Spam reporting thread #46

PROCEDURES FOR REPORTING SPAM

Distinguish between the following, and flag the highest level of the violation:

-- Type 1: Irredeemable commercial spam: make sure to flag the member's profile, as well as the spammy activity. This type includes things selling strollers, pharmaceuticals, live-streaming sports games, porn, and/or trying to create traffic/links to sites for such things. Sufficient profile flags will automatically result in temporary suspension and deletion of the member's activity, so use your profile-flagging powers wisely and carefully.

-- Type 2: Teachable moments: DO NOT flag the member's profile, but DO flag the violating activity (e.g. self-promotional Talk post, group, or local venue). This type includes promotional activity that violates the Terms of Service (TOS), but where the member is potentially redeemable, e.g. overzealous authors, overzealous publishers, or other members with small TOS violations but who are otherwise using the site legitimately. These cases should be reported to staff (by sending a message or email to staff and/or or posting on this thread), so the member can be taught how to use the site.

Specific procedures:
-- Overzealous authors or publishers (these fall under type 2): do NOT flag the member's profile. Report to staff here or privately. You can also send the member a polite message pointing them to the terms, mentioning the "no promoting" language, and pointing them to the Do's and Don't page for authors: http://www.librarything.com/about_authors.php
-- Suspected sock-puppetry to promote a book, write fake reviews, and/or stack ratings: do not flag the profile, but report to staff here or by message, so staff can investigate. This is a serious violation for which members can be permanently banned.
-- Profile flags for commercial spammers only (type 1): On the member's profile page, click on the "report for spam" link, then follow instructions to flag the member. Again, this is only for commercial spam, not for "overzealous" authors, publishers, or booksellers, which should be reported to staff instead. See Talk post: http://www.librarything.com/topic/85810
-- Spam or promotional posts in a Talk topic (type 1 or 2): flag the post as an abuse of the terms of service.
-- Spam or promotional groups (types 1 and 2): flag new groups using the "flag this group" link.
-- Spam lists: report in this thread, and flag the member if it's commercial spam.
-- Spam works (type 1 spam): flag the work as spam on the work's editions page, and then vote on proposed work spam. Make sure to read the guidelines before proposing or voting, especially for what is not spam. Voting page: http://www.librarything.com/spam_works.php
-- Spam in a review (type 1), or an explicitly promotional review (type 2): flag the review as an abuse of the TOS, using the red flag.
-- Spam or promotion in "published reviews," or other CK fields (type 1 or 2): post here and/or delete.
-- Spam or egregious promotion/advertising in venues or events (type 1 or 2): post here and/or delete. Note that authors are permitted to add events for their books.
-- Spam in book links / quick links: post here and/or edit to remove spam.
-- Spam author names listed on a work: No current procedure. Tim has asked us not to change CK to indicate spammers, and not to combine spam authors together.
-- Not sure if it's spam? Post here, and explain why.

Please note that Tim has asked us not to use either CK or the combining system (whether works or authors) for spam fighting.

For more information see these wiki pages:
Procedures for flagging and reporting spam: http://www.librarything.com/wiki/index.php/Spam#Procedures_for_flagging_and_repo....
Spam works, guidelines for flagging and voting: http://www.librarything.com/wiki/index.php/HelpThing:Spam_works

(A copy of these guidelines, for pasting in new threads, can be found here or at the top of previous threads.)

I'm guessing that this is the thread you hope people use. It really ought to have been thread #47, but we're all smart folks. I'm sure everyone will figure it out. Commenting mostly to move this above the other thread. Maybe if you (rybie2) ask someone on staff, they can delete the duplicate one.

As for the duplicate thread (which has a single message by rybie2, which rybie2 has deleted), you can also click to ignore it.

>4 Mr.Durick: gone

Interesting. https://www.librarything.com/profile/bebbe2221 wanted to be my friend. When I went over to see who it was and explain that I only friend people I know in real life, that member was already suspended.

Just want to note that, when creating a new thread and cutting-and-pasting the first post with instructions, the word "here" in the last should be a link to this page: http://www.librarything.com/wiki/index.php/Spam_Reporting_Threads

Why did we start a new thread already? Normally we wait until 300 posts...

>8 gilroy:

No, normally it should be done after about 200 posts.

author spam, I think

http://www.librarything.com/topic/218367#

http://www.librarything.com/profile/evenuebooking and 45 spam works.

