Questions tagged [spam]
This tag is for questions about suspected user spam, the spam flag or combating spam as a community.
721
questions
36
votes
0
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229
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Auto suspend the user network-wide if their accounts have been destroyed on a certain number (e.g. 3) of sites
Possibly related; might be an extension or alternative to: A user should just be destroyed network-wide automatically if it has no upvoted content and is destroyed on two independent sites by mods ...
- 12k
39
votes
2
answers
1k
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Does the Charcoal team plan to run SmokeDetector again?
There have been several posts complaining about increased visibility of spam posts.1 At least part of the reason was the fact that the Charcoal team participated in the strike and SmokeDetector wasn't ...
- 15k
9
votes
0
answers
245
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Recent proliferation of spam on Server Fault [duplicate]
In the past couple of months I'm seeing a lot more spam on Server Fault. Until a few months ago I virtually never saw spam, and now virtually every time I visit there are money lenders, abortion pills,...
- 207
9
votes
2
answers
261
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What exactly do VoteTypeId=4 (offensive) and VoteTypeId=12 (spam) mean?
According to the Database schema documentation for SEDE, the table Votes contains as VoteTypeId 4 = Offensive and 12 = Spam. The latter was mentioned, for example, here: How to find posts closed as ...
- 15k
-14
votes
1
answer
373
views
Temporarily reduce the 5-second rate limit on flagging posts as spam, to allow for quicker flagging on sites overrun with spam
SmokeDetector is currently disabled due to the moderation strike. This means that some specific sites are overrun with spam, and when I go through and flag each of those spam posts, I keep running ...
- 33.7k
5
votes
1
answer
412
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Why can't we blacklist questions with a description containing a mobile number and the string "loans"? [duplicate]
As we are seeing a lot of spam, why can't we blacklist questions with a description containing a mobile number and the string "loans" combination on this platform?
- 183
-34
votes
3
answers
575
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How about using GPT or some other LLMs to help for spam detection?
Example from https://askubuntu.com/questions/1475868/gold-rupee-loan-app-customer-carehelpline-number%ef%b8%8f-7250536107-7250536107
Prompt given to https://chat.openai.com/?model=text-davinci-002-...
- 33.7k
46
votes
2
answers
1k
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The rate limiting system for posts is on strike; can it please be made to work?
Ten posts in eight minutes. I don't see a reason why anyone should be posting this fast, especially not a brand new user. This is only the most recent example, not the one that's posted the most:
It ...
- 48k
26
votes
2
answers
961
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SE manipulation recruitment saga Pt. II
First, please read Pt. I of this story:
This guy tried to recruit me as a stooge for manipulating SE
I've decided to counter-fish our friend Mr. Thomas, and have sent him the following reply:
Hello ...
- 26k
62
votes
2
answers
1k
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This guy tried to recruit me as a stooge for manipulating SE
A few days back, I got this email:
Dear Ein,
I see that you are an active member of multiple Stack Exchange
communities. We are looking for content creators. The task is very
simple and pays well. We ...
- 26k
26
votes
1
answer
715
views
How can we handle spam faster? [duplicate]
As of today, the Ask Ubuntu site was hit with a flood of spam. While I was trying to flag these posts, I was informed that I could only raise 16 flags a day. I would question this constraint.
Do we ...
- 329
-1
votes
1
answer
84
views
"This looks like spam" error message when attempting to ask a non-spam question on tor [duplicate]
I'm trying to ask in the "Tor Stack Exchange Q&A Site" about Signaled readiness to systemd... but always count my question as spam while it is not...
my question body : https://pastebin....
- 19
29
votes
1
answer
202
views
Red-flagged question titles are no longer shown to moderators
Instead of the title, I just see "This question was marked as spam or rude or abusive and is therefore not shown":
While this is the correct behavior for non-moderators, moderators are ...
- 26.7k
12
votes
1
answer
254
views
Why does deleting my own question tell me that I have flagged it as "spam or offensive content"?
It turned out that my question was asked as a misunderstanding. It now (after clarification) brings zero value to the community. So I have deleted it.
I was surprised to see this right after that:
...
- 4,011
-16
votes
2
answers
268
views
Are spammers and trolls part of the community?
This is a much more philosophical question than most. It is inspired by the question Is "the community" an arbiter or an authority of "belonging" on the site? as it relates to the ...
- 32.3k
-31
votes
1
answer
281
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How can I cheat the reputation system?
I have been a full stack web developer and have been using computers for most of my life.
I use these Stack Exchange websites a lot, to get answers, as they say, and indeed they are right!
I get ...
user981122
8
votes
1
answer
117
views
Does it matter if a post discloses the author's affiliation if it only exists to promote a product or service?
