We appear to have a troll / spammer on the site

[Bantamzen]

Mods, please feel free to remove once appropriate action has been taken.

Members may notice a number of posts overnight from the user prubreua. Unfortunately these are all of a pornographic nature, and so they must be trolling or hacking the site.

I would suggest that all members add this user to their 'Ignore' list until the mods are able to deal with the matter. I have flagged up one of the posts for their attention.

 

[GB]

Ive just reported a couple. They appear to be on every part of the forum.

 

[J-2739]

Ye, I've noticed this too. Did he forget this is a rail forum and not Port UK Forum or Pornhub???

 

[Bantamzen]

I think it is just another internet saddo, who derives some strange pleasure in doing stuff like this. Just to be on the safe side I'm running my malware scanner, it's unlikely to the the case but very occasionally .gifs like these can carry malware embedded into them. I'll repost when the scan is complete.

Edit:

No malware detected on scan with a freshly updated database.

 

[najaB]

...it's unlikely to the the case but very occasionally .gifs like these can carry malware embedded into them...

I've not come across this one, do you have a link to any more information about them? I'm curious how a .GIF could contain executable code.

 

[Clip]

I dont think they can. Plus it was probably just a bot rather than a human

 

[Groningen]

Today a lot of Twitter accounts are hacked in Holland and Germany by Turks. Maybe?!

 

[Darandio]

I'm confused. :-?

Often when reading the 'Disputes & Prosections' section a thread will have information missing because the new user is under moderation and has to wait for their posts to be approved.

Yet here we have what I assume to be a new user that can post this garbage without needing approval?

 

[ainsworth74]

Often when reading the 'Disputes & Prosections' section a thread will have information missing because the new user is under moderation and has to wait for their posts to be approved.

Yet here we have what I assume to be a new user that can post this garbage without needing approval?

That particular protection only applies to the D&P area. New Members otherwise have full posting privileges on the rest of the forum from when they sign up. Usually the Forum's anti-spam detection software sifts out anyone who is who to post spam (usually they have a Russian IP address so it's easy enough to filter them) and flags their posts for approval before they are made visible.

However, from time to time, someone will slip through the net (we delete a lot more spam posts than you guys ever actually see). This happened last night and we were just unlucky enough that the one that slipped through was prolific rather than the usual one post.

All the posts should now have been deleted and thank you to everyone, and there were a lot of you (), who reported them to the staff team using the report (

) function.

For the avoidance of doubt it wasn't a hack simply a bot or an individual who managed to evade our existing anti-spam provisions. Most likely it was actually a person as we do have measures to try and stop bots signing up to the forum at all.

 

[D365]

Just seen another spam account pop up, seemed reasonably harmless though. It looks as if it has been dealt with appropriately.

 

[Howardh]

Just seen another spam account pop up, seemed reasonably harmless though. It looks as if it has been dealt with appropriately.

How do makers of tinned Spam send e-mails??

 

[Kite159]

Ah shame, did I miss some decent spam for a change? :P

Silly question, but could you set it to be first post needs to be moderated before becoming visible for other parts of the forum, just to catch out the spambots?

 

[D365]

Silly question, but could you set it to be first post needs to be moderated before becoming visible for other parts of the forum, just to catch out the spambots?

First five posts might be good, but then you have the issue of discouraging new members from contributing...

 

[yorkie]

Ah shame, did I miss some decent spam for a change? :P

Silly question, but could you set it to be first post needs to be moderated before becoming visible for other parts of the forum, just to catch out the spambots?

If an account is detected as being potentially suspicious the first few posts will already be moderated. This works with the vast majority of spammers.

We do have quite a lot of anti-spam measures in place, but unfortunately some do get through.

This one made 25 posts between 0328 and 0415, but all we need to do is click a couple of buttons and all their posts are deleted. (It is very important that members do not re-publish any reported content as this would not be deleted!)

 

[TheEdge]

I for one fully support more hardcore pornography on RUK

 

[DaleCooper]

I for one fully support more hardcore pornography on RUK

It's all hidden (and encrypted) in the Cryptic Clues thread.

 

[jon0844]

I for one fully support more hardcore pornography on RUK

Isn't admiring the livery on a train enough then?

 

[D365]

Isn't admiring the livery on a train enough then?

I've been trying to explain to a friend this week how I could tell the difference between an existing Supertram and one of the new Sheffield trams on test

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

I for one fully support more hardcore pornography on RUK

I am sure that one of the forum rules will most certainly thwart that particular aspiration.

 

[Darandio]

I am sure that one of the forum rules will most certainly thwart that particular aspiration.

(3.2) No frothing?

 

[Cowley]

(3.2) No frothing?