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I was thinking anybody on Stack Overflow might be interested in the blog post Samsung agency is buying off StackOverflow users.

How can the Stack Overflow community defend itself from such spam attempts?

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  • 23
    I'd say users who go with the suggested practices will pretty soon find out the community's view on it all.
    – Bart
    Commented Aug 1, 2013 at 15:23
  • 10
    As written in the post, they’d be downvoted to −∞. Also, it says in the post that he contacted SO already. Also, did you see the comments? e.g. by Bill the Lizard?
    – Ry-
    Commented Aug 1, 2013 at 15:26
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    The author of your link pretty much says it all: "it's clear that this guy is totally out of touch with what StackOverflow is" ... Nothing to worry about I'd say.
    – Bart
    Commented Aug 1, 2013 at 15:27
  • 3
    We defend it with fire! i.imgur.com/8WOhrMO.png
    – Richard J. Ross III
    Commented Aug 1, 2013 at 15:30
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    The part that really saddens me about this is that people think the troll using the Matt Cutts name in the comments there is the real Matt Cutts.
    – Brad Larson
    Commented Aug 1, 2013 at 15:30
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    But he said he's Matt Cutts from Google @BradLarson? What more proof do you want?
    – Bart
    Commented Aug 1, 2013 at 15:37
  • @Bart I know! It's not like anyone would go on the internet and lie or anything...
    – Richard J. Ross III
    Commented Aug 1, 2013 at 15:39
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    lol, from the agency's web site: Paying for followers will not get you the results you need. Follower growth needs to be organic. We like to keep things All Natural here at FLLU. It's all about Organic Growth!
    – Pekka
    Commented Aug 1, 2013 at 15:55
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    @Pekka웃 Just like the real flu...
    – J. Steen
    Commented Aug 1, 2013 at 16:04
  • "Please note that our request to promote via these public channels is a breach against their Terms of Service and could result in your account being terminated."
    – Brad Larson
    Commented Aug 1, 2013 at 16:12
  • @Richard what? No gif?
    – Cole Tobin
    Commented Aug 1, 2013 at 16:57
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    Other titles considered for this post: Help prevent Stack Overflow from catching the FLLU, and Does Stack Overflow have it's FLLU shots?.
    – LittleBobbyTables - Au Revoir
    Commented Aug 1, 2013 at 19:00
  • Seriously though, this is a really interesting post, and I'm glad to see the responses from the moderators so quickly.
    – LittleBobbyTables - Au Revoir
    Commented Aug 1, 2013 at 19:02
  • 2
    @LBT I support the Help prevent Stack Overflow from catching the FLLU title campaign.
    – Ryan
    Commented Aug 1, 2013 at 19:03
  • 1
    @LBT those aren't moderators, they're Stack Exchange employees. :)
    – Shadow Wizard
    Commented Aug 1, 2013 at 20:07

2 Answers 2

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77

In this case, we saw the post and reached out directly to Samsung (not the agency) and they are taking steps to make sure this does not happen again. There's no need to contact us about this issue anymore unless you receive a new request after Aug1, 2013. But if you receive something like this in the future, please do reach out to Stack Exchange (the company) via https://stackoverflow.com/contact.

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  • 7
    Good guy SO: stops spam before it happens
    – Richard J. Ross III
    Commented Aug 1, 2013 at 15:31
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    You could have waited for my my $500 check to clear, you know.
    – Pekka
    Commented Aug 1, 2013 at 15:33
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    The handbag business not working too well for you at the moment @Pekka웃?
    – Bart
    Commented Aug 1, 2013 at 15:35
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    I'll bet a beer that "fllu" is actually a front for Samsung itself that they can hide behind when something like this comes out. A "digital agency" that doesn't even reveal where it is based, no corporate info, and a twitter feed full of pointless BS? Who in their right mind is going to hire someone like that?
    – Pekka
    Commented Aug 1, 2013 at 15:56
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    @Pekka웃 Could also be nepotism, and that agency is just a relative of some Samsung manager. But that doesn't matter in any case, Samsung is responsible for the companies or contractors they hire, and they shouldn't be able to hide behind them.
    – Mad Scientist
    Commented Aug 1, 2013 at 15:59
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    @Pekka웃: CrunchBase says South Korean company founded in 2007 as a blog and has grown from there.
    – user7116
    Commented Aug 1, 2013 at 17:13
  • @user7116 ah, cool, thanks! Then their Twitter feed makes even less sense. But well....
    – Pekka
    Commented Aug 1, 2013 at 17:17
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    I just found this blog post... hypocritical? fllu.com/digital-growth-has-to-be-organic/2012/12/03
    – user2461391
    Commented Aug 1, 2013 at 19:08
  • @user7116 The contact address in their WHOIS record suggests that they are based in Los Angeles.
    – Dan Dyer
    Commented Aug 1, 2013 at 21:38
26

Thanks to the folks who reached out to us last night, I contacted the parties involved.

This should be resolved.

If you got one of these sketchy offers, you should have received an additional communication this morning telling you to ignore it.

The agency involved apologized and provided us the info we need to reasonably ensure that they have corrected it.

No need to contact us unless you receive any NEW requests to post spam.

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    Yeah, I'm sure they're really sorry. I just lost a tremendous amount of respect for that company.
    – Mick MacCallum
    Commented Aug 1, 2013 at 16:37

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