The definition of the spam flag is:
Exists only to promote a product or service, does not disclose the author's affiliation.
And it links to the site's /help/promotion page. Based on the tips ...
- 41.4k
4
votes
0
answers
63
views
Question flagged as spam and error on body [duplicate]
I am trying to post a question on Stack Overflow regarding a problem I found on my code, but when I try to post it, the site returns two errors, both not really clarifying what is wrong with the ...
- 41
20
votes
2
answers
333
views
Using GPT-3 or similar tools to mass-produce low-quality answers
Consider this answer to this question:
The couple in question is James Morley and his wife, Liu Xiaobo.
hope this helped.
That's the kind of thing that GPT-3 or a similar AI would misinterpret out ...
11
votes
1
answer
386
views
Is it possible to blacklist a word, especially for unregistered users, in questions?
The problem
Since the 30th of August, Law.SE is suffering under a single user that does ask repeated questions over something they made up from thin air. The word "constiption[sic!]/constipt"...
- 654
2
votes
0
answers
55
views
Remove an account promoting escort services [duplicate]
I just rejected a spam edit on MSO from a new user promoting an escort service.
Looking at the user's profile here on MSE, it seems to have no purpose other than (spammingly?) promoting an escort ...
- 6,904
11
votes
2
answers
416
views
Appropriate measures for repeatedly posting the same content across the network
The user https://stackoverflow.com/users/12923651/polcott is very excited about their "insight" about an error in the proof of the Halting problem, and so they would like to share it with ...
- 287
20
votes
0
answers
182
views
Podcast advertising by spammers?
In podcast episode #482 I was somewhat disturbed to hear an ad for turing.com
I don't particularly perceive them as a spammer, and actually don't have much of a perception of them as a company at all; ...
- 13.3k
6
votes
0
answers
85
views
"This appears to be spam. If you think we've made an error, make a post in meta." The link to "meta" isn't clickable
In doing some testing for this post, I repeated the steps in How can I solve the 'Body cannot contain ""' error when trying to post? which gave the error:
However, if I left-click ...
- 21.6k
15
votes
1
answer
231
views
Under what conditions are 漢字 blocked?
I was surprised when I saw the question Chinese text isn't working on Stack Overflow. I've seen questions and answers with Chinese characters all over Stack Exchange (Skeptics, Islam, Politics, ...
- 21.6k
6
votes
0
answers
43
views
The "Tab Name" for Deleted Spam Questions still shows the Original Text [duplicate]
For questions deleted as spam or R/A, like this one, the question title (header) is replaced by the "System" with the following text:
This question was marked as spam or rude or abusive and ...
- 3,513
25
votes
1
answer
202
views
"You don't have the permission to use this type of flag" when casting a spam flag
Today I attempted to flag a question as spam on Stack Overflow; however, it was deleted the same moment as I cast the flag. The UI shows a popup
You don't have the permission to use this type of flag
...
GlorfindelMod
- 247k
10
votes
2
answers
254
views
Is it okay to flag blatant spam using two accounts?
I understand that using two or more accounts to vote on the same post (or interact with it in almost any way) is against the rules. That being said, what if I encounter a blatant spam/scam post that ...
- 15.1k
14
votes
1
answer
189
views
Is there a new kind of spam floating around the network nowadays (Spring 2022)?
This post is more of a “heads up” post than anything else since this recent spam trend I have seen seems quite novel and interesting.
I noticed this post on Super User (now deleted and flagged as spam,...
- 3,270
14
votes
0
answers
113
views
Posts Removed as Spam Still Appear in Network Profile
I know it is quite likely that this post is a duplicate of Question still appears in my top network posts even after having it disassociated from my account at least with regard to how these posts are ...
- 4,422
3
votes
0
answers
71
views
How to deal with "Please follow us on <social-media>"? [duplicate]
I just came across an answer thats ends with:
Hope you like it. Please follow us on Telegram and Instagram
Removed the links so they won't get any clicks
Screenshot
How should I deal with requests ...
- 2,909
20
votes
0
answers
82
views
Keep showing the post after casting the final spam flag while reviewing
When casting the final spam flag from the First Questions/First Answers/Late Answers queue, the post disappears and 'question/answer not found' is shown instead:
This makes it difficult for example ...
GlorfindelMod
- 247k
18
votes
0
answers
258
views
Hashcode sites are unmoderated and spam-filled [duplicate]
Hashcode is a network of Russian Q&A sites that was bought by Stack Overflow in 2015. The most active sites for programming and Russian were imported to Stack Exchange, but not all were. A few ...