>14 rybie2: still needs flags on profile

Gone.

casting agency

http://www.librarything.com/profile/castajans

The work listed is also spam.

http://www.librarything.com/work/13759026/97240905

Clueless author has started a group to promote her own work: https://www.librarything.com/groups/elliemastersfangroup

Profile (for information only - do not flag): https://www.librarything.com/profile/Ellie_Masters

>24 lilithcat: I agree with you on the group (and flagged it myself), but do want to point out the the creator is this profile:

https://www.librarything.com/profile/SophieLynn

...unless you're saying that those two are one and the same...

Truthfully, the third account in that group seems a bit odd, also.

https://www.librarything.com/profile/Nathalie_Pinette

(and the caveat remains the same: Please do NOT flag the profiles.)

>25 Lyndatrue:

You're right. I just saw that EM had posted it and made a rash assumption.

It's rather odd that SophieLynn is using Ellie Masters' book cover as her only profile pic, and that she joined the same day as Ellie_Masters

>26 lilithcat: All three of those accounts are odd. It may not all be the same person, but it's surely the same result. I gently point out that they were created within a day of each other...

I'm so cynical.

>27 Lyndatrue:

Only two on the same day (1/17/16). The third, Nathalie_Pinette, was two weeks later (1/31/16). Still . . .

The message from EM in that group is flagable.

Plus both of them using caps to emphasize (it's not that uncommon a thing, but two posts, back to back that way, both trying to say how AWESOME! she is...), and the style of phrasing the OP used... it does seem awfully suspicious. Anyone care to ask Loranne to peek into it?

>24 lilithcat: Is this one that staff needs to investigate for sockpuppetry?

>33 gilroy:

Maybe so.

>33 gilroy: And the profiles mentioned in >25 Lyndatrue:

>30 MarthaJeanne: I just went in and flagged both messages (I don't remember it being a join to post group yesterday, but I see it is now). Yeah, I'm heartless. So what else is new?

>33 gilroy: Ir's more than just a little naivete' going on here. It seems very calculated. Sockpuppets is a good first pass, yes.

>38 henkl: Gone already.

Yes, they are coming and going quickly this morning. There have been a lot of unreported ones in Book Talk.

>31 .Monkey.: Yep, a forensic linguist would probably have a field day with them.

>24 lilithcat:
I's Amused. They now have a thread asking about the group flags.

How would one go about flagging a profile picture?

You can't directly. You have to flag the profile if it's warranted.

>43 MarthaJeanne:

>44 2wonderY: is correct. The only profile pics not allowed are X-rated ones and "suggestive images of minors or seeming minors", so if that's the issue, contact staff about it. But adverts and the like are allowed in profiles.

ETA: of course, now I'm curious. Link?

The author spam one seen at >26 lilithcat:

Event and meeting planner
https://www.librarything.com/work/book/126712905
https://www.librarything.com/work/17233051/126675439
https://www.librarything.com/work/17233430/126676745
https://www.librarything.com/profile/newgeneration88

>48 Yamanekotei: I don't see any spam there.

>50 MarthaJeanne: It's all over in the special folder. The system caught it all.

Gone now, but s/he posted about 25 or so spams in Recommend Site Improvements group.

.

You should always post examples of the spam. How can we flag someone if we don't see the spam?

https://www.librarything.com/profile/snileshsingh

As I was posting, gone

this one has been here since 2008

http://www.librarything.com/work/6116270
http://www.librarything.com/profile/suyog2008

many links!

http://www.librarything.com/topic/219024#
http://www.librarything.com/profile/Hario

http://www.librarything.com/topic/219034#
http://www.librarything.com/profile/retysmithh085

Already gone.

spam profile

http://www.librarything.com/profile/sellersuccess

I strongly suspect this is about to turn spammy:

http://www.librarything.com/profile/rickyer8
http://www.librarything.com/work/17253361/editions/126803744
http://www.librarything.com/groups/newbooks3

spam profiles

http://www.librarything.com/profile/iimcindia
http://www.librarything.com/profile/fast5thin
http://www.librarything.com/profile/thirdeyedms
http://www.librarything.com/profile/conceptions
http://www.librarything.com/profile/bridalsafari
http://www.librarything.com/profile/Lovepreet
http://www.librarything.com/profile/Enthusionz
http://www.librarything.com/profile/WholesaleRaja
http://www.librarything.com/profile/Bookmyballoons

http://www.librarything.com/groups/lestfdjuriya
http://www.librarything.com/profile/lestfdjuriya

Gone

Guess we haven't had one in a while:

Enthusiastic author:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/218521#5485096

Please do NOT flag the profile.

http://www.librarything.com/profile/John_Speckerman

(In this case of hit and run, I'm not going to bother leaving a note on the profile. I'm betting against it being read.)

Another enthusiastic author:

https://www.librarything.com/profile/paulgrossman

Please do not flag

He left me an unsolicited note on my profile telling me about his new book. I responded with a polite note pointing him to the TOS and How Authors Can Use LibraryThing pages.

