Storage Auctions
The Storage Locker => The Lounge => Topic started by: MovieMan on April 13, 2011, 09:32:07 AM
-
I check out the new members periodically and ONE of the things I have noticed is this....a fair number of them have
a particular "twist" to their names. Here's an example"
bEmmettPittmanp
The "twist" I am talking about is the lowercase letter ahead of and after the main name. This seems odd to me and
I wonder if it isn't some automatic name being generated somewhere, somehow.
A couple of these folks have no apparent email address or web address, but several of them are from the UK.
Is this just one or more people using some "bot" to radomly generate memberships, or are these people really
interested in auction storage buying and selling?
Anyone have knowledge of such things?
-
This looks like some useful info about this topic. Reading down through it, it seems that this technique might be what is being used in our forum.
http://hubpages.com/hub/Forum-Profiles-What-They-Do-Not-Tell-You
edit: reading about SEO (search engine optimization) is worthwhile too.
-
:o Looks like you may have stumbled on to something here Movieman :o Spammers are always searching for new ways to do their dirty deeds!
bEmmettPitmanp list his website hemorrhoids treatment no doubt a spammer
-
:o Looks like you may have stumbled on to something here Movieman :o Spammers are always searching for new ways to do their dirty deeds!
bEmmettPitmanp list his website hemorrhoids treatment no doubt a spammer
Yep, I just saw that myself. Apparently these folks join forums (and there are a ton here) and then a little later (an hour or a day) they come back, either change their profile, or actually post, then the fun begins.
Here's another one:
aFeliciaBarrons
This one meets the name "twist" I mentioned above and you can bet there is mischief afoot.
Drew....hope you see this and can somehow monitor the members usage on non-usage. Perhaps this is part of
what accounts for nearly 2000 members but little response by the bulk of them.
-
Been doing research on this and the misuse of forums is incredible.
There are several websites which allow you to plug in a website name and it tells you who is BEHIND the website.
The "spider-web" that is the internet is great for us in some ways, but a real spider TRAP in other ways.
I hope Drew can find some tools to get rid of these members who are obviously (or not obviously) using this forum to promote their hemmoroid treatments, poster board sales, etc.
-
Here's another SPAMMER.
aceceiniolop
He joined in late March and has just made his first post.
Spam all over the place...this one IS from the UK.
-
Yea I have been noticing this as well for awhile just need the time to do some research to find the best way to prevent it. But it's weird that tons of them donot ever post anything thus never getting their link posted??
-
Here's another one....in my opinion...and he's on right now at 5:10 pm Pacific Time, 4 13 2011.
grow taller
even his screen name here is a dead giveaway, let alone his web link in his profile.
-
OK, I'll grow the list in this post by just adding to it:
aBrittaCookv................................ joined 4/16/2011
uZackaryChristianm...................... joined 4/16/2011
uLavernHuffmanv......................... joined 4/17/2011
gparkercarterv............................. joined 4/18/2011
balvarogilmorem.......................... joined 4/18/2011 shows a hotmail acct...genuine interest?
l154c.......................................... joined 4/19/2011 another u.k. address....do they have storage auctions in England?
lmarydwarfb................................ joined 4/19/2011 marydwarf ? cute name
antoniomckin716.......................... joined 4/19/2011 another u.k. address
Beesignee................................... joined 4/21/2011 check out the sig line and website address on this one ! (inversion tables)
qfranklynanderseng...................... joined 4/22/2011 another alphabet member from the United Kingdom !
CaroleeM2................................... joined 4/15/2011 came back 4/22....has an acne treatment website in profile.
rSanayiTicaretFirmailanla............... joined 4/222011 another with the .aramamotor.net address (bad news !)
jticaridizini................................... joined 4/23/2011 aramotor.net
xLeontineSuarezj.......................... joined 4/24/2011 he DOES have a hotmail address...that's a possible good sign.
Ather19....................................... joined 4/25/2011 lives in MO, signature line is for air conditioning service in PA.
RichieNu2.................................... joined 4/25/2011 acne medication at his website.
sleeklike...................................... joined 4/26/2011 "greek" info in all profile info.
yschroederj.................................. joined 4/26/2011 meets "alphabet" criteria AND has U.K. address
stephanaco................................... joined 4/262011 stayed online awhile and added his online pharacy website !
iraroth718.................................... joined 4/27/2011 has an "alphabet" special email address
-
The link I provide in this post is a document telling people how to drive business to THEIR website.
focuses on joining forums and gives specifics on how to wiggle your way into forums in order
to then further YOUR blog or forum.
