Spam

It seems to me that we are getting a lot of spam at the moment, especially over the weekend when RW towers is asleep.

Is this just the result of having a losely moderated site? I know some sites that get very little trouble from spammers but they are moderated pretty much 24/7. I'd hate to go down the route where every word has to be watched and threads are removed for simply going off topic (yes, really!). Do we have to put up with the annoying spam in order to enjoy RW as it is, or is there anything that can be done?

Agree with you, Slugsta, they're getting worse.  And, as you found out, even the spammers are getting spammed.

I don't worry too much about those, they're obvious, but it's the ones like the rubber band / Bionic Man one this weekend which - for some reason - annoy me more.  They invade threads supposedly offering "advice", then slip in bits about their wonder-products, trying to get free advertising.

At least with the "you buy cheap Nike" spammers, they're up front.

True, Jeepers. I am always torn between posting and telling them to feck orf and leaving it in the hope that the thread will vanish into obscurity.

I agree also, had been thinking that they seem to be more numerous, and appearing on other posts is annoying. And some of them do answer back!

It seems dead easy to just register and then post. What if RW just checked out new 'members' on the site before allowing someone to post, and maybe that would help? Or is that not possible.

Does seem to be a lot.

Best thing to do is NOT post on the thread, simply report it. RW towers are pretty good at deleting things when reported, but they do not sit there looking for offending threads, or so it appears to me.

Hello,

After a morning of deleting threads, I agree - there does seem to be much more spam than usual at the moment...

Just to clear up how our policy works: we rely on threads being reported, and will endeavour to get rid of spam as soon as it's reported. However, the mods are only in during working hours (10-6, Mon-Fri). I appreciate how frustrating it is to see the forums fill up with spam over the weekend, but we don't currently have the resources to extend moderators' presence outside of working hours.

Thanks for your ideas - as the problem seems to be increasing, we will be looking into new ways of thwarting spammers.

Thanks for your patience, and for continuing to flag up spam!

Alice

Thanks, Alice.

Hi ALice, thought as much.

So its simple. IF there is spamage - report it. DONT post on it, as that will at least suggest that things are being read/looked at.

Yeah it is frustrating, but jeez in the scheme of things its not a big deal. They are on the whole blindingly obvious

They are getting more sneaky, though. 

There was one last week advertising a race by pretending he'd just 'heard' of this great race, and asking if anyone had done it, or knew anything about it.

He was not the sharpest knife in the drawer though, and had the race website in his profile!

Thanks Alice, I hadn't realised that spam probably wasn't picked up unless reported, will defo be more school-marmy in future.

I tend to check out profiles on threads like the one Wilkie mentioned - and, as I said before, they're the ones I find more annoying.

I'm not sure what you can do, but one big giveaway with a lot of the spammers is that they keep their details private - ie they don't have "runner's credentials" - if there was anyway that you could do something along that route. . .?

But then that will affect all those genuine bods on here who choose to keep their details private anyway, so probably a bit of a lost cause.

TBH, doesn't really bother me that much, think we've all worked out what's knock-off merchandise, but it does get a bit tedious at times (although can be quite fun at others when the spammers bite back).

Its best to report it because the mods will remove them. This site is about running and
having a laugh. Not someone trying to plug something for nothing. Why let spammers get
away with plugging cheap crap.

But, I do think becoming a member is far too easy on this site.
Who going to read the terms and conditions, even to understand it.
Anyone can become a member, just tick the terms and conditons box and that's it.
Maybe put some simple terms and condtions like no advertising when to put your
details in becoming a member.

Also, I know some forum sites where if someone posts spam, it will get removed
automatically after five members reporting it. Don't know if the tech lads at RW could do this.
But its worth a try.

M...eldy wrote (see)

as an after thought

Is it worth having the 'this thread has been reported' showing up on the actual post so that 300 people are not reporting the same thread?

I had wondered about that, too, Meldy.

I miss Kef Jon

Hiya Slug

LOL, Wobbled.

<waves to Goldie>