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09/05/2017 - Severe spam in the News forum

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      KRviator Moderator

    Location: Up the front
    Yes, we know about him. Yes, he did a good job of it. Yes, we have removed all his posts, but the thread titles still remain, the Admin's will remove them soon as they get around to it, no need for any more reported posts, thanks all!

    EDIT: Announcement status revoked now MGH has pulled the remaining threads.
    Posted: 09 May 2017 15:51

    Last edited by KRviator on 09 May 2017 19:08; edited 1 time in total

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      michaelgreenhill Administrator That's Numberwang!

    Location: Melbourne
    I wanted to publicly thanks KR, dthead and bevans for their work manually binning hundreds posts from this smeghead. Many hands make light work!
    Posted: 09 May 2017 16:46
      apw5910 Deputy Commissioner

    Location: Location: Location.
    Is there a way to ignore posts from a certain user? Would make Railpage a bit more readable the next time it happens.
    Posted: 09 May 2017 17:07
      justapassenger Minister for Railways

    Well done moderators.

    With this and the "letters to the editor" nonsense of the last couple of weeks (which smells like astroturfing to me) is it possible to set the news forum to require ALL new topics to be approved before appearing?
    Posted: 09 May 2017 17:24
      KRviator Moderator

    Location: Up the front
    Well done moderators.

    With this and the "letters to the editor" nonsense of the last couple of weeks (which smells like astroturfing to me) is it possible to set the news forum to require ALL new topics to be approved before appearing?
    justapassenger
    News "stories" require Mod/Admin approval, however, any approved user/spambot can create threads, and that is what we were dealing with over the last 24 hours. 1516 spam posts at last count needed removal - and not just in the News forum, but one or two others as well.

    My vote would be to instill a requirement for Mod/Admin approval for all new users for their first 5-10 posts, if this is possible within the current forum architecture.
    Posted: 09 May 2017 18:57
      Bogong Chief Commissioner

    Location: Essendon Aerodrome circa 1980
    At one stage in the past I started receiving half a dozen calls a day from dodgy Indian call centres tying to swindle me out of money. They claimed to come from outfits like the (non existent) "Windows Corporation". They were such a blatant and obvious swindlers trying to prey on the vulnerable or just plain stupid, that I thought not only do those people have no ethics or decency, but they probably don't have souls either.

    What I didn't realise was that at the time was that listings on the "Do not call register" had an expiry date. I tried to get a ban on all incoming overseas calls, but my phone company wouldn't do that for me. I eventually discovered the do not call expiry and renewed it.

    Is it within the ability of people here to limit posts from a user to say, one every two minutes? That wouldn't inconvenience real people, but it would thwart the Indian spambots.
    Posted: 09 May 2017 19:13
      DounutCereal Chief Train Controller

    Location: Who knows.
    I'd be interested to see if there is any way to automatically monitor how fast a user posts and brick them from posting until an admin or moderator can check on what's happening and manually unlock an accounts posting rights if there's more than 10 - 20 posts made in 2 - 5 mins or crosschecking a users posts to see if they're the same as their previous posts. It'd also stop hijacked accounts (not that I've seen it happen yet) as well as new user spam bots.
    Posted: 09 May 2017 19:16

    Last edited by DounutCereal on 09 May 2017 19:18; edited 1 time in total
      YM-Mundrabilla Minister for Railways

    Location: Mundrabilla but I'd rather be in Narvik
    Well done moderators.

    With this and the "letters to the editor" nonsense of the last couple of weeks (which smells like astroturfing to me) is it possible to set the news forum to require ALL new topics to be approved before appearing?
    News "stories" require Mod/Admin approval, however, any approved user/spambot can create threads, and that is what we were dealing with over the last 24 hours. 1516 spam posts at last count needed removal - and not just in the News forum, but one or two others as well.

    My vote would be to instill a requirement for Mod/Admin approval for all new users for their first 5-10 posts, if this is possible within the current forum architecture.
    KRviator
    Anything that makes it easier for those who so kindly and patiently maintain the site would get my 'vote' along with another round of thanks for the work that they do. Laughing
    Posted: 09 May 2017 19:17
      james.au Minister for Railways

    Location: Sydney, NSW
    My vote would be to instill a requirement for Mod/Admin approval for all new users for their first 5-10 posts, if this is possible within the current forum architecture.
    KRviator

    You'd still have to go through and deny 1516 new posts!!
    Posted: 09 May 2017 20:01
      dthead Site Admin

    Location: Melbourne, Australia
    Guys, head off to the suggestion thread to discuss this....

    https://www.railpage.com.au/f-t11367077-s250.htm

    Let keep the news section for news,
    Posted: 09 May 2017 22:02

    Last edited by dthead on 09 May 2017 22:05; edited 1 time in total

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