I think a large number (in the hundreds?) of the near 2000 members here are just folks like this.
One post I saw in our threads from a new member (some clothing salesman) said "good point". This person had no more interest in auction lkrs than the man in the moon, but this is one of the tips in the link below. Join, slowly post, etc.
Anyway, here's the link:
problogger.net/archives/2008/10/20/how-to-use-forums-to-drive-hundreds-of-thousand-of-readers-to-your-blog/
-
See reply #8 for a growing list of the "alphabet" members.
Here's the latest I've found:
qfranklynanderseng
Many of these people have email addresses in the U.K. (United Kingdom).
Another one later in the morning:
This one MAY be legit but has an acne treatment website listed in profile.
When I see half a dozen posts that TRULY relate to auction buying, I have a different view of these folks. Hasn't happened yet.
CaroleeM2
*****
this one has the aramamotor.net ending for his email. There have been others of this ilk.
rSanayiTicaretFirmailanla
Here's another aramator.net joined 4/23/2011...what are the odds of so many using this same (minor) net?
jticaridizini
-
On our blog, we get a lot of people making posts like "I really love your blog", but instead of posting in the "rate us" category, they make their comments under some obscure category like using PayPal. I guess they think flattery will get them a link. I reward quality posts and articles with links, the ones I think are just trying beat the system get their links removed. Perhaps if their websites or blogs had better content, people would want to link to them on their own.
-
Our newest member....4/25/2011
Now I know where to go for my air-conditioning needs in Pittsburg, PA
Ather19
Need acne medication? See this new member's website.
RichieNu2
Edit: 4/26/2011
sleeklike.....his signature line and other info on profile are "greek to me"
yschroederj..joined right after sleeklike and meets the "alphabet" critera and has a U.K. address.
stephanaco...I'm sure we'll all want to use his online pharmacy.
-
Sleeklike whom I noted in post 12 above actually stayed on line here for a few minutes and added his website (in Russian) which translates to "handmade soap".
This guy has a lot of profile info in Greek (too much to translate).
Amazing what these flakes will do...and to what end? Do they actually think that even if someone goes to their
website that we would actually BUY soap or acne medication from them. Of course they may have other nefarious ends they are trying to achieve also like hacking into accounts to get financial info etc.
I don't know if there is any software a forum admin can use to detect and delete these folks, but I hope so. Doing
so manually would really be time consuming.
-
Here's a new one and I'm going to build the list in this post. Reply #8 above is getting filled up. Of course there are many I've missed too, but I do like finding these "alphabet" members.
The first two below were found in 10 minutes online here at the forums. Can you imagine how many slip through? A lot.
vKelyFrankg............joined 4/27/2011....has a beauty supply type email address ?
gwendolenald.........joined 4/27/2011...depression medication in website link
vfreebusinessdirectoryy...joined 4/27/2011 .....dead giveaway and the email is the aramamotor giveaway too!
alvarobauer1230............joined 4/27/2011
Medicalb........................joined 4/27/2011 U.K. email address quite a trip to buy a locker !
Dajcic............................joined 4/27/2011 wants to help you incorporate your auction buying business !
gEveMontest...................joined 4/28/2011 check out the sig line and email address...auction buyer? Right!
kukakikulisme.................joined 4/28/2011
fredcarroll614.................joined 4/28/2011
louisbooth11..................joined 4/28/2011 Need a loan modification? This new "member" can help you.
OrergoExtex..................joined 3/27/2011 on April 29,2011 actually posted about 40 links for anxiety workshop sites
gvanessawhaleso............joined 5/30/2011
-
OrergoExtex..................joined 3/272011 on April 29,2011 actually posted about 40 links for anxiety workshop sites
I sent Drew a private message....hopefully the spammers will be eliminated even if one at a time.
yShirleyWhitneyc...........joined 4/29/2011 likes spyware removal software..how about spamware removal ?
pasqualecasey705..........joined 4/29/2011 like mechanical pocket watches and would probably relieve you of yours.
yRobertHowellk..............joined 4/29/2011 sporting event tickets
cJimJohnsonj.................joined 4/30/2011 his proclivities are not yet known
eRedsenMcmahonn........joined 5/2/2011...email has "how to get rich" in it...give me a friggin' break !
xdanMarshaLeen...........joined 5/5/2011 another from the U.K.
-
A new batch of scammers is joining with rather ordinary names that end with numbers:
lionelcobb616.........joined 4/29/2011 There will be more of these.
walterhead4028......joined 4/29/2011 furniture is this guy's thing.
petermorrison442....joined 5/1/2011 cutting board interest
eliseobanks410.......joined 5/1/2011 check out the email address on this one !
claudeoneal717.......joined 5/2/2011 could the email address be more complicated than this one ?
