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Spam , spam and yes even more spam .
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Message
Posted
Mark, the filters certainly caught some of them - didn't auto-delete, but advised us of possible spam (and indeed it was). I haven't cross-checked to see if all were caught - there were a hell of a lot of them though, so possibly they wouldn't all have been detected. If three or four of us have shifted around 50 each - which might not be an accurate number at all - that's a lot of posts, coming in at speed. I do quite enjoy the squishing element - or probably wouldn't do it .... I dunno though; I'd always want the site to be clutter free and not put people off posting; so I might get all altruistic even if I didn't quite enjoy it. It depends on mood, though - in my depressive phases, I might just turn away and give up; but my aggressive phases are fortunately more common, so - KILL! Is a not uncommon reaction.
I think the filters are generally doing a very good job, by the way.
Posted
There's no need to post any examples of spam that escaped the filter - unless you are interested in black magic, unregulated drugs, love potions counterfeit money and passports etc etc. Despite the Herculean efforts of the moderators some get through. Just keep logging on and you'll see them.
Posted
I've just seen one of those Black magic to kill posts, which another moderator has removed - a bit extreme, I thought! A touch of the unnecessaries there .... we'll have the Mafia offering their lethal services next....
Embracing the space age, while retaining the superstitions of the Bronze age: you could be forgiven for thinking that there are people out there who are really quite odd. Bonkers as a bunch of straight bananas...
Posted
Yes Robert I removed them this morning, they are certainly quite extreme as you say . I does make you wonder what’s the point of targeting people who are most likely to think it’s a lot of mumbo jumbo and dismiss it outright or is the point to be disruptive. Just done to block up the websites and dissuade people from using them , but then I can’t think why should that be .
Seems to be all about call girls this morning Robert I’ve shifted about ten so far .
Edited
by Paul (Dixie) Dean
Posted
Yes, the system asks for moderator approval, which is just as well (though that's a matter of opinion I suppose) because a couple of mine were auto-detected.
Sorry you've had to carry the bulk of the burden this morning, I was trying to do something technological, and wasted my time because it failed. Nothing to do with POL.
Keep the home fires burning - although I know you'd much rather burn the vermin behind these attacks.
Posted
I cleared about 40 or 50 also. I've noticed they are putting a lot of info in their topics, maybe they show up in searches. So I've spent some time housekeeping by checking the back end of each forum, for orphaned topics where the post has been deleted, but not the topic. ( I did that when I first started, mea culpa). I've reached as far as General Discussion, which has a couple of pages of them, so I might back to that one later.
Posted
Hi everyone,
Thank you all for your hard work in keeping the forum clear of spam over the weekend - it’s greatly appreciated. We know how frustrating it’s been dealing with the recent influx of posts about "magical spells", "love potions for XYZ" and similar content.
I’m pleased to let you know that we’ve implemented an auto-banning system to help combat this issue. When a user is banned automatically, moderators will receive a notification so you can review the case. However, please stay vigilant for any false positives—we want to avoid mistakenly banning legitimate users.
Your efforts over the past few days have been invaluable, and your feedback has helped us refine the system to better identify and block unwanted posts. If you notice any recurring patterns that the system isn’t catching, please let us know so we can adjust the rules accordingly.
Once again, thank you all for your patience and dedication to keeping the forum a welcoming place.
Best regards,
Mark.