Spam on this forum

[perlcoder]

Hello,

I appreciate that Tinnitus UK has limited resources and better things to spend them on than chasing spam off this forum. Nor do I know much about HealthUnlocked, but (and sorry to sound so tetchy), it is very annoying to report quite obvious spam posts every time one visits - or else put up with its proliferation. Apart from the clutter and nuisance to us all, forums riddled with spam are very off-putting to new visitors.

It is really beyond the power of HealthUnlocked to introduce some filters - most of the keywords are quite obvious?

[Happyrosie]

totally agree! I know TUK has in the past asked HU and it did calm down for a while. The assumed name of the poster changes each day so it can’t be done by just blocking the posters name. Are there any clever technology people out there who have any hints?

[perlcoder in reply to Happyrosie]

I am not so very clever or techy - but I have been around for a long time. In different contexts I have operated forums and IRC channels and written bits of code (in perl 😊 and tcl ) to deal with attackers and spammers. A bit of flexibility and keeping up to date with the spammers' current products is needed, but I have no doubt at all that with a little effort HealthUnlocked could kill 90% and more before it appears on their forums.

[Angelicscripts6]

Totally agree Since how do dog supplements viagra etc etc help myself and others with Tinnitus it's a put off to look for solutions .. may be amusing however viagra for Tinnitus is a no no from me along with dog supplements 😁

[bantams]

Totally agree with percoder, it does put you off a bit seeing all these spam post`s. I just think it`s today`s society unfortunately.

[TinnitusUKWombat]

Hi, you are completely right about the spam being obvious and off-putting. This is not the type of environment we want for our forum. This is supposed to be your space to share your experiences and the spam is really disheartening. We are in regular contact with Health Unlocked to sort this issue, but unfortunately all we at Tinnitus UK can do (and do!) is restrict the user from posting again, report the spam and delete the post as soon as we see it.

What is really heartwarming is how many of you are reporting spam yourselves. This is the best thing you can do and please continue doing it - it really does help. This post will be highlighted to Health Unlocked to show the impact spam is having on our community, so please continue sharing your thoughts in the replies.

[Doggie123-UK]

I am on various sites on health unlocked and for some reason this site seems to be targeted for these spam posts, I normally just scroll past and occasionally will report a spam post.

[perlcoder in reply to Doggie123-UK]

Thanks, that is interesting. I had assumed that HU was merely, and generally, too lazy to take action anywhere.

[Happyrosie in reply to perlcoder]

Perlcoder, I’m on various HU sites and the only one targeted is T.

[perlcoder in reply to Happyrosie]

So odd.

The simple way of dealing with it is, of course, pre-moderation, but that creates a bottleneck that would, sooner or later, harm someone desperate for a prompt reply and imposes what can be a significant burden on those who volunteer to do it - 24/7. I have been there, and it was one reason for learning a bit about automating the process.

[TinnitusUKWombat in reply to Doggie123-UK]

Thanks for this info - very useful!

[Xene in reply to TinnitusUKWombat]

Hi, I too am on other forums and often wonder why this forum alone is this particular spammers forum of choice? However if HU is unable to stop persistent banned members returning numerous times one does wonder what security measures they actually have in place.🤷‍♀️

[perlcoder in reply to Xene]

Absolutely so.

I know that spammers are sophisticated, but there are means at least to try to exclude them. Does HU examine/ban the address range from which these posts originate? Then the Title / text is so repetitive - a bit of old fashioned Bayesian analysis would murder them. - especially combined with the fact that these are typically new users. These kinds of measure could at least be used to put suspect posts into a pre-moderation queue.

[Xene in reply to perlcoder]

Haven’t got a clue about technology 😂 but as HU is so large it’s probably best for them to use the “Easy Option” They Spam, we report and HU removes, job done.🤷‍♀️