Please help us fight spam by reporting "clever" forum spam!

Please help us fight spam by reporting "clever" forum spam!

Some of the spam posted in the forum is very obvious.

Some of it, however, is not.

These days, a lot of spam posts also contains seemingly relevant comments. This is usually just copied and pasted from elsewhere, but it seems to be a normal post at first glance.

What gives it away is that it contains a spam link, either in the message body or in the user's signature. Here is a specific example (the image is grayscale, so as to not confuse it for other posts):



This is an example of an unusual kind of spam post where the text actually seems to be a response to the thread (some of them may even quote other posts), but you will also notice a random link in the post. That is usually a dead giveaway!

Most spam posts, however, are nothing but copy and pastes from other sites using some automated script to make it seem relevant.

If you see any posts with links "out of nowhere" (or a spammy sounding text link in the signature), please look at the link, and if it doesn't seem relevant at all, please click the "Report" link in the bottom right corner of the post, and report it to us as spam (remember to choose the "Spam" option on the report page).

Thanks for helping us keep the forums clean!

Do that already.

So this place has a spam bot problem then? Spam bots are best fought by modding the registration page with a question a human can answer. If they can't get accounts, they can't spam except in guest posting areas that have no human question guards until the bots are reprogrammed.

If by chance a bot could bypass a human question, then the question can be switched to re-break the bots. =D

Originally posted by haavard:

If you see any posts with links "out of nowhere" (or a spammy sounding text link in the signature), please look at the link, and if it doesn't seem relevant at all,

Ummm, not to defend spammers, but wouldn't it seem normal that many/most links in signatures are entirely unrelated to the post/thread they appear in, especially if the link points to a member's personal or business website? Maybe this would be a good time for a statement about what is and is not acceptable in signatures, particularly re links -- or a quick link to such a statement if it already exists.

Originally posted by RayGoneFishing:

Originally posted by haavard:

If you see any posts with links "out of nowhere" (or a spammy sounding text link in the signature), please look at the link, and if it doesn't seem relevant at all,

Ummm, not to defend spammers, but wouldn't it seem normal that many/most links in signatures are entirely unrelated to the post/thread they appear in, especially if the link points to a member's personal or business website? Maybe this would be a good time for a statement about what is and is not acceptable in signatures, particularly re links -- or a quick link to such a statement if it already exists.

I agree--my usual signature (if I use one) is a link to my <a href="http://timtfj.wordpress.com">Wordpress blog</a>, which only rarely has anything about Opera on it . . . Its relevance to posts here is that it acts as further information about who I am, not as anything to do with a particular forum thread.

Links to blogs are not "spammy" - well, unless the blog itself is. We'd even allow links to your commercial site - provided you make it clear that is your site, and that you don't make some sort of an ad out of the link. You know, no "Your best source for (whatever)", a simple "My website" will do. And of course we have people with links to some particular software they like but have no commercial ties to. Anything you'd expect a normal poster in any other forum to have in his signature

But if you see someone with 10 posts that all just say "Thanks" and then have links to, oh, travel sites in his sig, that sounds like spam to me. Keep in mind the rules here also forbid referral links - even in your sig. If you're trying to make money off of a free community site, we really don't need you.

The people who review the reports will have a hard enough time as it is without reporting everyone who has a link to their favorite antivirus software or favorite video game or whatever.

Thanks for the reply, Steve. That clears up most of the doubts I had. One gray area remained though, since you mention making money. I understand the part about referral links, but what about a personal blog or website with ads or paid links on it? Take for instance antiguadailyphoto.com or solotravelerblog.com (not my sites and I'm not getting paid to mention them here ). Both are perfectly legitimate and informative websites, not spammy at all, but obviously the people who run them also want to make a few bucks with them.

If the sites were mine and I had links like "View my photo blog about Antigua Guatemala" or "Read my blog about traveling solo" in my sig, would I get in trouble? Particularly when I'm in the wish-list forum and all I say is "+1", followed by such a sig? In some forums I know such links would be fine, in others I've seed I'd get banned for them since they don't allow anything that even remotely reeks of making money, even if the actual amount is negligible, so I was wondering where Opera draws the line -- in case I ever want to put links in my sig instead of silly quotes

Common problem occuring across the web.


So this place has a spam bot problem then? Spam bots are best fought by modding the registration page with a question a human can answer.

Not spam 'bot' in the normal sense. More likely some drone doing a work-at-home scheme being paid by the post insertion.

Uh... what if it lead us to malicious website? It kinda risky though.
Or maybe this is exactly what they want us to do, click the link & increase the linked website hit rank...

Don't click the link, just hover your mouse over it and look at the status bar. You should see the true URL. If you see something unfamiliar or a URL shortener, don't click it.

Not sure why someone would paste a link to their vacation pics in a forum sig ... but it's usually pretty easy to tell the difference between ads and content on a legitimate site.

Because on some forums it's standard practice that members put links to their own sites in their sig to provide a bit more information about who they are and what they do. This doesn't seem to be common here on the Opera forums though, that's why I asked - are members just not interested in doing it although it would be acceptable, or is the practice frowned upon here?

I wouldn't look twice. Officially - well, someone official would need to answer that.

