SPAM Wars - Episode 1 - A new hope

We will update this with things that we think you should know.
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ForFolksSake
Posts: 869
Joined: Sat May 11, 2024 2:51 pm

Euler wrote: ↑
Fri Apr 25, 2025 10:29 am
A very clever attempt this morning, but 100% AI generated.
What's the problem with a 100% AI generated statement/question.

whether it's Ai generated or not it's perfectly valid πŸ€”
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jimibt
Posts: 4195
Joined: Mon Nov 30, 2015 6:42 pm

ForFolksSake wrote: ↑
Tue Apr 29, 2025 9:50 am
Euler wrote: ↑
Fri Apr 25, 2025 10:29 am
A very clever attempt this morning, but 100% AI generated.
What's the problem with a 100% generated statement/question.

whether it's Ai generated or not it's perfectly valid πŸ€”
i think it's not so much the content as the INTENT.. it's spammed, rather than a real user with a genuine question. ;)
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ForFolksSake
Posts: 869
Joined: Sat May 11, 2024 2:51 pm

jimibt wrote: ↑
Tue Apr 29, 2025 9:58 am
ForFolksSake wrote: ↑
Tue Apr 29, 2025 9:50 am
Euler wrote: ↑
Fri Apr 25, 2025 10:29 am
A very clever attempt this morning, but 100% AI generated.
What's the problem with a 100% generated statement/question.

whether it's Ai generated or not it's perfectly valid πŸ€”
i think it's not so much the content as the INTENT.. it's spammed, rather than a real user with a genuine question. ;)
But how do you know it's not a real user - it could have been you or me asking that question
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jimibt
Posts: 4195
Joined: Mon Nov 30, 2015 6:42 pm

ForFolksSake wrote: ↑
Tue Apr 29, 2025 10:05 am
jimibt wrote: ↑
Tue Apr 29, 2025 9:58 am
ForFolksSake wrote: ↑
Tue Apr 29, 2025 9:50 am


What's the problem with a 100% generated statement/question.

whether it's Ai generated or not it's perfectly valid πŸ€”
i think it's not so much the content as the INTENT.. it's spammed, rather than a real user with a genuine question. ;)
But how do you know it's not a real user - it could have been you or me asking that question
i imagine because it was a new user - one for the big E to answer i guess ;)
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ForFolksSake
Posts: 869
Joined: Sat May 11, 2024 2:51 pm

jimibt wrote: ↑
Tue Apr 29, 2025 10:17 am
ForFolksSake wrote: ↑
Tue Apr 29, 2025 10:05 am
jimibt wrote: ↑
Tue Apr 29, 2025 9:58 am


i think it's not so much the content as the INTENT.. it's spammed, rather than a real user with a genuine question. ;)
But how do you know it's not a real user - it could have been you or me asking that question
i imagine because it was a new user - one for the big E to answer i guess ;)
So a 'new' user is not a 'real' user

Or if you are a 'new' user don't ask such an advanced question πŸ€”
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Euler
Posts: 26269
Joined: Wed Nov 10, 2010 1:39 pm

They ask a seemingly valid question, lie dormat for a while then we wake up to the forum full of spam one day.

And also, there is a really clever trick they can use to link to a site in what looks like a perfectly valid post. So this is the first step, getting the ability to post.

We know people are selling backlinks to the site and suspect they are the people trying hard to get access, so they can get that backlink.
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Euler
Posts: 26269
Joined: Wed Nov 10, 2010 1:39 pm

Take a look at this post: -

viewtopic.php?p=371062#p371062

The same person appeared on the forum this morning to try and spam it, but got caught by our filter.

We've gone for it in terms of stopping this sort of behaviour as we don't want valid posters wasting their time responding to AI.
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Euler
Posts: 26269
Joined: Wed Nov 10, 2010 1:39 pm

Not sure what it is about this, but something tells me it's spam?
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Emtaxx
Posts: 294
Joined: Mon Feb 10, 2025 10:00 pm

Wonder if she does massages!

What is the spams intentions? what's persons behinds its goal?
Fugazi
Posts: 933
Joined: Wed Jan 10, 2024 7:20 pm

Euler wrote: ↑
Tue Apr 29, 2025 10:44 am
They ask a seemingly valid question, lie dormat for a while then we wake up to the forum full of spam one day.

And also, there is a really clever trick they can use to link to a site in what looks like a perfectly valid post. So this is the first step, getting the ability to post.

We know people are selling backlinks to the site and suspect they are the people trying hard to get access, so they can get that backlink.
Yep, that will be someone with the software XRummer selling backlink packages.

Thought the world of SEO had moved on from backlink spamming 15 years ago :lol: . It used to be you could jump up google rank just by backlink spamming. Google put a stop to this a long time ago so don't know why people still bother, unless its purely for a few rogue clicks to the website.

Looks like they have added some new functionality. Monitoring their updates is probably a good way to stop a lot of the spam as most people use XRumer:

"An important update for XRumer 23.0.5 StrongAI introduces a significant enhancement: self-learning for unknown fields and text CAPTCHAs using GPT (with support for GPT-compatible APIs). Other key improvements include increased success rates for forums, contact forms, and other platforms, as well as expanded functionality."
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Crazyskier
Posts: 1280
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Fugazi wrote: ↑
Tue May 13, 2025 11:25 pm
Euler wrote: ↑
Tue Apr 29, 2025 10:44 am
They ask a seemingly valid question, lie dormat for a while then we wake up to the forum full of spam one day.