>77 amanda4242: Did you report this directly to anyone? That's really obnoxious behaviour.

>78 MarthaJeanne: I didn't report it because he is still pretty new to the site and when he saw that I had a couple of his works listed he probably thought he was doing something nice. I thought I'd cut him a little slack and just point him towards the rules, but I figured I should make others aware of him so he can be flagged away if he breaks any more rules.

http://www.librarything.com/groups/sunijiibond
http://www.librarything.com/profile/sunijiibond

Gone

spam profile

https://www.librarything.com/profile/Homeia

spam profile

https://www.librarything.com/profile/LED_light

a few more

https://www.librarything.com/profile/manishaoriflame
https://www.librarything.com/profile/Hitplay
https://www.librarything.com/profile/bombaycomputers
https://www.librarything.com/profile/remi19085

http://www.librarything.com/groups/obataborsi
http://www.librarything.com/profile/seosatria

Google translate: Abortion Drug Safe for you to abort a fetus in the womb. Here you are able to message online in a way suitable penggugur drug content of your age. joint system prioritizes honesty and best quality of product Medication Abortion Bandung We are ready to provide the least expensive drug prices penggugur For you. Can you think of in a confused one pregnant woman who is not expected? What can you perform? For any arguments you doing these factors, we are very, very understanding and we are ready to alleviate the problems that you face

ETA: Quick disappearance

I mistakenly rescued a post from you-know-where that should not have been. It *looks* innocent enough at first glance, but some of those links go to places that are bad.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/219660#
http://www.librarything.com/profile/stufmnili

Already gone.

http://www.librarything.com/groups/zelmajiibond
http://www.librarything.com/profile/zelmajiibond

Gone.

over-eager author
http://www.librarything.com/topic/219819#

I think if you look under "links" on this wiki page, someone has replaced the text with spam, but I'm new to LT so wanted to check here for guidance

https://www.librarything.com/wiki/index.php/HelpThing:Author

>105 Booklover889: I'm not sure what you're referring to on that page. Could you provide a specific example?

Perhaps someone has already fixed it.

Scroll down to the "right sidebar" title and the "links" subtitle under that

>107 Booklover889: It took me the longest time to understand what you meant. I've removed the links that were there, but I have no idea what went there before, so I replaced it with nothing.

Odd business, that.

>108 Lyndatrue: That section looks like it wasn't supposed to have links, based on the history of the page. Though authors have been adding stray information about their own things regularly. I just had to remove a book title from a heading toward the top of the page.

more Turbotax

http://www.librarything.com/topic/219873#
http://www.librarything.com/profile/Ravi_Negi

>108 Lyndatrue: sorry it was so difficult to understand

>109 gilroy: I guess I should have looked at the history!

Now that I found that and looked at it, I found the original text and copied it back in. Maybe what I should have done originally was to undo the edit that inserted the spam link using the history page?

>112 Booklover889: I'm not a big wiki person, so no clue, but I guess?

I guess it really is tax time:

https://www.librarything.com/topic/219887
https://www.librarything.com/profile/Gautam_Kohli

>112 Booklover889: Actually, what you did was probably more useful, since I'd guess most people weren't really noticing that the wiki page was being used in that way. Much better that you called attention to it.

I'd have probably understood more what you were trying to say if that was an area I was more familiar with. Thanks for your persistence.

ETA: Just for the sake of consistency, this is the profile of the person who put those links in to advertise (yes, it's another enthusiastic author). Please do NOT flag the profile. Placing here only because it's good to track this kind of thing.

https://www.librarything.com/profile/LarryGerovac

It appears that someone made a "new" thread for Spam reporting (my guess is that it was an accident). I'm mentioning this only to push the current thread above it.

https://www.librarything.com/groups/waltejuriya
https://www.librarything.com/profile/waltejuriya

https://www.librarything.com/groups/jungjiibond
https://www.librarything.com/profile/jungjiibond

both gone

Bumping to the top.

https://www.librarything.com/groups/salazarjiibond
https://www.librarything.com/profile/salazarjiibond

This cream comprehends the developed technically headquartered and unproved ingredient ...

It does? Then why did its Group get deleted? I WANT SOME! Waaaa.

https://www.librarything.com/groups/redjuriya
https://www.librarything.com/profile/redjuriya
Gone.

https://www.librarything.com/groups/harrisjiibond
https://www.librarything.com/profile/harrisjiibond
Gone.

https://www.librarything.com/groups/shoresjuriyam
https://www.librarything.com/profile/shoresjuriyam

Profile already suspended but group still alive.
Eighteen minutes later, group is also gone.

escort services

https://www.librarything.com/profile/Palacevip

"250 girls - Elite Busty slim VIP models and babes. Naughty Party girls 24/7!"

