Why is there so much spam at 5am

Why is there so much spam at 5am

Didn't find your answer?

Now I love accountingweb, especially any answer.

However I don't log on at 5am. Ever.

Today, this morning there are pages and pages of spam.

Is this a daily occurrence?

(off to bed now!)

Replies (29)

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By DMGbus
23rd Jun 2015 08:25

New members system problem

There is a basic operational / management system problem with new members on AWeb.

Spammers and other "bad" new members know that there is no out of hours moderation.

So a "baddy" will register out of hours and then has the ability to spam.

No forum will ever successfully stop this but a good system to reduce the problem would be to have new members on moderation for an appropriate period of time where their posts be reviewed before appearing on AWeb.

A further recommended step would be for IP addresses of new members to be ascertained and compared to those of existing members - that way multiple ID membership by single individual or organisation might be reduced.

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By Manwithnoname
23rd Jun 2015 08:33

Awww

"Why is there so much spam at 5am?"

I was hoping this was going to be the start of a joke, I was trying to guess the punchline (unsuccessfully).

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RLI
By lionofludesch
23rd Jun 2015 08:36

Is it because .......

..... it's the middle of the day in Asia ?

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Stepurhan
By stepurhan
23rd Jun 2015 08:44

Punchline

Because, if you get up for a p in the middle of 5am you get.

5pam

(Never said it was a good punchline.)

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Replying to bernard michael:
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By Manwithnoname
23rd Jun 2015 08:49

:)

stepurhan wrote:

Because, if you get up for a p in the middle of 5am you get.

5pam

(Never said it was a good punchline.)

 

Nevertheless, amazing effort! :)

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By User deleted
23rd Jun 2015 08:46

IP won't work ...

@DMGbus - proxy server hides IP

But sandboxing new members comments overnight would probably work
 

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By MrotsylliD
23rd Jun 2015 11:32

5pam

Really liked that.
 

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pic
By jndavs
23rd Jun 2015 09:00

5am?
Keep taking the tablets.

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By Dan Izzard
23rd Jun 2015 09:01

We were half way there...

Thankfully we have the tools to clear things up quite quickly. We have a number of spam blocks and measures in place, but it's always a game of cat and mouse. We've got the team looking today to find another measure to stop further attacks. It's a fine line between allowing new members a low enough barrier to get involved and stopping these sort of attacks. Luckily these things only happen every now and then but it's something we'll work on continually. Again, thanks to everyone who has reported. 

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RLI
By lionofludesch
23rd Jun 2015 09:01

Yet on the other side of the coin ...

.... I'm appalled.

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By Dan Izzard
23rd Jun 2015 09:05

P.S

Still no punchline ;-)

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By ShirleyM
23rd Jun 2015 09:10

The spam has gone :)

But the blogs are still not working properly. :(

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By Dan Izzard
23rd Jun 2015 09:15

@shirleyM

Will get that turned back on asap. 

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chips_at_mattersey
By Les Howard
23rd Jun 2015 09:15

Back to normal!?

Have these people got nothing better to do?

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Francois
By Francois Badenhorst
23rd Jun 2015 10:23

Welcome to the wonders of working on the internet everyone. Magical!

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By petersaxton
28th Jun 2015 09:34

Moderation

I would have thought that expecting new members posts to be moderated before posting for a period of time would help but spammers would just sign up and wait until they are able to post.

The real answer is voice verification of new members. How many people sign up each day? Surely the numbers are not onerous.

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By ShirleyM
28th Jun 2015 09:43

It wouldn't be such a big problem

If mods logged on more frequently this sort of problem could be nipped in the bud, ie. a dozen spam messages to remove, and IP blogged, instead of hundreds of posts to delete.

It appears that the management don't care what happens over the weekend as nothing ever changes, even when the management know that spam attacks (and troll attacks) are increasing in frequency.

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By petersaxton
28th Jun 2015 10:04

Of course it would make sense for mods to check more frequently

but it would appear that nobody at AccountingWeb wants to do that. They would rather the site be deluged in spam than make a small effort to stop it.

It should be easy for a moderator to tick a box for each spam thread in a few seconds and get rid of the spam.

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RLI
By lionofludesch
28th Jun 2015 10:20

As Arnie said ....

"I'll be back".

When I can find things.

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By User deleted
28th Jun 2015 14:11

See my latest (possibly last) 'question'

[EDIT] don't bother looking for it - it will have been well and truly lost in the middle of all the cr@p by now .

I have reported the issue by direct email, but no reply and no action. So until AWeb pull their finger out and deal with this - they've had enough complaints about their membership process for the last few years for various reasons - I'm gone.

PS - I have a good idea who is behind this. Such attacks typically stem from disenchanted teenage geeks with nothing better to do. An accusation that I made against a particular [ex]member recently.

Someone please wake me up when this is all over.

