Spam adverts Grrrr!!!!!

All, does anyone know if this site is modertated at all? there seem to be a proflifc number of spam messages advertising various magic pills on this forum, which I personally find very irritating. I have reported a few of them as spam, but nothing seems to be done about it. This morning, we have been treated to multple messages from Mr Tantric Love Dating God Babaji. I'm also a member of the Couch to 5k forum, and it is never plagued with spam messages like this. How come this weight loss one is?

I don't want to leave the site, as I find it a useful way to connect with genuine people but these spam messages are beyond annoying now and make a mockery of what is meant to be a site where people can help each other.

Can one of the moderators for this site please comment??? the C25k forun moderators always make their prescence known and that site is free from these spam messages. Please please please can something be done about them here?

[Hidden]

Hi tanyag163,

Completely agree. Please use the "Report" button or message the Community Admin about it.

You'll find them in the members directory.

[Carolecal]

Absolutely agree...it's getting ridiculous on here.,so thanks to a comment from Doikosp I read yesterday I went through loads of these stupid spams and reported them ( I hadn't noticed the ' Report' button before...how stupid am I ? ).

I too am a member of C25K site and can't remember seeing cr*p like this on there.

I'll give up on this site if it continues.I'm just not sure I can be bothered sifting through all these posts so I can get to read the stuff from members of this site.This site isn't being very well run at the moment and this spam thing is getting worse by the day.

[Hidden]

Hi Folks,

I've been a volunteer on this board - no, NOT an Admin! - for over a year.

Indeed when I started this was a kind of little haven of support and encouragement and sometimes very useful information as I lumbered my own over-sized self onto the weight loss bus and started my weight loss journey.

Of late this board seems to be being hit badly by blatant adverts and incomprehensible rubbish, which in my view undermines the helpfulness and good work that this board is able to do.

In reality, some people will hit "report" buttons, or message the Admins, or whatever.

But - and in my view sadly, though understandably - some people will just vote with their feet, so as to speak.

I can fully understand that it isn't easy to block spam which is probably being generated by 'bots' and manually removing rubbish - like most housekeeping - takes time and effort.

But, in the final analysis, we're either effective in helping people dare to take the 'bull' of their excess weight 'by the horns' and in supporting them to come to their own realisation that controlling your body weight is possible and having a normal weight is (almost always) within their capabilities - OR we're just here as a free advert space / general spam bucket.

[OlsBean]

The very nature of this particular community makes it more attractive to Spammers hence the reason it's hit so hard. 99% of these posts you see are created via scripts/bots not real visitors. They are annoying but relatively harmless.

[Hidden in reply to OlsBean]

Hi OlsBean,

I disagree about the 'relatively harmless'. I don't think it's right or fair that people, especially those new to this board, or nervous about using it, have to trawl through the nonsense to find the support and encouragement they are seeking.

[OlsBean in reply to Hidden]

By relatively harmless I mean it's unlikely to damage your physical hardware.

[Court]

I agree completely with all the above comments. How do these people gain access to this Site? How did they manage to post so many times? I know from past experience that this Site is monitored. I feel the security of this Site has been breached as it appears so easy for spammers to use it.

[Prin]

Could we increase admin on the board so that there was someone policing it a bit more regularly olsbean arent you admin on the C25K? I dont mind voulenteering, the other way I expect would be to have to approve new accounts......... regards Prin, Obiah expert and spell caster

[OlsBean in reply to Prin]

Yes I am an Admin on C25K, which is a separate entity.

From what I know and the opinion I have formed is that the administration here on the Weight-loss community is done by NHS Health Professionals and that there are probably several reasons for that, one I would imagine would be legal as they are in a sense giving medical advice, or could be seen to be giving medical advice within this community.

Perhaps one solution is that they could give the "Volunteers" group like Doikosp moderation powers, to edit and delete posts.

[Windswept1]

I used to get a daily email or two advising of new posts but they stopped early in January. I got on the help thing and emails have been reinstated, but rather than the overall on with everything on or notification when someone had replied with this spam I am getting hundreds. Going to have to unsubscribe but hope I can still get access to the forum.

[Hidden]

It truly is getting beyond a joke on this site today with the amount of spam. I'm getting very angry that the admin team can't even be bothered to reply or let us know what they will be doing about this problem. I keep checking back for their response but no joy. I am sad to say it but I for one will be leaving this forum if nothing changes by the end of the week or the admin team don't reply. I strongly suggest that if possible, those with a genunine interest in setting up a spam free forum please let me know, as we could look into setting up a facebook group or similar.

[Jellymum]

I also have spent quite a bit of time reporting. It makes me angry - I don't look forward to the daily emails now which I used to look at in the mornings.vreporting all this spam means I don't have the time or energy to look at the proper posts. I can't just ignore it - it infuriates me so it is likely I will leave this group and stick with the C25K one which is well organised, supportive and has good admin. one of the annoying things is that nothing gets done about it - occasionally the reported posts are removed but not quick enough. Today's email had over 50 spam posts in. Surely if nothing else posts in the daily email from this forum should be held back until they have been checked and cleared. To me this seems like quite a simple task. I've tried to find out how to contact the admins but there doesn't seem to be a simple way to do this.

I suppose at least when I'm ranting about this I'm not thinking about food, but for a health site it is not doing my stress levels any good at all.

[Hidden in reply to Jellymum]

Hi JellyMum, as Doiksop put in another post, please send a message to the admins. They are: LauraStQ, annasu, NG27 and NHS_Choices_fitness_editor.