Wow! That's sneaky!

Thread title: amysisson's 2016 book list

new member http://www.librarything.com/profile/barakso already gone.

Buh-bye

I think that this must be commercial spam even if there's no way to shop.

http://www.librarything.com/groups/portablesolarpanelsf
http://www.librarything.com/profile/LincolnRivera

Robert

LOTS of links

http://www.librarything.com/topic/220133#
http://www.librarything.com/profile/duniadireet

look at all the links

http://www.librarything.com/topic/220136#
http://www.librarything.com/profile/shaked

http://www.librarything.com/groups/segerjuriyam
http://www.librarything.com/profile/segerjuriyam

gone

https://www.librarything.com/profile/ShaanuComputers

and the book in the catalog is spam.

a couple of new profiles

https://www.librarything.com/profile/ideabooz see link with profile picture

https://www.librarything.com/profile/franetwork

In fact, any membername including the string 'juriya' - eight when I did a search, and all spammers.

>167 Noisy: Good tip - I've flagged them. Rather sweet, really, one of the contact links ended with "/brain-plus-iq-scam". I haven't seen anyone admitting to a scam before ;-)

Yacht charter ad:

http://www.librarything.com/groups/yatkiralama
http://www.librarything.com/profile/yatkiralama48

>167 Noisy: >170 Mr.Durick: Also, do a member search on juriyam. I found four of them. (It looks like a string only shows up on a search if it's the LAST letters of the member name, so juriyam produces results different from juriya.)

https://www.librarything.com/groups/mondjuriyam
https://www.librarything.com/profile/mondjuriyam

The juriyams keep trying.

Gone.

https://www.librarything.com/groups/sattakingnewghaziaba
https://www.librarything.com/profile/divyamalhotra

And so do others.

And they are gone, too.

https://www.librarything.com/topic/220586#
Author spam

(the author: https://www.librarything.com/profile/MarkLeeSheppard not to be flagged obvs)

https://www.librarything.com/topic/220627

Accidentally clicked to save this thread and meant to permakill it...

Author spam http://www.librarything.com/topic/220633

(Don't flag http://www.librarything.com/profile/anayagarwal)

Someone's vandalized the Library of Congress quicklink. What's the procedure here? I can fix the spam, but don't want to obscure the history in case staff need it in its broken state to track down the spammer. Or would zapping spammers fall into the "Not until after TinyCat" bucket, in which case I'll go ahead and fix it now?

>183 lorax: Personally, I'd vote for just fixing it. If it isn't easy to identify the vandal, then it's likely that it won't be something that gets handled in any timely manner.

I went ahead and fixed it. I really don't know why that one isn't considered important enough to be locked down and un-editable like some are.

This is a very determined "author" (with at least two warnings already on the profile):

http://www.librarything.com/topic/220639#5529142

That might look innocent enough, except that the whole point of the thread begun was almost certainly to talk about this book.

Originally, the profile was a cover for this book, although it's now been changed to a stock image.

http://www.librarything.com/profile/bookshelf_r

I just looked for this book on Amazon, and was a bit confused, at first. It seemed well reviewed and all...

...except that Amazon has fallen prey to its own success (i.e. don't trust the good reviews).

I flagged the comment he made about the book. I haven't flagged the profile, and I haven't bothered posting a comment on the profile, since the other two didn't seem to sink in. I just made a comment on the thread. I dunno.

I'm sorry. After two warnings, especially since one was from staff, I flag the profile.

>187 gilroy: Don't be sorry. It needed to be done. Usually someone changes their tune pretty quick (and I've even had some really sweet private thank yous from authors). In this case, it just didn't seem to take.

No worries.

>186 Lyndatrue: Profile suspended.

Author spam http://www.librarything.com/topic/220766#

(Do not flag http://www.librarything.com/profile/AleahKay)

http://www.librarything.com/topic/220891
http://www.librarything.com/profile/jeshgates (already gone)

http://www.librarything.com/topic/220903# Author spam

(the author http://www.librarything.com/profile/richardfoley not for flagging)

http://www.librarything.com/groups/packersandmoversdelhi

there are a lot of the packers and movers groups

With ones like that it is best to also flag the profile.

the groups were gone in a flash!

heating system

http://www.librarything.com/topic/220987#
http://www.librarything.com/profile/Geoclimate.Systems

http://www.librarything.com/groups/pacquiaofightpacquia
http://www.librarything.com/profile/ebnaypuka

Ooops, gone before I could finish this message.