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Replying to paulwakefield1:
paddle steamer
By DJKL
28th Jun 2015 14:32

PIID question re overseas flat

BKD wrote:

[EDIT] don't bother looking for it - it will have been well and truly lost in the middle of all the cr@p by now .

I have reported the issue by direct email, but no reply and no action. So until AWeb pull their finger out and deal with this - they've had enough complaints about their membership process for the last few years for various reasons - I'm gone.

PS - I have a good idea who is behind this. Such attacks typically stem from disenchanted teenage geeks with nothing better to do. An accusation that I made against a particular [ex]member recently.

Someone please wake me up when this is all over.

 

Before you go you wouldn't like to dig out my question on overseas flats/ private use in a company posted yesterday and proffer some insight? I do not post questions often but this issue (albeit little tax at stake ) is for a family member I help, and is outwith my comfort zone.

Anyone else please feel free to find it and join in.

Overseas flat rental and P11D

 Posted by DJKL PM | on Sat, 27/06/2015 - 15:12  72 | report print

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By andy.partridge
28th Jun 2015 10:46

Why?

The answer is that there is not a single person inside Sift who gives a [***] about what happens outside of 9-5 Mon-Fri. Jobsworths.

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By User deleted
28th Jun 2015 12:31

Told Aweb about turning into a hack on 22 June ...

Therefore they have had 6 days to beef up their system and implement measures to mitigate the problem

Also told them measures to take - Sandbox all new members over the weekend or out of hours

Not taking heed of this is pure incompetence by Aweb who should know after 15+ years that these things escallate very quickly - and yet nobody has addressed the matter

A jolly good way of losing members

Hence the impressive 2000+ posts in 10 hours

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By Fizzy
28th Jun 2015 14:33

That's commitment

Wow, 2,082 posts in 10.5 hours is committed (or should be!). Even with a bit of cut and paste you'd surely be looking at insanity before you're half way done. I can't decide whether Wallace is to be pitied or applauded for such stamina. If only one of the powers that be on AWeb could show a fraction of that commitment.

As an aside, what is the point of all this spam? Is there a dodgy link involved that gives them control of your pc if you click on it? Or some weird and wonderful money-making scheme? Or is it just a '[***] people off' jolly? (If the latter then personally I'd have gone for fewer and spread it over several days to wind the advertisers up more - but then I guess these entries will still be there at lunchtime Monday at least)

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By andy.partridge
28th Jun 2015 14:45

Japanese Knotweed

Has invaded Sift's garden. Do they have the stomach to remove it? We shall see.

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By petersaxton
28th Jun 2015 17:12

My guess

is that the scum have a program that is written to set up accounts and/or post the messages.

I would expect it's an attempt to take over users pc's. It's worth it if they get one mug and anyway they don't care how much hassle they cause.

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By petersaxton
28th Jun 2015 17:15

Why not

make new members first message be moderated and then if they post something sensible they are free to post?

I'm sure if a new member wants a question answered they can wait for somebody from Sift to report for duty on a Monday at 9 am.

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Replying to HeatherSimpson:
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By User deleted
28th Jun 2015 17:58

Scrutiny of new members

petersaxton wrote:

make new members first message be moderated and then if they post something sensible they are free to post?

Doesn't that sound like an eminently sensible suggestion? I know that it works well in other forums. But I think they need to go further here - too easy for a [repeat] troublemaker to gain access by initially posting something sensible and then letting rip. All new members should have their ID thoroughly vetted before being allowed to post. Problem is, Peter, it was first suggested more than 3 years ago and has been continually requested since. So don't hold your breath.

We'll get the same excuses that the volume of traffic is simply too large for such measures to be implemented - I have a degree of sympathy with that: it's an inevitable consequence of having a free-for-all forum with limited resources to police it. Perhaps we either have to accept that this is bound to happen from time to time or, if we are not, it is time for someone to set up a new, invitation/vetted-only forum where those of us that are interested only in helping each other with our techinical issues can discuss in peace (accepting the odd difference of opinion :¬) )

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By petersaxton
28th Jun 2015 18:12

I suppose

I was thinking of a solution to the spam side of the problem. I agree with you about the trouble makers issue. I don't see that phoning all new member applications would be that difficult. How many new members are they? If they are genuinely accountants they should be willing to get registered and wait for the verification process to work. If they are non-accountants and just want free advice then it's tough! The details required to be supplied should put off most non-accountants. This would make the verification process times acceptable to Sift staff.

I suppose the problem is that Sift want to say that they have as many accountant members as possible. Most "members" will be freeloaders who join to ask one question and then are never seen again. Think of Sage, they make out that loads of people use their software so it must be good but I am sure a majority buy it and either don't like it and find something better or can't get to grips with it. Yet these people are included in the number of "users". Remember: "Marketing" is "lies"!

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