen posts and locked out again... then wait.. one post reply.. locked again...


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## Lexiand (Nov 2, 2017)

oh god its happening again.
well time to block more bots.


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## modfox (Nov 2, 2017)

i drop of turpentine will fix it!!!!!
but on a serious note yes the spam bot are getting rather annoying. i say death to spam bots and in with the spam cleaners


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## GreenZone (Nov 2, 2017)

ok i'm going to risk getting told off here as staff don't like certain sites or articles about them bring brought up buuuuuuuuuuuuuuut

if you know how the site and staff works its not professional in any way that's all i'll say


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## Fuzzylumkin (Nov 2, 2017)

GreenZone said:


> ok i'm going to risk getting told off here as staff don't like certain sites or articles about them bring brought up buuuuuuuuuuuuuuut
> 
> if you know how the site and staff works its not professional in any way that's all i'll say



if you are referring to my comment... I actually do not know how the site works in spam filters ... obviously.. otherwise I wouldn't get myself on lockdown every night


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## GreenZone (Nov 2, 2017)

Fuzzylumkin said:


> if you are referring to my comment... I actually do not know how the site works in spam filters ... obviously.. otherwise I wouldn't get myself on lockdown every night



nah not talking about you mate if you stick around long enough you'll know what i mean


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## Fuzzylumkin (Nov 2, 2017)

GreenZone said:


> nah not talking about you mate if you stick around long enough you'll know what i mean



lol totally re-read that original comment of yours and ... wow... I was totally reading that wrong all together lol sorry about that.. I have been kind of overworking myself a lot lately and am a bit more punchy than usual


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## Kaigofox (Nov 2, 2017)

Do you need a pc to change profile pic beacous im on ps4 and cant do it


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## Fuzzylumkin (Nov 2, 2017)

....uhh.. what...?


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## Kaigofox (Nov 2, 2017)

Currently my profile picture is just a gender sign i was asking if you know how i change it


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## Fuzzylumkin (Nov 2, 2017)

Kaigofox said:


> Currently my profile picture is just a gender sign i was asking if you know how i change it



you have to go into your profile settings and change it that way, I don't know if you can do that from a web browser on a PS4... I don't know why you would even use a web browser on a ps4...


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## EmpressCiela (Nov 2, 2017)

If there are any mods looking at this thread, I can volunteer. I have a decent amount of experience coding bots like these for research and developmental purposes (as well as a few pranks), so maybe I can help rid the forums of these abominations.


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## Dragoneer (Nov 2, 2017)

I'm taking look at Xenforo's spam filters today to see what we can do. They don't seem to be having an real impact.

*Update:* I redid a lot of our anti-spam settings and added a new one. Giving it about a week to monitor how they hold up before I try to take next steps.


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## Dragoneer (Nov 3, 2017)

So a bunch of spam did get through last night and we cleaned it up. Here's what our anti-spam tools DID block last night. I'm still going to give it a few days to see how they do but it DID block a lot last night, and unfortunately it can't stop spam that's not automated.


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## -..Legacy..- (Nov 3, 2017)

I was waiting until tomorrow to give an opinion, as your registration hiatus may have altered the new account creations.  

They register during the day, then spam out the next morning.


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## EmpressCiela (Nov 3, 2017)

You may need to implement something like RPNation's 10 post rule. It prevents new users from doing things like making their own threads until after they've made 10+ posts in other threads. If an inautomimous (?) spammer tries to post anywhere, users can quickly catch and report them.


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## GreenZone (Nov 3, 2017)

i still like the idea of giving reputable users e.g @Yakamaru slight reporting powers to catch spammers scammers and trolls like not ban them outright but put a kind of mute on them until staff can review bots will normally shut off once they can no longer post


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## Akartoshi (Nov 3, 2017)

Here is my suggestion:
All users must introduce themselves in the thread "Introductions" and from there, mods can make a decision on them.


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## -..Legacy..- (Nov 3, 2017)

If programming allowed, that's not a half bad idea.  Downside would be some users being put off by the time process.  Not all, but some.


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## Akartoshi (Nov 3, 2017)

-..Legacy..- said:


> If programming allowed, that's not a half bad idea.  Downside would be some users being put off by the time process.  Not all, but some.