Note: Please do not report spam in this thread

Originally posted by RayGoneFishing:

Ummm, not to defend spammers, but wouldn't it seem normal that many/most links in signatures are entirely unrelated to the post/thread they appear in, especially if the link points to a member's personal or business website?

The kind of spam I'm talking about here is pretty obvious. Moderators will know what to look for, so report new accounts with suspicious signatures.

Originally posted by dude09:

Originally posted by haavard:

please look at the link

Uh... what if it lead us to malicious website? It kinda risky though.

You can just hover the link.

Originally posted by haavard:

Originally posted by dude09:

Originally posted by haavard:

please look at the link

Uh... what if it lead us to malicious website? It kinda risky though.

You can just hover the link.

Unless they used a URL shortener, which is why I oppose those. (If it were up to me, I'd ban use of them.)

I haven't seen anyone use that, and it would be counter-productive anyway, since the spammer is most likely trying to increase his pagerank.

Well I'm doing my part everyday

Still, it’s good that the administrators have finally seen the reports and have taken action. Sometimes a spam post and topic will stay on the forums for a few days before being removed

Forum spam reports have always been dealt with. Just make sure you use the "Report" link in the spammer's forum post.

i hate spam

Off-topic comment removed by mod.

Originally posted by camelliashahmoradi:

i hate spam

I like spam. It's great fried, on toast with mayo, lettuce and tomato. Sorta a SLT sandwich.

Originally posted by AlaskaHome1959:

Sorta a SLT sandwich.

Add a 'u' in the middle, and it could be interesting.

'Nother example:

hmmm.. beautiful spam.

I have seen that latly more and more and are reporting it

Not spam 'bot' in the normal sense. More likely some drone doing a work-at-home scheme being paid by the post insertion.

]ust wanted to confirm that yes this happens. I heard it discussed perhaps 6 months ago on a prominent security podcast. Spammers have also managed to crack many of the captchas. Just a simple verification like "type a number larger then 2 + 2" will stop all the bots but obviously not the human creep working for the spammers.

Note: here's a NY Times article on the captcha crackers -
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/26/technology/26captcha.html?_r=1&src=me&ref=technology

I got a new report: http://my.opera.com/community/forums/findpost.pl?id=6759732

Spam bot/spammer.

http://my.opera.com/TheZanellas/blog/

KKILL ITT

This unnatural web-creature has been spamming blogs and inboxes with its embedded trailer. Smells like a bot.

Next time, report it in the correct thread ...

Ngamer01: Please use the "Report" link in the future. Don't report anything in this thread.

Off-topic comment removed.

Can I use this to get religious fundies quoting bible verses banned?

[Offtopic] Only if you want a Jihad and a crusade specifically aimed at you. [/offtopic]

Maybe off-topic, but can someone point me the report link for spam in Opera Unite Applications? I've encountered several spam comments from a banned member.

Originally posted by sites.web.pt:

the report link for spam in Opera Unite Applications? I've encountered several spam comments from a banned member.

Probably http://my.opera.com/community/forums/topic.dml?id=215333

I would like to report this user as a spammer
http://my.opera.com/eesrsss/about/

Followingg comment has been found here
http://my.opera.com/shootell/blog/exhibition-december-2010#comments

Wrong thread, comments go in the "Report comment spam here" thread.

I have added a line to my forum signature asking donation for NZ Red Cross to help the people of Christchurch, New Zealand that suffered the horrific earthquake three days ago. I hope this is not considered a spam. If it is, please let me know and I will remove it. I just want to do anything I can do to help.

I'm reporting "clever spam" but this past week none seems to be getting removed.

How about URL shortners that could potientially used to earn cash? Like adf.ly? Should I report all posts using the adf.ly url shortners?

Edit: removing link to revenue earning url shortner

That depends on how they are used. I can't see any valid reasons to use URL shorteners in a forum like this, though.

I listed one previously ... your device (not a desktop system) doesn't support Paste. Hard to copy a very long URL by hand. Though then again, would your device have some "shorlify" button you could click to get the shortened URL in the first place? Okay, maybe you're copying it from a text message or from Twitter and thus didn't need a special button.

I can't think of any other valid reasons, and the fact that most people won't know where the link is going to take them is more of a concern than the length of the URL.

This isn't the place to report comment spam. Post a link to the comment (the comment's link can be found on the "#" after the name) and the user's username in the Report Comment Spam Here thread, and we will remove both the user and all his comments.

Originally posted by sgunhouse:

the Report Comment Spam Here

This thread is not accessible for me since today. I can not see posts from other people and I can not post something. Is this known?

Originally posted by ouzoWTF:

Is this known?

Yes, reported here.

I thought:

Originally posted by mimi_s_mum:

Seems there's a bug comment in the first page. Maybe someone changed his/her signature without closing a tag or something? Second page onwards appear normal.

and suggested:

Originally posted by mimi_s_mum:

go directly to the last post from the topic list. If you click on the envelop icon on the left, you are taken to the first unread post of the thread. If you click on the little arrow by the last poster's name, you are taken to the last post.

The thread does not work anymore and you post a screenshot where I did the last post, thats not cool!

Seems more broken than before. Neither "Preview" or "Edit" is working. You can still post directly from "Quick Reply" at the bottom, though.

Originally posted by ouzoWTF:

you post a screenshot where I did the last post, thats not cool!

Surely that's cool, isn't it?