Spammers

I've had a few complaints about the level of spam here on the Network.

I fully understand the annoyance of receiving spam email - I'm never happy to receive it either.

We have a number of mechanisms in place to prevent automated spam. These are working well, as is evidenced by the lack of automated spam hitting the site.

Spam originating from real people is more tricky to deal with. If someone signs up, unless they have a really obvious spammy member name, all we can really do is ban them after they've posted a spam message. This is not ideal, of course, but until they do so, there's no way for us to predict the spam. We have a zero tolerance to spam and just one such message will result in an instant and permanent ban.

When a spammer is banned, their profile and all of their messages are deleted from the Network. Hence, if you follow the link in any email to that person or their messages, you will see a "page not found" notice.

We take spam very seriously, as do Ning, who host the site for us. Please rest assured that, whilst we're doing everything we can to prevent spam, that doesn't mean we're not looking at even better ways to deal with it.

Tags: spam

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Bob Heskamp on February 8, 2010 at 7:46pm: Thanks, Mark. I got one of those really strange "invitations" this morning, and when I checked out the other party (before responding, of course), she didn't even have a valid piece of sim software listed. I just deleted the note, and was going to drop you a line, but apparently you (and perhaps others) have received similar "requests".

Thanks for all that you do!
+Bob; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Max Weismann on February 8, 2010 at 8:09pm: Hi Mark,

I got this, this morning and I suspect it is spam:

Mss V .k has added you as a friend on The Flight Simulator Network

Hello dear

My name is Veronica Conte,i wish to ask for your true friendship.I have important reasons to request your interest.
Write me here:veronicaconte01@live.com
Thanks,

Veronica.

To accept this friend request, visit:
http://www.flightsimulatornetwork.com/profiles/friendrequest/listRe...; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Helder Da Silva on February 8, 2010 at 8:15pm: Veronica became popular lol
I received the same message that Max

CV added a comment to your profile on The Flight Simulator Network:

Hello dear

My name is Veronica Conte,i wish to ask for your true friendship.I have important reasons to request your interest.
Write me here:veronicaconte01@live.com
Thanks,

Veronica.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jon Coffing on February 8, 2010 at 8:29pm: Dang, I thought Veronica only wanted to be friends with me? I was looking forward to this "true friendship".

Oh well. :); ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Mark Avey on February 8, 2010 at 8:32pm: LOL!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jeff Cullinan on February 8, 2010 at 8:35pm: Oh Heck and I was hoping she was going to ask me to share in Millions of dollars from a beloved's estate which had been discovered in a long forgotten bank account in you know where!!!! Yes a deep and Meaningfull relationship...Oh well...maybe I can sort through the rest of the rubbish and get one!!! I am sure I will get one......LOL...Just kidding guys....:)); ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Mark Avey on February 8, 2010 at 9:19pm: Haha!

It's good to see everyone's keeping their sense of humour over this :); ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Mark Avey on February 8, 2010 at 8:27pm: Thanks for the replies, guys. I think we've tracked down and banned all the spammers for now, with the help of Kev.

We'll continue to keep an eye on things and will obviously do everything we can to keep this under control.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Adrian in Brixham on February 8, 2010 at 8:44pm: Yes I had this invitation from Veronica this morning. I thought my luck had changed! lol; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Stan Kenyon on February 8, 2010 at 11:35pm: Thank's Mark!!!!!. I almost opened it. The Hello Dear, was the red flag for me.; ▶ Reply to This