Well, they can just say "Hi, I'm new" and that's all. If they are too lazy to do that, they probably wouldn't want to take part on the forums anyhow xD


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## GreenZone (Nov 3, 2017)

nah cause you'll get guys who are like 

"oh ah.. this place is cool i guess i don't know" and are just shy and just coming into the fandom staff might mistake them for trolls


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## Simo (Nov 3, 2017)

GreenZone said:


> nah cause you'll get guys who are like
> 
> "oh ah.. this place is cool i guess i don't know" and are just shy and just coming into the fandom staff might mistake them for trolls



Ah, but I will sniff the trolls out, spray them, and quickly drive them away!

@Dragoneer-Thanks for looking into added filters, here's to hoping they work! What's funny is that most of the ads are for stuff to improve our health, looks and virility...are we _that_ sickly, ugly and impotent? : P


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## GreenZone (Nov 3, 2017)

Simo said:


> are we _that_ sickly, ugly and impotent?



the bots track people via their internet history so a lot of the members must be looking to be more healthy


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## Dragoneer (Nov 3, 2017)

Simo said:


> @Dragoneer-Thanks for looking into added filters, here's to hoping they work!


I modified out Captcha slightly today, too. Testing out various things to see what we can do. The problem is a lot of these bots and bot companies are rather sophisticated, and they've specifically targeted forums of various platforms.

There's a LOT of things we can do to combat them but we have to test one thing at a time, else we risk false positives, which means it may impact regular users who are trying to contribute to the forums.


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## -..Legacy..- (Nov 3, 2017)

Pretty much.  These guys are paid to spam on volume, on the basis of site hit production.  The more they achieve, the more they can charge.  Programming to circumvent anti spam is no different than anti virus software, it's s constant arms race.


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## Fuzzylumkin (Nov 3, 2017)

Dragoneer said:


> I modified out Captcha slightly today, too. Testing out various things to see what we can do. The problem is a lot of these bots and bot companies are rather sophisticated, and they've specifically targeted forums of various platforms.
> 
> There's a LOT of things we can do to combat them but we have to test one thing at a time, else we risk false positives, which means it may impact regular users who are trying to contribute to the forums.



Can you do something to keep the regular users from getting locked down from posting replies? Drives me insane to get a daily lockdown


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## Simo (Nov 3, 2017)

-..Legacy..- said:


> Pretty much.  These guys are paid to spam on volume, on the basis of site hit production.  The more they achieve, the more they can charge.  Programming to circumvent anti spam is no different than anti virus software, it's s constant arms race.



Geez, what a horrible sounding job!


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## Dragoneer (Nov 3, 2017)

-..Legacy..- said:


> Pretty much.  These guys are paid to spam on volume, on the basis of site hit production.  The more they achieve, the more they can charge.  Programming to circumvent anti spam is no different than anti virus software, it's s constant arms race.


Yep, and the problem is our measures can stop automated spam but people who do it manually by hand are much more difficult to stop.


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## Dragoneer (Nov 3, 2017)

Fuzzylumkin said:


> Can you do something to keep the regular users from getting locked down from posting replies? Drives me insane to get a daily lockdown


It looks like the limit was 50 posts per day. I've more than doubled that. Let me know if it still gives you grief.


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## Fuzzylumkin (Nov 3, 2017)

Dragoneer said:


> It looks like the limit was 50 posts per day. I've more than doubled that. Let me know if it still gives you grief.



Awesome thanks! I spend most of my evenings on here and find myself locked out a lot


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## -..Legacy..- (Nov 3, 2017)

Fuzzylumkin said:


> Awesome thanks! I spend most of my evenings on here and find myself locked out a lot



^ The joke is he is still going to lock himself up lol. 

Love ya Fuzzy lol


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## Fuzzylumkin (Nov 3, 2017)

-..Legacy..- said:


> ^ The joke is he is still going to lock himself up lol.
> 
> Love ya Fuzzy lol



Lol you're probably right


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## Pipistrele (Nov 3, 2017)

GreenZone said:


> i still like the idea of giving reputable users e.g @Yakamaru slight reporting powers to catch spammers scammers and trolls like not ban them outright but put a kind of mute on them until staff can review bots will normally shut off once they can no longer post


Eeeeh, I don't know. It's a recipe for disaster to give shadowban rights to random folks - you don't want this place to turn into NeoGAF 2.0, do you?


