Dealing with spammers

[lesser_minion]

Since we just had another spammer turn up, it seems like a good time to ask this.

I know the general rule for dealing with spam is to ignore it, but I'm not sure how far it's worth reporting the post, especially considering that spammers tend to post as fast as they can (which just happens to be as fast as we can report them).

Should we try to report every instance of spam by a given spammer, or is it OK to report the first instance we see and then move on?

EDIT: Another thing that's bugged me: wouldn't it be better to approach people who respond to spam directly (by PM or out-of-forum means) and explain why they shouldn't have done that, so that they have a chance to delete their post before it becomes orphaned?

I know that's slightly edgy as far as the rules are concerned, but it might produce slightly cleaner results when the spam gets removed as well.

In other news, you're doing a great job, keep it up :smallsmile:!

[Gorgondantess]

One thing that annoyed me was the 60 second time limitation between reports- if it is indeed the former, then that is rather cumbersome.

[The Rose Dragon]

Advertising spammers get all their posts deleted when they are responded to, so it is probably unnecessary to report every single post they make.

[lesser_minion]

One thing that annoyed me was the 60 second time limitation between reports- if it is indeed the former, then that is rather cumbersome.

That's pretty much why I'm asking -- I know why the limit is there (because spamming reports would not do anyone any favours) -- but this is the one case where it might not be so useful.

[Roland St. Jude]

Posting any one of them will do. We check the spammer right away for other spam posts and do remove them all. It doesn't really cause us any more work if you try to report them all, reports of a single post are aggregated in a single thread. But it's not necessary either.

It is important that you not respond to spam - that encourages spammers and makes it hard to remove the spam.

[lesser_minion]

Hmm... thanks. That should make it easier to deal with if it happens again.

Is there any policy on the "polite explanation via PM/IM/e-mail vs. report" for posts that might be orphaned when the spam gets cleaned up?

Sorry to repeat the question, but you replied while I was in the process of moving it, so I wasn't sure whether or not you saw it.

[Roland St. Jude]

Hmm... thanks. That should make it easier to deal with if it happens again.

Is there any policy on the "polite explanation via PM/IM/e-mail vs. report" for posts that might be orphaned when the spam gets cleaned up?

Just reporting them works fine. Post reports are available for all mods to see and so tend to get taken care of more quickly.

[Zeta Kai]

Spammers are often bots, or more rarely, people who don't actually read the forum for its content & are only interested in soliciting. Therefore, a warning, polite or otherwise, would fall upon deaf ears. Just report & move on. For other violations, a kind reminder of the rules is sometimes warranted, but in many cases, spammers are literally not people, & therefore cannot be admonished. Death perma-ban is the only proper response.

[lesser_minion]

Spammers are often bots, or more rarely, people who don't actually read the forum for its content & are only interested in soliciting. Therefore, a warning, polite or otherwise, would fall upon deaf ears. Just report & move on. For other violations, a kind reminder of the rules is sometimes warranted, but in many cases, spammers are literally not people, & therefore cannot be admonished. Death perma-ban is the only proper response.

I get the impression that the forum's resident spammer is something at least vaguely approaching a human - all of the spam seems to advertise the same thing.

In any event, I was suggesting PM'ing people who have replied to spam, because their posts don't get deleted automatically when a spammer is executed, and as far as I'm aware, are hard to remove otherwise (since they become the new owner of the thread).

[Zherog]

In any event, I was suggesting PM'ing people who have replied to spam, because their posts don't get deleted automatically when a spammer is executed, and as far as I'm aware, are hard to remove otherwise (since they become the new owner of the thread).

If the spammer started a thread, then any replies also go away. If the spammer posted into an existing thread, I suggest that when you report the piece of trash spammer that you mention in the report that X number of people have replied to the piece of trash spammer, and those posts also need dealt with in order to get the thread back on topic.

Generally, the more info you can give in a report the easier it is for the Mod Squad.

[Roland St. Jude]

If the spammer started a thread, then any replies also go away.

That's true if we move or delete the whole thread, but if a spammer creates 10 spam threads (or worse creates some spam threads and posts some spam in the middle of other threads), we'd like to be able to move all the spammer's posts at once rather than having to deal with each post/thread individually. But moving all the spammer's posts at once only takes care of the spammer's posts, sometimes leaving orphan posts if we move a spammer's posts without seeing responses.

Sooooo, please don't respond to spammers. It prevents us from dealing with spam posts the easy way and forces use to do it the slower, more time consuming way.


If the spammer posted into an existing thread, I suggest that when you report the piece of trash spammer that you mention in the report that X number of people have replied to the piece of trash spammer, and those posts also need dealt with in order to get the thread back on topic.

Generally, the more info you can give in a report the easier it is for the Mod Squad.

That is true. Just report any one of the spammer's posts and give us as much relevant information as you think will help.