cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Changes to the forum to tackle spam!

Abs
O2 Social Media Team
O2 Social Media Team
  • 1014 Posts
  • 107 Topics
  • 8 Solutions
Registered:
Hi Everyone,
As with any forum, we have to tackle the issue of spam. While we have a team of moderators that look after spam removal, there are times where spam stays around longer than we'd like.
We know that spam makes the place look untidy and doesn't provide you with a great experience in our forums. So we're going to be trialling a number of changes that should reduce the amount of spam.
These changes will not affect any existing users so continue to use the forum as you normally would.
If you've got any questions or comments, please do leave them here for us!
Thanks
Abs
Message 1 of 126
7,162 Views
125 REPLIES 125

browni
Level 21: Regular
  • 2241 Posts
  • 35 Topics
  • 10 Solutions
Registered:
So what should qualify one as a "full" member here then?
1 useful post, 5 posts, maybe 10?
#siwy
Message 61 of 126
1,153 Views

adamtemp64
Level 66: Unequalled
  • 16454 Posts
  • 312 Topics
  • 1316 Solutions
Registered:
1 non spam post in 48 hours of registration as most of the spammers post after 5 days
iPhone 11 Pro 256gb on unlimited data
iPad Pro 12.9” 2020 256gb refresh o2 family discount
Apple Watch series 4
My first mobile was in 1995 a CM-R111 from sony on Cellnet.
Wincanton South Somerset (Full 4g 3G 2g indoor coverage) Remember we are all customers here not customer services

Message 62 of 126
1,153 Views

Anonymous
Not applicable
So what should qualify one as a "full" member here then?
1 useful post, 5 posts, maybe 10?

That would be for O2 and/or the moderation contractor to decide and implement.

1 non spam post in 48 hours of registration as most of the spammers post after 5 days

That seems a reasonable proposition although if a member is truly genuine then why wouldn't they post non-spam within a shorter timescale ?
Message 63 of 126
1,153 Views

perksie
Level 69: Guiding Light
  • 27019 Posts
  • 247 Topics
  • 1614 Solutions
Registered:
I think RFTG's idea would be worth a try if not too difficult for them to implement.
If we can't agree among ourselves though we don't have any chance of getting O2 to try it.
This idea seems to be a minor inconvenience for a fairly large gain.
Perhaps we could request a trial?
To support Disasters Emergency Committee: http://www.dec.org.uk/appeals text Nepal to 70000 to send £5

Sky Unlimited Broadband - Windows 10 - Nexus 4 Android 5.1.1
Message 64 of 126
1,153 Views

Anonymous
Not applicable
I, respectfully, disagree that members registrations should be deleted simply because they don't post within 48 hours. There can be any number of reasons for not posting... maybe they are shy, maybe they don't have anything to say right now, maybe they THINK they need to register to view posts... whatever the reason, deleting them so quickly for not posting is just bad practice - however I do agree that deleting old, inactive members is good housekeeping (and keps your DB size down) - more about this later.
Now, RE: SPAM, as I've said a few times before in this thread, install the 'Stop Forum Spam' add on to the board - it will reduce SPAM to almost zero !
I'm a web developer, eCommerce manager, managed services provider, and forum admin... I had a problem for a while where one of my (successful & pretty busy) boards was constantly being attacked by spammers... I had IP ranges banned, email domains banned and various words banned - but they still got through, because I couldn't (manually) keep the blacklists up to date quickly enough. Then I installed SFS, and now I get almost zero SPAM.
'Stop Forum Spam' is a free, 'open', community-based and community-contributary SPAM fighting machine. It works like this, install the add on - this will then check EVERY new registration against a community maintained database of known spammers. It can be configured to check username, email address and IP address, or any combination of those - if it gets a 'hit' it will flag the registration and leave it sitting in 'Requires Approval' status. A mod or admin can then review the registration and accept or reject it.
Admins can also flag previously unknown spammers and get them added to the database, they can check registrations and search the SFS database for further information on that particular spammer - it'll show how many times they've been reported as a spammer, different email addresses and usernames used by an IP address, or different IPs used by username/email addresses.
It can also be used to check an existing membership list to weed out any 'sleepers'.
Anyways, this is my tuppence on this, and for the last time: http://www.stopforumspam.com
One other quick point about maintenance, what I do is from time to time is delete members that have registered but never logged in, or have registered but not logged in in the last 180 days. You DO get people that register, check something, then disappear - but most of the time, they are spammer sleepers.
Again, just my tuppence grin
Message 65 of 126
1,153 Views

browni
Level 21: Regular
  • 2241 Posts
  • 35 Topics
  • 10 Solutions
Registered:
1 non spam post in 48 hours of registration as most of the spammers post after 5 days

There's always one that breaks the rules!
jojolyne50 Joined Sat May 28, 2011 4:28 am
viewtopic.php?f=12&t=65909
#siwy
Message 66 of 126
1,153 Views

adamtemp64
Level 66: Unequalled
  • 16454 Posts
  • 312 Topics
  • 1316 Solutions
Registered:
Agreed browni but those that straight post spam are flagged and removed (when the mods are on there alloted time here).
It is the spam lurkers it would catch but I would like o2 to comment on the suggestion made by Chris1207 as that may well help. (DM sent on twitter linking to the post by chris1207)
iPhone 11 Pro 256gb on unlimited data
iPad Pro 12.9” 2020 256gb refresh o2 family discount
Apple Watch series 4
My first mobile was in 1995 a CM-R111 from sony on Cellnet.
Wincanton South Somerset (Full 4g 3G 2g indoor coverage) Remember we are all customers here not customer services

Message 67 of 126
1,153 Views

Anonymous
Not applicable
There's always one that breaks the rules!
jojolyne50 Joined Sat May 28, 2011 4:28 am
viewtopic.php?f=12&t=65909

Of course but we're not aiming for perfection, we all know that spammers will always be one or more steps ahead of the game.
We're looking for action that will eliminate threads such as this one.
Message 68 of 126
1,153 Views

Anonymous
Not applicable
Hi mods. How obvious is it that #### is a spammer-in-wating?
Message 69 of 126
1,153 Views

adamtemp64
Level 66: Unequalled
  • 16454 Posts
  • 312 Topics
  • 1316 Solutions
Registered:
Hi mods. How obvious is it that #### is a spammer-in-wating?

Already flagged each of the quad posts all same text
iPhone 11 Pro 256gb on unlimited data
iPad Pro 12.9” 2020 256gb refresh o2 family discount
Apple Watch series 4
My first mobile was in 1995 a CM-R111 from sony on Cellnet.
Wincanton South Somerset (Full 4g 3G 2g indoor coverage) Remember we are all customers here not customer services

Message 70 of 126
1,153 Views