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## Fuzzylumkin (Nov 3, 2017)

lol that sounds fun!! I want in on that


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## Water Draco (Nov 4, 2017)

I will just continue with puffing fire on the spam by means of the "Report" button.


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## -..Legacy..- (Nov 4, 2017)

Judging by this morning, I think the new settings were more efficient. (Unless the morning moderator sweep has already been completed)

I only had to tag 2 post last night, and another 2 this morning.


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## Dragoneer (Nov 4, 2017)

-..Legacy..- said:


> Judging by this morning, I think the new settings were more efficient. (Unless the morning moderator sweep has already been completed)
> 
> I only had to tag 2 post last night, and another 2 this morning.






The new filters are working pretty well. While some spammers are still getting through the new system is auto-flagging their posts into the moderation queue, meaning you don't see them. That lil' blue shield icon = moderated post. Continuing to monitor. We have to do some clean up still but at least users aren't having to see it as much.


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## -..Legacy..- (Nov 4, 2017)

I'm good with occasional breaks in the wall, it's an inevitable event.  The prior open floodgate was just insane at times.  

Hopefully, it's enough to frustrate at least some of the spammers into giving up on this forum as a target.  There's no money, in hard manual work, for them.


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## Dragoneer (Nov 4, 2017)

-..Legacy..- said:


> I'm good with occasional breaks in the wall, it's an inevitable event.  The prior open floodgate was just insane at times.
> 
> Hopefully, it's enough to frustrate at least some of the spammers into giving up on this forum as a target.  There's no money, in hard manual work, for them.


We're cracking down on it, and it appears to be working. Again, it's just been a few days, but it seems to be far, far more effective.


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## -..Legacy..- (Nov 4, 2017)

Thanks again, for doing what you have already accomplished.


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## Open_Mind (Nov 4, 2017)

Thank you Dragoneer, a big difference today


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## Dragoneer (Nov 6, 2017)

So it's been a few days. How's things been spam-wise for you guys?


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## SSJ3Mewtwo (Nov 6, 2017)

I've noticed a considerable reduction.  There are a few that still slip by, but it's tremendously less in volume.


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## Dragoneer (Nov 6, 2017)

SSJ3Mewtwo said:


> I've noticed a considerable reduction.  There are a few that still slip by, but it's tremendously less in volume.


Most of the same I've noticed tends to go directly into the moderator queue -- making clean up easy.


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## Water Draco (Nov 7, 2017)

Thanks for your work. Only came across one yesterday that had slipped through.


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## -..Legacy..- (Nov 7, 2017)

It's tits right now. 

Only seen a few over several days.


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## Pinkaap (Nov 7, 2017)

I haven't been spammed once! <3


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## Water Draco (Nov 12, 2017)

Puff, puff puff. Seams the spammers are trying new tactics to break through but I have been puffing fire at them.


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## Dragoneer (Nov 13, 2017)

Water Draco said:


> Puff, puff puff. Seams the spammers are trying new tactics to break through but I have been puffing fire at them.


Some are getting through but most art getting caught up in the traps. I'm continuing to watch,  and will be deploying some addition tactics. I just don't want to do anything that starts to become too annoying to users.


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## -..Legacy..- (Nov 13, 2017)

It's been phenomenally better.  Over the past week, I've maybe seen 5 to report.


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## Fuzzylumkin (Nov 13, 2017)

yea, I have noticed an improvement too


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## Water Draco (Nov 15, 2017)

Dragoneer said:


> Some are getting through but most art getting caught up in the traps. I'm continuing to watch,  and will be deploying some addition tactics. I just don't want to do anything that starts to become too annoying to users.



I think that you are doing a great job. 
For the odd one that does slip through I hope that I am helping by reporting any that I see.


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## BahgDaddy (Nov 15, 2017)

Just observing and reporting is the best option probably.


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