I check for new posts on almost a daily basis. I've noticed over the last week or so that there have been several dead threads revived by brand new users with their first post. Their post is never completely off topic but it usually has little to do with the thread. Are these some sort of spammers testing the waters? The most recent instance is this one. viewtopic.php?f=5&t=21613

I did a Google search for the text in that post and it looks like it was stolen from this thread: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=21012&view=next

I'm thinking it's some kind of spam bots.

here is another example viewtopic.php?f=10&t=15440 and http://forum.linhes.org/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=14288

viewtopic.php?f=23&t=23852 and http://forum.linhes.org/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=23867

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My System

Matt
I have been looking at this for a couple of weeks now and it has been going on in different ways for ten years.

I posted a reply to this post (But where did my post go? I didn't delete it)
http://forums.linhes.org/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=23852

My deleted post went something like this.
--------------------------------------------------
This statement is a cut and paste from one of my posts on Nov 04, 2013
viewtopic.php?f=23&t=23867

Is this a hacker trying to trace data flow threw the website.

TVBox
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Matt did you see this post when it was up ?

I would like to know how my post was deleted. There is a square box with an red ! in it in the bottom right hand corner of each post. If you hover over it it says "report this post"

Will this button delete a post or dos it send a link to admin so they can delete it ?
Anybody that can answer this question please respond.

Was it as simple as 1 post user "emmasam" or "emma" pushing the Red ! Button to delete my post drawing attention to their spam.

TVBox

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TVBox
LinHES R8.6.1

I said I had been looking at this for awhile.

Here is the breakdown of all Users with post less than 5

0 Post / 22,440
1 Posts / 1,728
2 Posts / 1,084
3 Posts / 699
4 Posts / 451
5 Posts / 370

I think the large number of 0 post users came from the period of time when you had to register to view the LinHES list
We all want to help out the first time LinHES user but there just very few legitimate 1 or 2 time posters.

To get a picture of what was going on I went threw all of the 2014 post looking for all 1 post users. I came up with 24 posts that included at least one 1 post users.
Many of these topics include more than one 1 post users. Six of the 24 where from other MythTV users groups like MythDora or Myth Ubuntu contributing what they know.

Here are the other 18

Board index /Linux/General
http://forum.linhes.org/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=21613
http://forum.linhes.org/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=23829

Board index /Hardware Recommendations /Tier 1
http://forum.linhes.org/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=23815

Board index /Hardware Recommendations /Tier 2
http://forum.linhes.org/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=18068
http://forum.linhes.org/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=22551

Board index /Hardware Recommendations /Tier 3
http://forum.linhes.org/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=15440
http://forum.linhes.org/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=4227

Board index /LinHES/General
http://forum.linhes.org/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=22645
http://forum.linhes.org/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=24022
http://forum.linhes.org/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=24009
http://forum.linhes.org/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=24043

Board index /LinHES/Instillation
http://forum.linhes.org/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=23980
http://forum.linhes.org/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=24025

Board index /LinHES/Hardware
http://forum.linhes.org/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=23852
http://forum.linhes.org/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=23792

Board index /LinHES/Hints and Tips
http://forum.linhes.org/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=21279

Board index /KnoppMyth/DTV
http://forum.linhes.org/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=20679

Board index /KnoppMyth/General
http://forum.linhes.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=18845

( This is just like all the other internet scams) all the signs are there if you look for them.

** So far I have only found one case where the spammer used the same user name twice in 2014.
** About 3/4 of the statements are copy and pasted from this website. All of them just do not belong where they are put
** Who on this site makes post that only says "thanks for sharing"
** 1 post topic on server farms http://forum.linhes.org/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=21613 with a penis enlargement URL followed up by another one poster to bring it back to the front of the list. Come on guys questions on server farms.
** 1 post question with five spam URL attached
** This guy posts his 1 post bazaar statements and we see it and let it go buy and then he comes back and edits the post adds the ULR's of the spam websites.
** The real LinHES newbie's that I ran across originates there topics. Asks a direct question about LinHES that make sense. Someone responses with questions and they answer back. The newbie usually in one topic gets three or four post.
** Posting into a topic that is completed or dead by a 1 post user.

Now that Google is scanning the forum I am guessing what is going on here is a crude method to bump up search engine ratings.

TVBox

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TVBox
LinHES R8.6.1

I'm not sure about your deleted post TVBox I tried the internet wayback machine but I guess they didn't crawl that page ever.
I know that I have never been able to get the "report this post" button to work on any browser or OS. I wish it just flagged questionable posts. That being said I'm sure the Moderators don't want to make patrolling the Forums a full time job.

_________________
My System

The pattern I've seen with a lot of these kinds of posts is that sometime after their initial post they change the user signature to add various spammy URLs.
This post is was rather lazy and the signature now contains a bunch of odd links.
viewtopic.php?f=21&t=24022#p139040

This one is pretty subtle as the post seems on topic, but the users signature contains links to the same Exam website.
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=17393#p138980

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Paul Turpie
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<--Is your location in your profile? Why not?

I wish the report buttons worked. Does anyone know why they don't work?

_________________
My System

the "report this post" button now has disappeared

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TVBox
LinHES R8.6.1

I have been trying to fix the report button but there is nothing obviously broken in the config or server that I can find. So for now I have disabled it.