PM Spam

[MaxRoper]

Today I received two separate PMs from new users (both with no posts). Both asked me for a story about basically the same scenario. I assume many others received the same.

I have no problem with such requests if they come from a known member, but I don't appreciate this blanket approach from a newby. Is it possible to keep new users out of the Private Message area until they've posted at least once or twice?

[Michael-Colin]

Yeah, I had one today as well (and a few in the past).

[Cleavegagger]

Today was my first time, not Nice indeed. Was a big problem on the old site though

[chadmc90]

Oh he's been around for a long time. Hes been banned, though i have a feeling he will be back. Just keep letting us know and we'll just keep banning him.

[Xtc]

I thought that anyone who did not have at least two posts was barred from pms.
I know it won't completely clear the problem but is that so?

[drawscore]

Got one; trashed it. Maybe rhere's a "send all" feature, where the message typed, the "send all" button is clicked,\and everyone gets one,

Drawscore

[bondagefreak]

[mention]Xtc[/mention] That isn't so. At least half the new members who I contact after signing up respond to my welcome private messages.

[mention]drawscore[/mention]
No. Group pms arent allowed for regular users.
Mouthstuffed was up last night sending message after message. His messages were tweaked from user to user. Mine was titled "Sir Bondagefreak".

[chadmc90]

@Xtc That isn't so. At least half the new members who I contact after signing up respond to my welcome private messages.

Great. Now i need to go back and review the permissions again. Thanks for letting me know. Now i need to add it to the rest of the pile sitting on my plate. Lol.

[Xtc]

Ah, but you're so good at it.
NO, don't throw that at me!

[bondagefreak]

[mention]chadmc90[/mention]
Honestly, don't stress out about this.
It's a very minor issue. One that's far less common (so far) than on the old board.

I've only been bothered 2-3 times in the last six months.

[MaxRoper]

[mention]chadmc90[/mention] what [mention]bondagefreak[/mention] said.

Please don't allow this to create work for you. I wanted to bring it up to see how prevalent it is and make sure we're all aware. Two unwanted messages isn't a crisis and both senders are apparently deleted now.

[Deleted User 1591]

I just got one as well. I was less than kind in my response while keeping my civility

[bondagefreak]

I just got one as well. I was less than kind in my response while keeping my civility

Was this from user TapeBind?

[Deleted User 1591]

I just got one as well. I was less than kind in my response while keeping my civility

Was this from user TapeBind?

Yep, and he brought X-rated language when I told him to buzz off. My second response was less than civil. I now have a filter set to delete nessages from foes.

Guess who I have on my foe list now?

[bondagefreak]

[mention]AlexUSA_99[/mention] Yup. He just joined up and I saw him composing pms one after the other. This is the same guy that the mods keep banning.

The best thing we can do is block and ignore.
IP banning can easily be circumvented.

[Deleted User 1591]

Yup. He just joined up and I saw him composing pms one after the other. This is the same guy that the mods keep banning.

The best thing we can do is block and ignore.
IP banning can easily be circumvented.

Exactly. Should he bug me again, he shall really discover profanity. I always read up to know what a person likes before bothering them. Perhaps he's illiterate and uses voice dictation software

[Solarbeast]

I had gotten an interesting pm from the original person, mouthstuffed. I replied to him along the lines of “no, I don’t roleplay, if that’s what you meant.” And since that happened I have not had any other messages from anyone that could potentially be him. I do this a lot to the messages that I get asking for something I don’t like to do. I also don’t know why this always stops them dead in their tracks. I have suggested this to other people, but apparently it doesn’t work for them. Maybe I’m special or something?

[chadmc90]

Well i modified it so newly registered users cant send PMs until they make their first two posts. I did it because he seems to be getting around it frequently.

[fungirlkatie]

Had one of these messages as well, but the account has been removed before I had a chance to do anything.

[Xtc]

Yes, [mention]fungirlkatie[/mention], I saw him coming and waved him ta-tas.
Since then I have been told off by [mention]BoundJana[/mention] who wanted a little word with him!

[Jason Toddman]

IP banning can easily be circumvented.

That's why i simply delete his account whenever its existence is brought to my attention. Quicker and easier than banning... and probably far less work than it is for him to create a new spam account.

[Jason Toddman]

Well i modified it so newly registered users cant send PMs until they make their first two posts. I did it because he seems to be getting around it frequently.

The spammer has learned to circumvent this. I just banned Gorillatape, who posted three legit posts before revealing himself by sending the same old pM spams. Just FYI. Didn't delete his account this time so you can see your yourself. I just closed a report about him too.

[bondagefreak]

[mention]chadmc90[/mention] [mention]Jason Toddman[/mention] [mention]Xtc[/mention]
You guys are doing a wonderful job already. Don't let yourselves get weighed down by this.
Besides deleting over and over, there is only SO much than can be done.

By signing up and using public forums like these, we (as members) kind of agree to being exposed to some undesirable messages and/or posts that we don't agree with.

It can be annoying, but it's only a minor nuisance, much like the spam e-mails we ALL get in our spam boxes.
You see a "how would you..." message from a 0 post user. It's a little annoying, but ignoring is honestly the best solution. We'll have to live with it.
IMO using the forum is still a good trade-off if the only inconvenience is an annoying RP request every now and then.


On a sidenote, leaving his account open (but suspended) might actually be a good solution to block this spammer.
You usually can't have more than one forum account with the same e-mail, meaning that if you guys keep his suspended account on the forum, he'll have to create a new e-mail each time he tries to create a new forum account.
He should find that tedious.


____________________________________________

His posts have just been re-approved and he's back amongst us under a new name: Oddbods
This guy's obviously toying with the team.
He's not even TRYING to sound different.

[Jason Toddman]

On a sidenote, leaving his account open (but suspended) might actually be a good solution to block this spammer.
You usually can't have more than one forum account with the same e-mail, meaning that if you guys keep his suspended account on the forum, he'll have to create a new e-mail each time he tries to create a new forum account.
He should find that tedious.

He hasn't so far. i have already dealt with him literally dozens of times already this year at the old site and this one; sometimes as many as half a dozen times in a single day.
He's oddbods all right. Funny thing. like Gorillatape he has three posts but has a post count of only 1. I wonder if this may be a clue as to how he circumvents bans. in any case, i'm banning him too. Any admin who disagrees can reverse it if they want. Anyone else who disagrees can just lump it.

[chadmc90]

At this point we will just have to put up with it. It doesn't really take much to clear him out anyways. He's the one exhausting his efforts over and over again just to gain some small level of attention to his strange fantasies. Members should continue to report him so we can deal with him promptly.