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On Scammers and Spammers

Discussion in 'WCHA Website Suggestions' started by Dan Miller, Aug 23, 2006.

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  1. Dan Miller

    Dan Miller cranky canoeist Staff Member

    Unfortunately, life on the Internet requires dealing with scammers and spammers, and the WCHA site is no exception. The WCHA webmasters waste considerable time combatting these folks, and unfortunately that draws us away from making constructive improvements to the website.

    Scammers - As with business dealings in any part of your life, be aware of whom you are potentially doing business with. The WCHA Classifieds are trolled by scammers who'd like nothing more than part you from your hard-earned cash. The most common scam is that they will offer to send you a cashier's check or money order for more than the amount, and ask you to wire the difference back to them. Their shipper will then come to pick up your canoe. Of course, the original check is no good, and if you've wired them any money, you will never see it again. These folks will respond to emails and try to convince you they are legitimate. If it sounds to good to be true, it probably is...

    Spammers - Spamming must be a lucrative business (perhaps more so than canoe building) because we are simply inundated by it by email, in the classifieds, and on the forums. Truth is, the vast majority of new registrations to the forums are spammers. Despite stepping up registration validation, we are still getting them. Rest assured that any spam that makes it onto our forums will be deleted at the first opportunity by one of the three webmasters. But remember, we are folks with other jobs, demands and so on, and do like to sleep once in a while, so a bum message may linger for a few hours. It will be deleted. In the meantime, just ignore it. There is no need to reply to spam messages on the board, or to email us about them (unless they've been there a couple days). The next step in combatting them would be to go to full moderation of the forums, and since that would really slow down discourse, I doubt anyone would like to see that take place...
     
    Dan Miller, Aug 23, 2006
    #1
  2. pklonowski

    pklonowski Unrepentant Canoeist

    Spam

    And I THANK YOU for your efforts!

    Paul K
    WCHA #8326
     
    pklonowski, Aug 23, 2006
    #2
  3. MikeCav

    MikeCav Restorer/Videographer

     
    MikeCav, Aug 23, 2006
    #3
  4. Woodchuck

    Woodchuck Woodworker

    Dan, I have made my own personal web site using HTML and have done some editing on a web site for our Community Center. If there is something I can do to help, let me know...
    CYA, Joe
     
    Woodchuck, Nov 25, 2006
    #4
  5. OP
    OP
    Dan Miller

    Dan Miller cranky canoeist Staff Member

    Joe,

    We have always welcomed submissions for the web site. If you would like to contribute something, feel free.

    Dan
     
    Dan Miller, Nov 25, 2006
    #5
  6. AndyLee

    AndyLee AndyLee

    2 simple solutions I've found

    that may not work on this board depending on how its set up, but in the online discussion groups I moderate the person who wants to join the list has to ask first, and if their screen name has bad words in it then I don't let them on, or if I suspect they are scammers/spammers I send them a quick email asking a canoe question or two, usually I never hear back from them, or if I do it's someone who really wants to be on the list. Secondly, the first post from each new member is moderated, so it doesn't go to the list until it comes through me first. This is onerous, I know, but I know a couple good lists, "freestyle canoe", for example, that have been ruined by the pornograhers. And that didn't need to happen, but the list moderator never responded to any offers to help moderate, so the spammers took it over. As someone else said on another thread, "that's my opinion and I'm stuck with it" :)
    Andy
     
    AndyLee, Dec 12, 2006
    #6
  7. Dan Lindberg

    Dan Lindberg Ex Wood Hoarder

    I've joined a couple sites lately that require approval and they provide a password before the site can be posted to, and they also ask for real names to be used.

    Dan
     
    Dan Lindberg, Dec 12, 2006
    #7
  8. OP
    OP
    Dan Miller

    Dan Miller cranky canoeist Staff Member

    Tim is going to look into how this might be implemented in this software. It is unfortunate that we've reached the level where we have to resort to this.
     
    Dan Miller, Dec 12, 2006
    #8
  9. Woodchuck

    Woodchuck Woodworker

    Dan, I meant that if I can help removing scammers, etc. I am retired and I check this and other similar sites multiple times daily so I might be of help in removing some of the unwanted stuff. I too want to keep this site clean...
    Thanks, Joe
     
    Woodchuck, Dec 12, 2006
    #9
  10. OP
    OP
    Dan Miller

    Dan Miller cranky canoeist Staff Member

    Tim has implemented the option to moderate new users. This of course will require us to sometimes guess who legitlmate new members are. Hopefully this will help to decrease the level of spam our users see, while at the same time not detering the good guys too much.
     
