Mods, can someone ban this guy. It's a mascerading spambot. Currently away from my computer.

---

Though I don't normally bump spam topics:

I've seen this particular spam bot post the exact same thing with the same username on another site, so it seems to be making the rounds. It even managed to pass that site's "Prove you're a human" test, so keep an eye out.

SkyNet is learning

---

While the topic's still here:
How can a spambot be "mascerading"?
My curiosity have gotten the best of me...

The post was that the poster had found what he was looking for. Hence the topic being called please remove. At face value, it was a newbie making a really dumb mistake. However, there are some tells that it was a spam bot.

#1. The Spambot bothered to create a clickable link to where he found what he was looking for.

In this case it was not a porn or marketing site, but rather the link was to a specific search engine. I will not repeat the name of the site not because the site was risqué, it was mundane really, but if the spam bot bothered to post it, that's all the reason I need to 'not' repost it. More often then not, people who make mistakes like that aren't going to go and bother to create the BB tags.

#2. The Spambot's user account...details.

Our spambots have a tendency to have such interests as... Mortgage, Financing, and other things totally unrelated to gaming or fandoming. They also use their custom titles for redundant things.

#3. It posted in the Bar Exam.

The Bar Exam is the top most forum. Spambots want to post in the top most forum. Whenever I see a new topic there, I know it's time to get the ban hammer ready. Granted, we could prevent making new topics in the Bar Exam, but that would just mean that Trial Minutes and the Court Docket would be targeted next. I'd rather the Bar Exam be a pollutant net then those other two. Granted, a new topic in the Bar Exam is not 'proof' of a bot, but it most assuredly is a modus operandi.

Basically the bot was trying to make an account that we would specifically not ban because for all intents it looked like a stupid poster.

---

Could you not just make a forum for collecting spam like this and put it at the top? Or would that be stupid...

---

'Could'. But then we'd have two relatively unused boards at the top. And it wouldn't do much to curb the spam.

Though, I also considered making said forum invisible except for posters with say, less then 50 posts. But periodically we'll get a spambot that'll rush 50 or so posts. Then circumventing said board once they figure it out. (Plus, hiding it doesn't mean we still don't need to clean it out)

---

Sorry for being a bit off-topic, but you can't ban people, Wooster? o.O

---

I was on my iPod Touch at the time. Technically I could've done it, but would've taken more time then I had at the time. Plus, I had my doubts that if I let the mods take care of it, they might be duped.

---

Ah, I see.

I guess it's just one of those things you have to deal with, unfortunately.

---

On paperdemon, you have to take a certain amount of time to post a comment. You could try that. Captchas apparently aren't picking up on the spambots like they use to now.

---

A lot of spam bots only post once. Further, tons more never post (but take up time and space on the new member section). At best that would only deter the occasional spambot that hits 50+ posts in a blitzkrieg. Where as, day to day, it'd get in the way of normal users.

Ideally I'd like something that attacks bots and not people. Unfortunately you can't tell the difference between Newbies and Bots.

---

I guess spam hits sites differently. Paperdemon was getting hit by mass post ones. the only way to stop them is IP ban then closed accounts and LOTS of forum deletion. Man- we got hit SO hard by spam bots the last 6 months :( Sorry, I'm a mod on that site so I can understand how horrible spam is to fight.

---

Well, we're not 'totally' helpless. CR's blacklist is tied to several larger sites that combat spam as a point of existence. That helped a lot. But it wasn't a panacea.

---

*nods* Paperdemon is now has that too :) I hope it helps :)

---