whatsbestforum - what's going on

@gano - your ban has been lifted and you may now post on the What's Best Forum. Please let me know if you experience any other issues. 

Tom

@gano - Hello and good afternoon to you. Tom here. I am the lead moderator over at the WBF and none of our internal moderating team notes have you (or at least the moniker you use here) listed as being banned. Therefore, I am assuming that our software picked up the link in your first post as spam, and subsequently banned you from the forum. 

If you wish, please PM me your moniker (username used), along with the IP address that was banned and I'll contact the administrative team to lift the ban, if all else checks out okay.

Please tag my name, as I do not frequent this forum very often. Thanks.

Tom

@gordon please PM me the moniker (user name) that you tried logging into the WBF with. Thanks. I'll be happy to look into this for you, as simply logging in shouldn't result in an instant ban. 

Tom

You are quite welcome. Our apologies for the inconvenience. Have a great evening.

Tom

@mitch2 - The use of VPN's and multiple accounts when registering will result in an instant and automatic ban. Both of these are against the Terms of Service that every member has to read and agree too, prior to moving forward and completing their registration. Also, try not to post a link on your first post, as this may be picked up as SPAM or thought of as SPAM. Especially if there is a monetary value associated with clicking on the link. All of the aforementioned will result in an instant and permanent ban. 

If there is anyone else that has experienced issues with the WBF registration process, just PM me and our team will look into it. Thank you. 

@grannyring - Thank you so much for the kinds words. That was a very nice thing to say.

Tom

 

Hello all, I would also like to add something else worthy of note. 

VPN's and folks who use relays are what is causing much of this to happen when registering on the WBF. Spammers just LOVE to use these when spreading their SPAM across various web forums. If you use Apple relay or other relays used by Amazon, Microsoft, Verizon, Comcast, then you will run the risk of being associated with a known spammer. Don't use them, as if you are linked to that IP addy, you will be associated with the spammers and immediately banned. 

In fact, all users of that IP address will be banned. If your IP address or e-mail is flagged, this will also cause your registration from being completed and will result in an instant and permanent ban. 

Stopping spammers from creating havoc (as I am sure the admin team here on the 'Gon are all too familiar with) can be very time consuming....and if they get through, the effect they can have on the forum is not pleasurable to anyone involved. They will post 50 plus SPAM posts/threads as soon as they can. Spammers have gotten very creative and will even create a "sleeper" SPAM account that remains inactive for years, only to blow up one day out of nowhere. They are getting very creative. These measures have been put in place to curb their plans. 

Tom
 

That is not the case and it is an incorrect assumption, @jwillox 

The WBF is not a typical money hungry site (at all) and we would never do something like that. This all has to do with spammers and keeping them from infiltrating the site. Nothing more, nothing less. 

Tom

If you want to remain private, you can remain a guest. It’s as simple as that.

Tom

All, so we do not take up more space on AudioGon, we will be implementing a new system (along with an appropriate email address) to contact the WBF, for cases that have been outlined in this thread. 

Spammers have made it into a professional business to constantly learn new techniques to infiltrate all forums on the internet, and we try our best to thwart them at every level. But apparently, this has caused unintended issues. Expect to see an announcement on the WBF as soon as the new contact information is made public and implemented. We are currently working on getting this right and we also apologize for any inconvenience this has caused members that would like to join the What's Best Forum. 

Stay tuned and hang loose. In the meantime, feel free to reach out to me here via PM if you are having any issues. Thanks for your patience in this matter. 

Also, many thanks to the team at AudioGon for allowing us to right the ship on your forum. That is also much appreciated. 

Tom

UPDATE - We have created a change in our log in and are implementing it now. If anyone has any issues trying to become a member, please reach out to this email and if cleared, your account will be activated. 

wbfhelpdesk@gmail.com

Tom