    Dan Miller, Dec 12, 2006
    #10
  11. Tom Heys

    Tom Heys Paddler/Downwind Sailer

    I know I speak for many of us, especially those of us to whom this nonsense is transparent, in thanking you Dan, Tim, and Benson for your [volunteer] efforts on our behalf. Tom
     
    Tom Heys, Dec 13, 2006
    #11
  12. Tim Hewitt

    Tim Hewitt WCHA Member in Maine

    Thanks for the kind words Tom.

    Benson and Dan really do all the work here these days. Though I hang around and do what I can, they carry the yeoman's share of the work.

    Hopefully this new method of allowing users to the forums will not let in too many bad guys, and won't discourage any new members we "kill" who are actually valid members...

    Fortunately the bulk of our daily new membership requests are using email addresses that are easily idenfitied as from SPAMmers - though I'm sure we'll let some through who should not come through, and we'll kill some that should...

    -t
     
    Tim Hewitt, Dec 13, 2006
    #12
  13. pklonowski

    pklonowski Unrepentant Canoeist

    spam

    I'll ditto Tom's comments, and add that, as your efforts are as volunteers, rather than paid staff, I appreciate it tenfold. THANK YOU!

    So why isn't SPAMming considered a capital offense?
     
    pklonowski, Dec 13, 2006
    #13
  14. Chuck Hoffhine

    Chuck Hoffhine Wooden Canoe Nut

    Kudos to Dan (I think) who blew away a spammer who sneaked through the other day trying to sell motorcycle stuff. I must have signed on immediately after the guy posted and the post was gone in a New York minute.

    -Chuck
     
    Chuck Hoffhine, Dec 13, 2006
    #14
  15. Rich Briere

    Rich Briere Rich Briere

    I bought a V-Twin Harley engine from that guy and installed it in my Charles River. While the canoe is now a bit more difficult to toss onto the top of the car, it'll blow away anything else on the water. :) :eek:

    Wood-ingly Yours,
    Rich Briere
     
    Rich Briere, Feb 8, 2007
    #15
  16. MGC

    MGC Paddlephile

    Toilet seat classifieds

    I'ts amazing to see the brazen crap that get's tagged to legitimate forums.
    I think that there should be a new classified category here for royal toilet seats (oh, sets).Aucoc silver,Antique French silver toilet set made by Aucoc in Paris
    This antique "French toilet seat" is with out a doubt the best one we have ever seen. :D
    I wonder if it's sea worthy?
     
    MGC, Feb 8, 2008
    #16
  17. bob goeckel

    bob goeckel Wooden Canoe Maniac

    the toilet seat thread was deleted?:eek: i was looking for a gift for swmbo for valentine's day. it's just what she always wanted.:D
     
    bob goeckel, Feb 8, 2008
    #17
  18. MGC

    MGC Paddlephile

    Bummer, Eh?:(

    Nice cleanup on the classifieds. Long overdue.
     
    MGC, Feb 8, 2008
    #18
  19. Benson Gray

    Benson Gray Canoe History Enthusiast Staff Member

    Things are not usually deleted completely from a computer as Monica Lewinski and Linda Tripp found out. This advertisement was posted and deleted four times in a week. It appears to still be available as item number 2704 from http://boxes.oneofakindantiques.com if you really want to pay $18,500 for it.

    Benson
     
    Last edited: Feb 12, 2008
    Benson Gray, Feb 12, 2008
    #19
  20. webwood

    webwood Curious about Wooden Canoes

    WCHA Class Ads scam attempts

    Just received the third response in a week to our Canoe for Sale ad, asking in substandard English for price and condition of the "above item" (both were stated in the listing).

    One query came from a .uk domain. Did they plan to paddle it back to England? :rolleyes:

    Whatever their little game is, I am not stupid enough to play it.

    So, to avoid attracting any more attention from other bottom feeders, I've just deleted the ad. Won't be trying the ClassAd section again, either.

    Darn shame things have gotten to this point; wish these fools would stop spoiling things for the honest/legit people out there.

    A.
     
    Last edited: Oct 1, 2009
    webwood, Sep 30, 2009
    #20
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