THIS is how desperate SPAMMERS are!!

[James Steele]

Most of you probably are aware of the spam problem with boards like this. It is so bad that not only have I implemented a Google anti-spam measure when people try to register here, but I actually have had to manually review each pending registration, and when it's not clear that it's a real person, or something looks fishy, I send an email to them explaining the spam problem and asking them to describe their favorite DAW, etc. so I can tell they are not a spammer. I've found this is especially necessary when they have a gmail address, as gmail seems to be the main source of "throwaway" email addresses for spammers to use to gain access to boards.

So twice now, I've actually received a response where the person acts indignant that they were challenged and answers the question... I approve them... and just moments later they post spam to the board. I thought I'd share with the board members here one such exchange, as it's just crazy that they go to these lengths. Here's a recent email exchange that happened last night:

spammeremailexchange.gif (145.6 KiB) Viewed 1173 times

Was I too snarky in my reply? Actually no, as after I approved this person, within an hour her first post was a long SPAM advertisement to buy bulk lots of shady, unlocked iPhones. One big giant spam message. I immediately deleted the account and the post. (I guess now that I read it again, "Digital Audio Steinberg Cubas" should have been a hint, but sometimes it might be a person for whom English is not their native language.)

Either way... just wanted to share. It's unbelievable that they have time to write back to a board admin and get through my screening to post spam. Like I said, this isn't the first time. Had another guy do that. Same M.O.... gave me a hard time about screening him, then immediately posted spam when I approved him.

That's how bad it is today.

[cuttime]

You've been doing a great job screening theses @$$***** lately, James. Cubas

[James Steele]

You've been doing a great job screening theses @$$***** lately, James. Cubas

Thanks... there's a reason you don't see all this stuff, but this is what is going on in the background. Usually, they don't respond and you never hear from them again, but this is TWICE now where they've responded and tried to pass themselves off as a legit person interested in audio topics, etc. and ended up spamming the board. I can't see that there's any real financial return on their investment of time to do this on a board that's small and relatively niche like this one. Blows my mind.

[HCMarkus]

I am still recovering from the stress I endured when registering here at MOTUNation so many years ago. /s

PS: We had better do lunch again soon James. I eat when I am stressed.

[James Steele]

PS: We had better do lunch again soon James. I eat when I am stressed.

Any time bro. My schedule is pretty slow lately. I’d have suggested it but I remember you were going to be on a big project for a while.

[HCMarkus]

PS: We had better do lunch again soon James. I eat when I am stressed.

Any time bro. My schedule is pretty slow lately. I’d have suggested it but I remember you were going to be on a big project for a while.

As is typical, several things in the hopper... but one must still eat, right?

[monkey man]

I could tell so many amazing stories about spammers, both humans and bots, that go to great lengths to get their feet in-the-door over at Rig Talk, James, so I feel ya brother.

It's impressive how "savvy" some bots are these days. Fortunately I'm aware of their "personalities" and patterns, so I fire off messages to them requesting that they show me they're human. I give 'em a week to respond in the interests of fairness then 9 times out of 10 I boot 'em to the curb.

Keep up the great work James; we all appreciate it brother.

[bayswater]

Keep up the great work James; we all appreciate it brother.

+1. You strike the perfect balance between too much and too little.

[primeevolutionary]

The part that seemed legit to me was that her name was Emily Chang and her email address was emailychang. That seems too cute for scammers. It could just have been a typo.

[James Steele]

The part that seemed legit to me was that her name was Emily Chang and her email address was emailychang. That seems too cute for scammers. It could just have been a typo.

It wasn't. "She" definitely made a spam post shortly after I approved "her." I see this all the time when I review the pending registrations for this site. It's very common that they invent some name and then the username and email address match. Like I said, the telltale giveaway is the gmail.com address. They almost always have gmail email addresses.

[primeevolutionary]

I didn’t mean to suggest that I thought it was legit, just that would have gotten my guard down a bit. Also, their argument, which seemed cranky, made it sound like a real person. I’m used to seeing really bad/dumb attempts where the name of the person is completely different from the email address name and a lack of coherent sentence structure. Your example sounded like one of my real customers.

[waterstrum]

Brother James...
So sorry that you have to deal with this major PITA!
James vs. the bots.
This is why you get the big bucks...
Oops... You don't get paid for this?
Yikes!
Infinite Gratitude to you for keeping this board alive.
A lifeline for the DP community.

[labman]

Appreciate you sir James!