Hello !!

[idiggs]

howdy this is Andy from california. Looking forward to learning and sharing with you

 

[Whipsnade]

Andy,

Welcome to COTI.

Another new arrival began a thread today which you can read here. Some of your questions may be already answered in it.

Look around, dive in, and post, post, post.


Regards,
Bill

 

[Rover]

Welcome to the boards.

 

[BlackBat242]

I thought these posts belonged in the "Lone Star" section... as it is the "meet & greet" section?

 

[aramis]

I thought these posts belonged in the "Lone Star" section... as it is the "meet & greet" section?

indeed they do. Moved.

 

[Andrew Boulton]

I hope these aren't bots...

 

[FreeTrav]

I have this feeling that both of the originators of the moved threads are, in fact, bots, and will ultimately spam the forums.:nonono:

 

[far-trader]

Blam!

I have this feeling that both of the originators of the moved threads are, in fact, bots, and will ultimately spam the forums.:nonono:

I agree, survey says spam bots.

 

[Icosahedron]

I'm curious - how do you know?

 

[far-trader]

I'm curious - how do you know?

Various snoops, and moderator data from the account in question. Popped into stopforumspam.com chiefly, but I only pull the trigger when I have pretty solid data (usually two sources, or overwhelming evidence from one) or actual spammage. I tend to err on the side of caution and benefit of the doubt, typically to my chagrin as the presumed innocent goes on a spam run.

I've preemptively killed several spammers since I signed up. I figure it has saved some spamming and much cleaning up. And I get lucky sometimes and notice a spammer in the act. Catching them red handed before anyone else (usually) notices. And some of the community also lends eyes and keyboards when they notice oddities. They report them or PM and we check up on it.

Coincidentally I was reading a news article on spammers this week. It's truly insidiously evil, and like all such criminal (and it is criminal with a capital MOB in many cases) activities they are always a step or several ahead of LEOs and such. Just as an aside...

 

[FreeTrav]

To answer Icosahedron's question for myself, there just seemed to be something 'off' about those hello message, in the same way that previous proven spambots, both here at CotI and elseforum, set off the alarm bells. If you like, call it an acquired immune response.

 

[far-trader]

Agreed Jeff, there is that quality of oddness to them that is the first tip off. I just verify through other means and I'm not going to reveal all the trade secrets

Sometimes the user name itself is a dead giveaway (wowgold, viagra, etc.) and there's no need to check before swinging the ban hammer

These however are more subtle sneaky spam bots, trying to pass off as interested sophonts with friendly intro chat that really says nothing. I'd call it more of a Bovine Fertalizer detector myself

I like that members of the community are willing to give the benefit of the doubt and welcome them. It allows me to lurk and observe and maintain a skeptical caution without the possibly honest new member feeling the community is cold.

 

[BlackBat242]

Posting a generic "Hello, I just joined" message (without any content) somewhere other than the section labeled "meet, greet, & socialize" is also a clue... especially when two do the same thing, in the same incorrect section, in a short period of time.

A real person would normally take the clue as to where to post.

 

[Icosahedron]

I'm not going to reveal all the trade secrets

Understood and agreed.

Thanks guys, curiosity assuaged. Re-reading the OPs, they were a bit... generic.