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Annoying SPAM BOTS abusing forum - action needed.
There's been a rash of AI (presumably) spam bots that are creating new accounts, posting vague messages that when read are often meaningless. They usually contain a link to some external website.
I might be wrong, but I believe this is a strategy for increasing the sites relevance in search engines due to increased back links.
None of them are "real" comments, and they all have a link off to some other site.
New users messages should be held for review by a human until it is obvious they are actually human - there are few enough new accounts that this shouldn't be a large task.
Russia
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Re: Annoying SPAM BOTS abusing forum - action needed.
Dear SJB007. It seems to me that the problem is a bit broader. There is very little live communication on the forum. There are only five or six real living people who want to tell you something and share their thoughts, and everyone knows their names. Paradoxically, there are a lot of views, but very little live dialogue and discussions. There used to be a lot of passion on this forum! But something has changed in the world. Now, interesting topics often look like monologues in the desert. And new technologies easily fit into this void. You're right, the monstrous AI turned out to be useful here, too, and cleverly disguises itself as an intellectual conversationalist. I fell for this trick myself and was happy to respond to a rare interested visitor. When I realized that I had been deceived, I was a little upset, of course, but I left my answers. But here's what I think. Home robots for elderly single people who can be talked to like a living grandson are being successfully sold in Japan. This is already becoming the norm and even brings joy. For some reason, it seems to me that very soon bots and robots under the control of AI will occupy a void among living people. It's people's fault that they don't talk to each other and leave these holes for new technologies. I've been wanting to talk to someone for a long time, even a talking doll with an obscure tag tied to its leg. To prevent this from happening, you just need to learn how to talk to each other and share your discoveries for real, without imitation. But it seems to me that this will never happen, the time is like this.
Netherlands
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Re: Annoying SPAM BOTS abusing forum - action needed.
As an example, there are five new accounts posting to this thread:
And I reported them all. I reported dozens of spam posts and they are all still there... It's obvious that Spacemushrooms doesn't monitor the forum, the single most important knowledge base for Sweet Home 3D.
The real problem is that if you don't remove those posts and spam accounts that they become 'valid' for the spammers, they prove to be working and that will attract even more spam. This all started with the Instagram adventure. So far I have seen nothing good coming from that but then I don't see what happens there because I avoid any social media like the plague. The only thing that works against spammers is active monitoring and immediate removal of the spam accounts. If you manage to remove spam posts before they pass the search engine bots then this forum will be of no interest to spammers. And that's real easy: we report the posts and Spacemushrooms only has to follow the report mails and act on it. You can report spam using the angry face icon at the bottom right of a post if you are logged in. That report doesn't show up in the forum so no extra attention to the spam. It's sad that Spacemushrooms still doesn't understand the importance of this forum. Without this knowledbase and its support for users Sweet Home 3D will fail.
---------------------------------------- Dodecagon.nl 1300+ 3D models, manuals, and projects
Romania
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Re: Annoying SPAM BOTS abusing forum - action needed.
Gaudi have right in terms we are very few really active members. Sometimes there is 2~3 days without any post. About spam: In the past(~20 years), these types of posts were recommendations for promoting a website. There were also instructions on how to avoid being considered spam. These guys probably created a few small games and are now trying to promote them. Also, in the past (a few years ago), there was a human moderator for the forum. About AI: I asked her to analyze the code of a program on GitHub. She replied that she has restricted access to this site (thank God!) .
---------------------------------------- A computer program does what you tell it to do, not what you want it to do. Murphy's Law When all else fails, read the instructions. Murphy's Law If you don't like "AS IS", DIY. Dorin's law
Netherlands
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Re: Annoying SPAM BOTS abusing forum - action needed.
About AI: I asked her to analyze the code of a program on GitHub. She replied that she has restricted access to this site (thank God!) .
That's without logging in. How difficult do you think it is to create an account just for the login and pass that to the AI?
---------------------------------------- Dodecagon.nl 1300+ 3D models, manuals, and projects
Romania
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Re: Annoying SPAM BOTS abusing forum - action needed.
Probably you've right. I didn't test it in that way and I don't intend to. All I want to say is it is possible to block unwanted access.
---------------------------------------- A computer program does what you tell it to do, not what you want it to do. Murphy's Law When all else fails, read the instructions. Murphy's Law If you don't like "AS IS", DIY. Dorin's law
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Re: Annoying SPAM BOTS abusing forum - action needed.
@Keet Yeah, I've done that exact reporting procedure myself to report them, but in a world of AI and automation this crap eventually becomes off putting and people move on. I myself am really only hanging around here out of habit at this point.
@dorin These posts are not humans. The posts themselves have too many red flags: the vague/meaningless sentences; the single external link; usually only a single post immediately after joining.
@GaudiGalopin (So you don't feel left out ;-) For the longest time I struggled with your posts. I don't know if your Russian is like your English, but for me (as a native English speaker) you have a very strange way of writing. The best analogy I can come up with is that it is like someone speaking in the style of a Shakespearean play - like you are playing with the language for fun and drama.
As to your point on robots... I think it is too early to understand how they will change society - if they will empower us, or they will further erode our sense of community.
Russia
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Re: Annoying SPAM BOTS abusing forum - action needed.
haha)) It's probably better to translate my simple words through an AI translator, then it will be clearer. I'm not kidding.))))))))). I have no idea what the result is now, I use our Russian Yandex account. I try to make phrases as simple as firewood.
Romania
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Re: Annoying SPAM BOTS abusing forum - action needed.
@sjb007 Probably you also have right. What I've seen correspond with what I was advised in the past to do to promote my site (one of the methods to trick Google bots). Doesn't mater. Someone of our new owners have to make and keep as clean as possible this forum. BTW They clams to have their own AI.
@GaudiGalopin
I have no idea what the result is now
Try (if you have access) DeepL recommended by Keet and try switch between languages until the reverse translation represent what you want to mean. @sjb007 again
you have a very strange way of writing
Our languages (Romanian, Russian and other ones in the East) have different topic than English. That make it a little more difficult to correctly translate.
---------------------------------------- A computer program does what you tell it to do, not what you want it to do. Murphy's Law When all else fails, read the instructions. Murphy's Law If you don't like "AS IS", DIY. Dorin's law
Russia
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Re: Annoying SPAM BOTS abusing forum - action needed.
Yes, I have the opportunity to use this resource, thank you! I will now use it to translate my abstruse thoughts, thank you! I will save the link for myself.
haha)) It's probably better to translate my simple words through an AI translator, then it will be clearer. I'm not kidding.))))))))). I have no idea what the result is now, I use our Russian Yandex account. I try to make phrases as simple as firewood. 
I will save the link for myself.
