Site Management There's a new spam method in town...

[Cedric]

I recently stumbled upon a rather dodgy spam tactic that's been making the rounds in the online world. I've seen it happening on AJ a few times. It seems that spammers are getting smarter and finding new ways to infiltrate our forums. The technique I want to discuss with you all today is the act of creating a seemingly innocent post, only to return later and edit it to include a link to their spammy websites.

It goes like this: someone, presumably a spambot or even a human, registers on our forum, and their first post is harmless, unrelated to any promotional content. After a few days, they revisit the same post and sneakily edit it to include a link to their questionable site, and then they vanish into the digital shadows.




- Notice when I removed the link, it was added again after my edit.

What makes this tactic particularly intriguing is the subtlety of it all. At first glance, the initial post might not trigger any red flags, making it challenging for moderators to catch it before the spammy link appears. And by the time we notice it, the damage might already be done.

So, I'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences on this new spammy technique. Have you encountered it on your own forums? How do you deal with it, or do you have any preventive measures in place? Let's brainstorm and share our strategies to stay one step ahead of these sneaky spammers.

 

[Spartan]

I haven’t encountered it but I’ll give them props for stepping it up finally lol.

 

[Mike30]

The solution for that is in the admin panel:

• Restrict the edit time
• Restrict signature
• Restrict creation of new threads (allow only in the Introduction forum)

To users with less than X amount of posts. ( I would say 50 posts minimum)

 

[Bluezone777]

The thing with limits is if they are too low, the spammer will gladly climb over them to continue their spam. If they are too high, they will drive away legit members and kill your board. You have to be sure that the medicine isn't worse then what you are using it to treat. I would look at intent and if someone's only intent is to spam your board then you should just remove their link, ban their account and be done with it.

 

[Mike30]

The thing with limits is if they are too low, the spammer will gladly climb over them to continue their spam. If they are too high, they will drive away legit members and kill your board.

Yes, its about finding the right dose to balance it.

 

[Spartan]

I seen on MyBB forums someone updated the no links to be posted until x amount of post to 1.8, not sure if xf has similar plugin or option

 

[Tyrsson]

The solution for that is in the admin panel:

• Restrict the edit time
• Restrict signature
• Restrict creation of new threads (allow only in the Introduction forum)

To users with less than X amount of posts. ( I would say 50 posts minimum)

The thing with limits is if they are too low, the spammer will gladly climb over them to continue their spam. If they are too high, they will drive away legit members and kill your board. You have to be sure that the medicine isn't worse then what you are using it to treat. I would look at intent and if someone's only intent is to spam your board then you should just remove their link, ban their account and be done with it.

The thing is, and this is a test really. If the entire routine is bot generated any additional steps or criteria "may" interrupt it. The question then becomes, how closely are the devs checking behind it (or if the bot is smart enough to report issues it encounters) to research combative measures. That will determine how quickly the bot can then circumvent the additional criteria. It's a constant struggle.

 

[Ravenfreak]

I never noticed this myself until that specific spammer started being sneaky and editing their posts with these shady links. It's definitely something we'll probably have to look out for.

 

[Joeychgo]

See: https://admin-junkies.com/articles/dealing-with-scammers.69/

 

[Arantor]

This isn’t really new though, I’ve seen similar to this going back years. But it’s certainly more pervasive and insidious now.

And of course easier to do with AI to write good opening posts that would pass most quick glances.

 

[Debashis]

I was amazed when I first came to know about it. I've never seen this happening anywhere else. Would it help if we don't allow new users to edit their posts until they hit 10 - 20 posts? Or maybe more?

 

[Cedric]

I was amazed when I first came to know about it. I've never seen this happening anywhere else. Would it help if we don't allow new users to edit their posts until they hit 10 - 20 posts? Or maybe more?

That is the best option in my opinion.

 

[Cedric]

Although I did just check, it would require an additional user group and automatic promotion to that usergroup upon reaching 20 posts or so. As XF’s software does not allow editing after x amount posts, but only limits to x amount of time. I’ve currently set this at 60 minutes, but will likely make a new user group with more allowed permissions later today.

 

[ClicketyKat]

I've had this happen on Christianity Haven. Thankfully, I have good members who monitor and are always suspicious of outsiders (sorry to the real people who want to be members, it's just how they are). It's a pain to have to keep an eye out on newbies though because we want to trust people.

Too bad you can't get an alert when someone edits their posts.

 

[Cedric]

I've had this happen on Christianity Haven. Thankfully, I have good members who monitor and are always suspicious of outsiders (sorry to the real people who want to be members, it's just how they are). It's a pain to have to keep an eye out on newbies though because we want to trust people.

Too bad you can't get an alert when someone edits their posts.

Could always get a developer make an add on for this. It would be an easy add on that shouldn’t cost too much money.

 

[Dismal_Bliss]

I just have a 15 minute edit window enabled on my 2 communities. If you want to edit something after that you can send me a PM and I will happily do it for you.

 

[Arantor]

The quickest way forward would seem to be an addon that checks edits (as opposed to new posts) for links and marks the post in need of moderation if the edit adds a link that wasn’t there before.

Restricting the edit time can work but depending on the community needs, could be annoying. Treat the behaviour (adding links) rather than the symptom (editing)

 

[Empire]

What have I missed ;P something that we are already going to get and have and can't get away from;( gotta love running a forum right?

I always have 30secs delay set, you have to wait 30secs before making another posts or topic, it's longer for those that have join as an semi-new members even so, that doesn't stop them all. IPB stops bots but doesn't stop real people who want to fake you out.

 

[Arantor]

What you've missed is the unwelcome return of bots making posts that appear legit, then returning an unknown time later and adding links after the fact.

 

[Cedric]

Funny. Take away their edit permission and the spammers delete their own posts.