"New" Form of Spam

[Digital Jedi]

I say "new" only in the sense that this is the first I've noticed it. Maybe this is something you've been running into ever since vBulletin introduced the comments on your profile section.

Say you're an aggressive administrator. You don't just have every anti-spamming tool you can find, you've got the most effective anti-spamming tools you can find. And one of the most effective forms of fighting spam, is you. Spam threads last no more than a few minutes, if that. Not just chatty members trying to boost post count, I mean spammers. Porn, gaming, window washers and now, for some odd reason, water filters. And you just don't ban spammers. You delete spammers. One offense, no appeals. What's the need for an appeal, as they're likely automated posters anyway?

After a while, the spammers don't bother. I don't know why. Maybe they just don't consider it worth the effort/resources to only have content up for a fraction of a hour. Maybe you're just that good. Or maybe...

Attachment 124538

I call these guys the "Self Spammers". Here's what they do. They don't send PMs, or VMs to anybody. They don't post threads or generic "Thank You" replies or start Social Groups or anything else. All they do is join and send one Visitor Message.

To themselves.

What does this accomplish? Nothing much really. But consider if you have three or four of these guys registering every day. I did, for about six months. I had nearly a hundred user profile pages with junk links to junks deals, junk porn, junk water filters, junk wedding planners and somebody who really thinks my users will be interested in "Driving Games". (The most specific and niche form of spam I've ever seen. And I'm counting the Farm Porn links!) Sometimes, they don't post a message, but check they're signature, and there are the links. Sometimes they do both. Either way, now you've got links to all kinds of shady content right there on your own website. Google crawl bot or not, that's not what I signed up for.

So, what I've done is enabled my Email Upon New User feature (well, actually, I've always had this enabled, I just started paying attention to it more) and checking each of my new users. I also edited the MEMBERINFO template to include a handy bold red delete link. I did this to both my desktop and mobile skin, so I coule likewise delete users from my phone. Handy when baby has fallen asleep on my chest again and I can't see the laptop and try to breath at the same time.

So, maybe you've see this before. Maybe you've got thousands of these on your forum. I suggest taking time to look at your most recently registered members and consider adding that delete button. This public service announcement brought to you by the letters M and D and the campaign to put Wookies in Disney's Animal Kingdom.