Administrators Andrew Reid Posted November 5, 2019 Administrators Share Posted November 5, 2019 User acting suspiciously? They might be a replicant. Please report their username here and I will take them down. IronFilm, newfoundmass and Shell64 1 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Video Hummus Posted November 5, 2019 Share Posted November 5, 2019 You need a Blade Runner bage under your name now or it’s not legal. Andrew Reid 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shell64 Posted November 5, 2019 Share Posted November 5, 2019 @Kimwatson @SonilGomes @tompeter @kimminseok @NuzakFarnas @MonilGomes @Gujarish These are all spammers. Especially @tompeter with 300+ scam eBay links to random cameras and no activity anywhere else. He’s been spamming forever. Ban em’ @Andrew Reid! IronFilm and TurboRat 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kye Posted November 5, 2019 Share Posted November 5, 2019 Great stuff. I wonder if now there will emerge spambots that betray other spambots in order to deflect suspicion elsewhere.... the AI arms race will be a fascinating thing to watch over the next decade or so. IronFilm and Jerome Chiu 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Video Hummus Posted November 6, 2019 Share Posted November 6, 2019 5 hours ago, kye said: Great stuff. I wonder if now there will emerge spambots that betray other spambots in order to deflect suspicion elsewhere.... the AI arms race will be a fascinating thing to watch over the next decade or so. Spoken like a true spambot. Jerome Chiu, TurboRat and Emanuel 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Members BTM_Pix Posted November 6, 2019 Super Members Share Posted November 6, 2019 OK, here is what they're up to. I thought it was weird that the plausible posts didn't have any links in them and initially thought that we had managed to attract the most incompetent spammers on the internet (aside from the Conservative party's latest efforts obviously). What they do is get a second spammer (or themselves) to quote the first post and tag the link for whatever shite it is they're pushing on to the end of the quote. At first it looks like its a legitimate reply but the posts will have positive replies such as "Issue got solved" or "Agreed!" because it entices someone to click the link to find out what the solution was etc. which is what their game is. Here are two recent examples from the "Century Optics" and "50mm" thread. The posts quoted did not have the links in originally. They are obviously wise to the fact that the first posts will get moderated so anything with a dodgy link in will be deleted so thats why they don't put it in that but use the reply system to insert them. I would guess that there are a lot of "clean" accounts set up to do the first post and then they'll just use multiple other accounts to add the links in to replies. This makes it look like the one replying is the spammer when in actual fact they both are. Can I make a request to not ban the one who posts the pieces about chains though as I find it offers a good perspective for when my own life is at its most tedious and dull to think "yeah but at least I don't have to write about chains. Or worse still, be so far down the spamming ladder that I get given that as source material in bot farm when all my other bot mates are out there preaching about penis enlargement" TurboRat, newfoundmass, Adam Kuźniar and 1 other 2 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kye Posted November 6, 2019 Share Posted November 6, 2019 2 hours ago, BTM_Pix said: OK, here is what they're up to. I thought it was weird that the plausible posts didn't have any links in them and initially thought that we had managed to attract the most incompetent spammers on the internet (aside from the Conservative party's latest efforts obviously). What they do is get a second spammer (or themselves) to quote the first post and tag the link for whatever shite it is they're pushing on to the end of the quote. At first it looks like its a legitimate reply but the posts will have positive replies such as "Issue got solved" or "Agreed!" because it entices someone to click the link to find out what the solution was etc. which is what their game is. Here are two recent examples from the "Century Optics" and "50mm" thread. The posts quoted did not have the links in originally. They are obviously wise to the fact that the first posts will get moderated so anything with a dodgy link in will be deleted so thats why they don't put it in that but use the reply system to insert them. I would guess that there are a lot of "clean" accounts set up to do the first post and then they'll just use multiple other accounts to add the links in to replies. This makes it look like the one replying is the spammer when in actual fact they both are. Can I make a request to not ban the one who posts the pieces about chains though as I find it offers a good perspective for when my own life is at its most tedious and dull to think "yeah but at least I don't have to write about chains. Or worse still, be so far down the spamming ladder that I get given that as source material in bot farm when all my other bot mates are out there preaching about penis enlargement" Speaking as one of the spam bots myself (see above) this makes sense, and as a bot who didn't post any spam links, I did always wonder WTH we were doing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Andrew Reid Posted November 6, 2019 Author Administrators Share Posted November 6, 2019 3 hours ago, BTM_Pix said: OK, here is what they're up to. I thought it was weird that the plausible posts didn't have any links in them and initially thought that we had managed to attract the most incompetent spammers on the internet (aside from the Conservative party's latest efforts obviously). What they do is get a second spammer (or themselves) to quote the first post and tag the link for whatever shite it is they're pushing on to the end of the quote. You are correct... And also the first posts are often cut & paste from Reddit, so I am doing Google searches now to screen those out. It's a pity the Google Captcha and email verification aren't enough to stop them creating an account in the first place. I'll see what else there is to make that more robust. One day I hope to leave my AI to fight off enemy AI, and leave us to get on with using the forum in peace!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kye Posted November 6, 2019 Share Posted November 6, 2019 My thoughts go back to those scifi books that talked about enabling your black ice before jacking into the matrix.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Kuźniar Posted November 6, 2019 Share Posted November 6, 2019 53 minutes ago, Andrew Reid said: It's a pity the Google Captcha and email verification aren't enough to stop them creating an account in the first place. Maybe add a "your post needs to be accepted by a moderator because you have less than someamountoftime or someoneamountofposts" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowfun Posted November 6, 2019 Share Posted November 6, 2019 I don’t think any of my posts are clever enough to be misread for intelligence, artificial or otherwise. IronFilm, kye, Geoff_L and 4 others 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newfoundmass Posted November 7, 2019 Share Posted November 7, 2019 I don't know who to trust anymore! andrgl 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kye Posted November 7, 2019 Share Posted November 7, 2019 7 hours ago, newfoundmass said: I don't know who to trust anymore! This is the internet. I'm not sure that trust is compatible! (it never was anywhere else either, because the problem with trust is human beings, but never mind that.....) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronFilm Posted November 8, 2019 Share Posted November 8, 2019 The really sneaky way I've seen is them post an innocent enough thread.... so nobody thinks it is suspicious, as there are no fishy links in it. THEN.... they go back and edit it later to insert in links! On 11/7/2019 at 3:08 AM, Adam Kuźniar said: Maybe add a "your post needs to be accepted by a moderator because you have less than someamountoftime or someoneamountofposts" That adds a lot of work though for the moderator/Andrew Is perhaps better this system, only a handful are getting through, and let use users handle spotting and reporting them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinegain Posted November 9, 2019 Share Posted November 9, 2019 Can turn into one of them 'invite only' forums. ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shell64 Posted November 10, 2019 Share Posted November 10, 2019 The spam continues... https://www.eoshd.com/comments/topic/39889-nx1-varavon-cage-only-usd50/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Andrew Reid Posted November 10, 2019 Author Administrators Share Posted November 10, 2019 13 hours ago, Shell64 said: The spam continues... https://www.eoshd.com/comments/topic/39889-nx1-varavon-cage-only-usd50/ Retired Shell64 and kye 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shell64 Posted November 10, 2019 Share Posted November 10, 2019 Thanks Andrew. I’ll notify you with others I see. So far I’ve seen much less spam so I believe you’ve fixed the forum for now. Thanks. Can you ban @tompeter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emanuel Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leslie Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 1 hour ago, Emanuel said: i second the motion, apart from maybe using a chain for the driveline of a rather robust motorized slider i cant see any reason for chain advertising in a camera forum Cinegain 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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