Spam threads gone wild...

several more right now

Spam all over the place ..... Nailed it!!!!

its time to put in posting limitations for all these brand new “members” and other deterrents (new member signup fee with a supporting credit card?) to stop this spam crap.

im guessing that it is the same dufus (defuses) repeatedly getting his (their) kicks by simply and repeatedly signing in as a brand new newbie to facilitate his/ their irritating and annoying internet spam trolling.

TO THE MODS-

stop it or face the continuing forum and website credibility spiral path downward and suffering harm to the forum.

 I use the HTTPS Everywhere extension on my browser. If the website is secure then the https in the web address is green. If there is a problem it is red.  On Audiogon it is red, so there is an issue. Other sites like Ebay, yahoo and Amazon are green.

Very interesting, Al, thanks. And thank you, Audiogon.

I saw it this morning. Just about every new thread was spam. There were about 20 of them.

 The moderators should ban links. They should also scan posts by new users. They use to do this. Other forums that I am on only allow new users to respond to posts and not create new posts. Only after they have established themselves can they start new posts.

But there are other concerns. My browser says that https is not secure. Further, there are over a dozen trackers on the website. I would be very hesitant to buy anything on a website that is not secure.

Appreciate you reporting this. We became aware of the Spam this am, and removed them. We are adding steps in place to stop the Spam before they posts. 

Forum spam is a pervasive issue on just about any forum, that can be very hard to deal with. In general there is no hacking or backdoor that is involved. The spammers simply register and do their deed. As a volunteer moderator at a computer-related forum I’ve even seen numerous cases in which the spammers use automated software to do that, frequently re-registering under different screen-names, using different email addresses.

In addition to advertising of bogus products or services, spamming is often done for purposes of SEO (search engine optimization, meaning elevation of the placement of a site in search engine results). That is often done not by anyone directly associated with the site for which placement is being optimized, but by third party spammers who probably receive a few cents for each link to that site which they place on other sites.

There are no easy answers, and I commend the moderators here for deleting the offending posts in a reasonably prompt manner.

An additional approach that can sometimes be appropriate, if used judiciously, is to block IP addresses from being able to access the site, using wildcards for the last few digits (e.g. 89.71.***.**). Perhaps the moderators are already doing that to some extent. The risk, of course, is that legitimate registrants may be blocked in the process.

Another possible approach is to have posts submitted by new registrants subjected to moderator approval before being made visible on the site.

Regards,
-- Al

Spam is everywhere: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBcY3W5WgNU&frags=pl%2Cwn

Late last nite I saw all the spam threads, about 5am Eastern. I'd guess there were 10 with subject matter of Bohemian Rhapsody. Plus a few others.

Maybe the hackers found a backdoor into Audiogon since they can't be stopped.

They’re gone now, but early this morning someone posted several threads that were obviously spam. I clicked on one, offering a free full-length movie, "Bohemian Rhapsody." It had already been shut down by the moderator, as had many of the others. The rest appeared to be links to who knows what. They’re all gone now. Good riddance!

Indeed. I got censored for using too colorful language to describe the grip an amp has on speakers. Someone got their panties in a knot.