FranklinBrooke63.....joined 5/2/2011 U.K. email address...storage lkrs there?
-
Here's the guy we've all been looking for:
He will show you "how to get rich" at his email address; here's his "member" name.
eRedsenMcmahonn
Starting to get tired of these flakes.
Edit:
BotmasterLabs.....joined 5/2/2011...if you type that in your browser and add .net at the end hopefully your
antivirus program will give you the same message I got...UNSAFE SITE.
Phineas304 .........joined 5/2/2011 likes leather dog collars and would sell you one in a minute !
Operated1...........joined 5/2/2011 data center info
Avril12farley3......joined 5/3/2011 another "member" from the U. K.
Crorkgoaxytox.....joined 5/3/2011 just a dorky name; a spammer; came back a couple of hours later selling viagra.
gCarmenPottsc....joined 5/4/2011 selling some kind of music database program
tomderedman.....joined 5/4/2011
mbrianmoodyk....joined 5/4/2011 hey it's a moody brian with an alphabet kicker !
-
See reply #17 above.
This is a good example of what these spammers are up to. That one would take you to a malware site
if your anti-virus program didn't catch it.
-
Someone asked me why I was doing this...posting suspected spammer's/member's names.
I'm doing it because I think it may help to someday eliminate not only a single spammer, but maybe a bulk of them in one shot.
If I ever have a website/forum of my own, I would want to know how to watch for these people and I'm hoping Drew is exploring those possibilities now. The two groups of people I have targeted in this thread have definite patterns to their screen names, and not a one of them has really posted any kind of meaningful thought about storage auctions.
They sometimes join and never leave any kind of link to their spam product, but sometimes they come back a few hours, days or weeks later and add that material. Some of them have links right off the bat that not only try to sell something, but have malware products built in that try to gather OUR private info, even if it is an email address. They can either SELL our addressess or they can then spam us directly through our email addy.
If I ever post the name of someone who ACTUALLY is interested in storage auctions (and proves it through legitimate postings) I will BE THE FIRST to admit my mistake. So far that hasn't happened. I have even emailed some of these people asking them to post about their storage auction experiences...so far no one has responded either here or privately to me.
Just a bit of explanation for why I go to this effort.
-
This one is gutsy:
aLekishaMarquezd
Joined 5/6/2011, has the "alphabet" name that is a dead giveaway, AND has MEDICAL BILLING in
website and/or contact info/signature line.
A GRAND SLAM for a spammer.
Swim...................joined 5/7/2011 wants to sell you swimwear
windshieldaz90......joined 5/7/2011 can anyone guess what THIS spammer will do for you ?
-
If there is such a problem with spam, why not just set the filters to require moderation for any post which contains a link?
-
If there is such a problem with spam, why not just set the filters to require moderation for any post which contains a link?
If you know how to do that and can pass that information along to Drew that would be a truly positive contribution to the forums.
If I knew how to do it (and if I had the access to do it), I would, but I don't, so I can't.
-
I am still looking into ways to prevent the spam I am more than open to any ideas
-
I'm almost certain there is a way to do it. On my Wordpress blogs there is an option under settings in the Admin menu. If you can't figure it out, perhaps you can ask someone on the Wordpress forum or a forum similar to it.
-
I am still looking into ways to prevent the spam I am more than open to any ideas
Well, you got rid of hundreds the other day, but they still keep coming:
seopower5.........joined 5/12/2011 He's into SEO (search engine optimization)
Drew....can you check on the SPAM FILTER capability of your ADMIN capabilities at your website control center?
-
A new post to start a new build of spammers:
Ferriola1630........joined 5/13/2011 home loan advice; my advice? Ignore this member.
KGA....................joined 5/13/2011 sealed bid auctions ? that's in his email addy.
aaronramsey17....joined 5/14/2011 and has a named link in the first post for a Baltimore storage facility
-
Been a week since I caught one, but I'm sure some got through.
This one joined 3 28 2011 and is online as I type.
Has a teeth whitener website.
Iceskcels......................joined 3/28/2011 teeth whitener website
on 5/23/2011 this "member" changed his/her website to yeast infections.
-
People need clean teeth right?
I know if I was looking for white strips, the first place I would look would be the storage auction forum. Lol
-
Here's one that's been around for awhile....
Last active May 22, 2011....left us a website to visit.
dbspencer.........joined early March, 2011....website is all foreign language films