And also, there is a really clever trick they can use to link to a site in what looks like a perfectly valid post. So this is the first step, getting the ability to post.

We know people are selling backlinks to the site and suspect they are the people trying hard to get access, so they can get that backlink.
Yep, that will be someone with the software XRummer selling backlink packages.

Thought the world of SEO had moved on from backlink spamming 15 years ago :lol: . It used to be you could jump up google rank just by backlink spamming. Google put a stop to this a long time ago so don't know why people still bother, unless its purely for a few rogue clicks to the website.

Looks like they have added some new functionality. Monitoring their updates is probably a good way to stop a lot of the spam as most people use XRumer:

"An important update for XRumer 23.0.5 StrongAI introduces a significant enhancement: self-learning for unknown fields and text CAPTCHAs using GPT (with support for GPT-compatible APIs). Other key improvements include increased success rates for forums, contact forms, and other platforms, as well as expanded functionality."
It's clearly a minefield, and I for one applaud the efforts of Peter, Dallas et al in keeping a spam-free 'clean' forum for genuine human beings.

CS
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Kai
Posts: 7053
Joined: Tue Jan 20, 2015 12:21 pm

Interesting thread, and a cool title πŸ‘

This reminds me of a sneaky post I noticed, that got past spam detection and still appears to be sitting there. I must not have thought much of it at the time and probably forgot to report it, but I can link to it here below as something to watch out for.
TrueFalse wrote: ↑
Mon Mar 03, 2025 9:17 am
jimibt wrote: ↑
Wed Feb 26, 2025 9:08 pm
Kai wrote: ↑
Wed Feb 26, 2025 7:37 pm


Firlandsfarm/nature does have a point, technically artificial insemination makes going into those directions possible :)

Hard to blame the ladies, and can't say I'm not a bit concerned with the fact we keep getting dumber over time when you look at the IQ downtrend, while AI keeps getting smarter. Already outscores us in IQ tests but can't do everything yet as there's obviously different types of intelligence : mathematical, verbal, creative, logical, spatial, musical etc... Although (!) we should be mostly interested in how it's going to perform in the EQ tests :lol:

And add variance to that as well, think one advantage it has over us is its intelligence isn't prone to variance like ours, it operates at a consistent efficiency while we're annoyingly impacted by both external and internal factors like sleep, stress or motivation. where decisions need to be made quickly and without emotion, this can be a great advantage for AI, but it is important for humans to learn how to control these factors in order to make informed decisions

Especially motivation, I actually feel it's the most underrated factor that also directly ties into why many people start thinking they lack intelligence to crack trading whenever they hit a wall, which is nonsense really. When you're only chasing a quick buck your brain just won't be interested enough to fully engage with the problem, let alone solve it.

You either find the market and the game genuinely fascinating, or you don't!
tbh -(imho), afaik, creativity is spawned by *variance*. we just KNOW that we're in a rut and something pushes us to climb over the edge. now, you could argue that having a constant *non variance* would counter that, but in my experience, faced with impending black holes and a pinch of doom, we tend to blossom...
Motivation is perhaps the main obstacle for many. At times when a person loses interest in what he or she is doing, it seems that he or she is unable to break through the wall, even if it is because of his or her own efforts and attitude.
This user replied to jimibt but inserted a cryptocurrency sentence with a promotional link in my quoted post that I never wrote in my original post.

Idk much about SEO farming etc but this looks like a shill account. I suspect the overall strategy is to:

1. Create a fresh account
2. Post a few harmless generic replies
3. Drop a final post that somehow includes a promo link
4. Disappear

To obviously get past spam detection and generate some organic-looking backlinks for SEO
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Dallas
Posts: 23503
Joined: Sun Aug 09, 2015 10:57 pm

Kai wrote: ↑
Mon Jun 30, 2025 12:33 pm
Interesting thread, and a cool title πŸ‘

This reminds me of a sneaky post I noticed, that got past spam detection and still appears to be sitting there. I must not have thought much of it at the time and probably forgot to report it, but I can link to it here below as something to watch out for.
TrueFalse wrote: ↑
Mon Mar 03, 2025 9:17 am
jimibt wrote: ↑
Wed Feb 26, 2025 9:08 pm


tbh -(imho), afaik, creativity is spawned by *variance*. we just KNOW that we're in a rut and something pushes us to climb over the edge. now, you could argue that having a constant *non variance* would counter that, but in my experience, faced with impending black holes and a pinch of doom, we tend to blossom...
Motivation is perhaps the main obstacle for many. At times when a person loses interest in what he or she is doing, it seems that he or she is unable to break through the wall, even if it is because of his or her own efforts and attitude.
This user replied to jimibt but inserted a cryptocurrency sentence with a promotional link in my quoted post that I never wrote in my original post.

Idk much about SEO farming etc but this looks like a shill account. I suspect the overall strategy is to:

1. Create a fresh account
2. Post a few harmless generic replies
3. Drop a final post that somehow includes a promo link
4. Disappear

To obviously get past spam detection and generate some organic-looking backlinks for SEO
Thanks for flagging it, they way you have described has been a common tactic of spammers these last 12-18mths
The link has been removed from above and original post and the account blocked
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