- 4,778
30
votes
1
answer
354
views
Remove 'Autobiographer' from Recent Badges
Until a better method is implemented to prevent spam accounts from seeing the light of day, can we remove either the 'Autobiographer' badge from the Recent Badges list, or, alternatively, prevent ...
- 5,145
12
votes
0
answers
87
views
Reviewing a First Answer with red flags leads to "Possible spam" notice shown for question
There is a First Answers review item about a (questionable) answer that received four (still pending) rude/abusive flags. That leads to the familiar notice
Our system has identified this post as ...
GlorfindelMod
- 247k
48
votes
8
answers
506
views
Could we have a minimum reputation for visible profiles?
After a couple of years - most of the profiles that were getting my goat have been herded away from the sites I moderate. There's probably many more left and I'm looking at thwarting them in many ...
- 165k
-15
votes
1
answer
130
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How can I answer questions with affiliate links? [duplicate]
I am new here. As an affiliate marketer, what can I do to be able to post affiliate links to answers questions about new technology, health and design on stackoverflow.com?
- 1
9
votes
0
answers
536
views
Can't post question on Stack Overflow - 'this looks like spam.' [duplicate]
I just signed up to Stack Overflow, trying to post my first question. What's wrong with it?
I've already removed redundant text in the post, but still Stack Overflow says This looks like spam.
- 91
22
votes
0
answers
292
views
Block fumacrom.com from appearing in posts
The domain "fumacrom.com" is an alias for "adf.ly", which I just came across as a spam link on Stack Overflow. Since we already have adf.ly on the blocklist, we should add fumacrom....
4
votes
0
answers
141
views
Spam (tobacco related) multiple accounts [duplicate]
Looks like all of https://stackexchange.com/users/23136292/tobacco-king?tab=accounts accounts are spam.
E.g. multiple users found on ruSO: https://ru.meta.stackoverflow.com/a/11819/176217
- 62.3k
12
votes
1
answer
293
views
Is there a better way to permanently stop the spam questions?
I just saw the post as
Coin~~Ba$e!!&upp0rt Number ™+⥙【↶ퟷퟖ+1.555⍨555⍨555↶】 ☎️ ๑۩۞۩๑ $$$$$$UMG$$$$$
Is there a permanent solution to stop these spam posts? Yes, I flagged the question as spam and ...
- 255
8
votes
0
answers
188
views
Did someone disable the minimum rep check for posting images to questions? Things are getting a lot spammier now [duplicate]
Seems like we're getting a smidge more in the way of network spam in regards to users posting images in their questions with only 1 rep, most of it spam-oriented.
- 57.4k
5
votes
0
answers
70
views
How do chat cooldowns work? [duplicate]
If you type messages in chat rapidly enough, you'll start to get a cooldown:
I've been writing a chatbot library recently, and handling cooldowns is something that I've found a bit difficult. This ...
- 4,904
10
votes
2
answers
122
views
Can my username and profile picture be my company?
Let's assume I submit high-quality and unbiased answers, that contain no marketing ploys, no suggestions and no references to my company: they will be as unbiased as any other contributor's. Most of ...
21
votes
4
answers
219
views
Spam flag if it's off-topic but doesn't actually link to product/company, but profile does?
This question was posted on Stack Overflow today:
I already know that recycling is the best way to dispose of our computer equipment, according to me almost each and every part of computer are ...
- 22.8k
10
votes
1
answer
208
views
How are spammers rate limited?
Question: Are there some additional limits for users who had some of their posts marked as spam (or rude/offensive)?
Typically, an account posting spam is a new user, with reputation 1. (Meaning that ...
- 15k
15
votes
1
answer
171
views
I wrote a very detailed answer on how black-skinned dwarves can still be realistic in a world with Earth-like evolution, got flagged for spam [duplicate]
This happened on World Building subwebsite. I'll try to post my answer below the separator line if the anti-spam will allow me.
Please, can I get any help on why is this considered a spam message, ...
- 259
22
votes
2
answers
249
views
Is there any actual harm in voting to close spam, as long as you flag?
There's no question that spam should be flagged as spam. That's what the flag is for. But sometimes people also vote to close with various custom close reasons. Is there any harm in that provided they ...
- 22.8k
25
votes
2
answers
420
views
The API is unexpectedly retracting flags
I use the Charcoal FIRE userscript to red-flag posts. Today I found this SuperUser question (possibly 10k by now since it's spam) and I spam flagged both the question and answer. The question I ...
- 24.4k
10
votes
0
answers
154
views
Why can't I improve / reject and edit this suggested edit?
I just encountered a suggested edit on a post that is possibly spam. Given its score, it's likely to have a couple of pending spam flags already. What is interesting, and a possible bug, is that the ...
GlorfindelMod
- 247k