Spam Is On The Rise!

this thread is a discussion about commercial / professional spam: to read about non-professional spam (like double-posting, going off-topic and things like that), check this thread please

Hi, everyone!

Commercial spam seems to be a new trend on these boards, and considering some of the reactions some of the board members had, we thought it would be in everyone's interest to clarify what's going on.

First of all, many different things can be considered spamming. As can be read on the board rules:
QUOTE * No spam
Spam is defined, but not limited to, as double-posting, posting posts without any content, advertising of website/clan/forum/irc channel (you may also mention such places if it is related to the current discussion).
Advertsing for profit its also a big no no. These posts will be removed as quick as possible.
Anything you wish to promote, do so through your signature (following the Signature and Avatar rules.)
Demands for bit torrent seeds and episodes can only be made in one thread you can CLICK HERE, to access it. If no one replies to your request then DO NOT constantly ask, your posts will be deleted.

Right now, the kind of spam we're worried about is advertising for profit. There have been some people creating accounts on these boards just to post some advertising of obscure and usually illegal businesses. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

- these spammers post a thread and never come back to the boards. they have no ethics, so they don't care about the rules of the boards at all.. it's useless to tell them they can't post content like that;

- they usually post either links or contact info: keep away from both of them!! their deals aren't safe and their methods aren't pretty. getting spyware or getting unrequested advertising of dangerous deals are some of the things that can happen to you if you're not careful.

- if you see a thread posted by a user that you don't recognize, talking about weird subjects like plastic surgery, meds and software sales (for example) and with links to unknown websites, you probably found some spam. in case that happens, please report the spam on the spam reporting thread!

so everyone please be careful with spam, and help us take care of this problem, ok?
thanks in advance!!!

(feel free to post any questions regarding this issue)

Yes I have noticed that too. Lately there have been some people posting weird threads. We have to be really careful about that. The best thing to do is not to click on their links they provide you with. Usually they'll try to start a topic that seems fairly correct but which in fact turns out to be some adverisement. It is a very clever way to advertise things to people who visit the forums. I would say it is a subtle move from these people who certainly have no ethics or whatsoever. Their main aim is to reach the maximum number of people through the use of the forum.
So we must not fall in this open trap.

Anyway I am ready to help fight these troublemakers. They seem to be very active lately. So keep your eyes open and inform the moderators of any suspicious threads that come up.

Please buy my product




--
This posting is not spam

I'm gonna join the ASB(Anti-Spam Brigade).

"Join MKK and fight the evil spammers and maintain peace in this forum!" - MKK2004

I will also join the ASB... with very little powers XD. i'll try contributing with the rules at the palm of "our" hands.

QUOTE (hamasusuke @ Jun 13 2006, 06:11 PM) I will also join the ASB... with very little powers XD. i'll try contributing with the rules at the palm of "our" hands.
I am definatly joining! And I will use all the power granted to me by that neat little delete button I got next to all posts!

In other words, report any advertisement spam here and those threads will get deleted ASAP.

QUOTE (Bold @ Jun 13 2006, 06:09 PM) In other words, report any advertisement spam here and those threads will get deleted ASAP.
So next time, just link to it here and the first mod online will take care of it? I suppose that it quicker than PM-ing a mod, who may or may not come online to take care of it before someone else does.

yeah, i guess that'll do!

if someone has something urgent to tell me PMs are best though (because i get email notifications when i get a PM and i check my email much more frequently than the boards)...

Sounds like darth mkk is back lol...
Yeah tis annoying the spam but it gets deleted as soon as i find any. At least it is at a fairly managable level and the forums are not getting hammered with spammers.
Is it possible to put up any measures against spammers?
Actually there is a fair amont of spam being posted.. literally having to delete one every few hours

QUOTE (ultima2096 @ Jun 13 2006, 08:19 PM) Is it possible to put up any measures against spammers?

let's post their I.P address, so someone can hack their computer!

*sighs*, unfortunately, today one of our crisis moments... i still have an idea that this is started all by a certain group of people...

you know, i'm just gonna edit the post into something insulting the user until he quits. So i won't hate myself during the process....

p.s. actually if you guys think it's pay-back time, go to that spammer's profile page, and email to that guy 1000 times

MKK, i'm not sure if that would be efficient.. i'm sure these guys have an email address just for spamming, so you wouldn't be emailing their personal email address.

and worse than that, i'm not sure if, when you email a user, your email address is sent in the process. which means you'd be provoking the anger of a spammer who had access to your email address.. i can't imagine anything good coming out of that

I vote for the conspiracy theory. Otherwise, I'm not sure why someone would keep wasting their time with creating multiple accounts a day.

i agree w/ kansatsusha i think that's spam after reading through what i saw this thread is. Although im not a mod like most people on this board, i might as well join in the fight against spam since this site is great, actually i take that back, it's outstanding and so i guess that's a good enough reason.

what the hell... it's as if this site has been targeted highly now. hmm... i gotta check other forums if they are having difficulties such as this.

QUOTE (hamasusuke @ Jun 14 2006, 10:25 PM) what the hell... it's as if this site has been targeted highly now. hmm... i gotta check other forums if they are having difficulties such as this.
I don't think we are targettted that heavily. It is simply that before, every mods was deleting a few spam here and there and no-one realized that EVERY mod was that much.

Plus dont' forget FTV is becoming a lot more popular. So its a good target for spammers.

i no a while back that bleachtv had some issues like that, but people ignored the post rather than deleting it. But I guess it is because bleachtv doesn't have a strict spamming rule like fansub even though the site is also popular.

QUOTE (MKK2004 @ Jun 13 2006, 10:46 PM) I'm gonna join the ASB(Anti-Spam Brigade).

"Join MKK and fight the evil spammers and maintain peace in this forum!" - MKK2004
oh my god, i`m wanted o.o

It's stupid..... How do those spammers get to know this site anyway.
Those ppl should know that forums ARE NOT for advertisments and sh*t like that !! ...
Can't we just send them a notice NOT to spam before they join in?