Sorry for the spam overnight!

[ivar]

Dear all,

I woke up this morning to over 200 new spam accounts having signed up and started sending inappropriate Private messages to members. I am so sorry for this!

They have now all been deleted. When I woke up, I did disable the functionality of starting a new Private Message for members. I will now open this up again, but I will have to manually approve new members for a few days (so new members would have to wait a little before they can ask their Camino questions after signing up).

I have also changed a few things related to the signup process... hoping that we can catch these people there.

Either way, I am so sorry for this...

Happy Caminp Planning!
Ivar

 

[HBS60]

Good morning/afternoon/evening!
I got an inappropriate message but I don’t see a way of deleting messages. Its time stamp is 1:43 AM Eastern Standard time (US) which is 6 or 7:43 AM Spain time, not sure if I got the message before or after your cleanup. Thanks for your efforts!

 

[ivar]

Hmm.. the user that started the conversation has been deleted... but if the conversation still shows up in your inbox, I wonder if you can "Leave" the conversation? See if there is a button that says "Leave" towards the top?

 

[Newspix1]

Dear all,

I woke up this morning to over 200 new spam accounts having signed up and started sending inappropriate Private messages to members. I am so sorry for this!

They have now all been deleted. When I woke up, I did disable the functionality of starting a new Private Message for members. I will now open this up again, but I will have to manually approve new members for a few days (so new members would have to wait a little before they can ask their Camino questions after signing up).

I have also changed a few things related to the signup process... hoping that we can catch these people there.

Either way, I am so sorry for this...

Happy Caminp Planning!
Ivar

Thank you, Sir. We are all very lucky to have you and the hard work you do for us pilgrims. Best, AJ

 

[ivar]

Update #2 on this.

I have now created a new user group on the forum for users that have 5 posts or less. These users will have a less privileges compared to users with 6 or more posts. For example, users with 5 or less posts can not start a Private Message, they can not add links in their signature, and a few more things.

As the user posts their 6th posts, they will get "normal" privileges as a normal user.

Any donating member (no matter how many posts they have) will get "normal" privileges.

This is a big change, and if you see something that is strange or something that does not seem right, I might have messed up the permissions... could you please respond here and let me know? Then I will have a look at it.

Also, if you see any spammy strange posts, please use the "Report" link under the post and report it to us (the moderators).

Thank you for your patience!
Ivar

 

[HBS60]

Hmm.. the user that started the conversation has been deleted... but if the conversation still shows up in your inbox, I wonder if you can "Leave" the conversation? See if there is a button that says "Leave" towards the top?
View attachment 167591

Found it and left the “conversation”, I chose the option of ignoring future messages. It’s now gone, will let you know of anything else that may come up.
Thanks!

 

[Aisling1]

Dear all,

I woke up this morning to over 200 new spam accounts having signed up and started sending inappropriate Private messages to members. I am so sorry for this!

They have now all been deleted. When I woke up, I did disable the functionality of starting a new Private Message for members. I will now open this up again, but I will have to manually approve new members for a few days (so new members would have to wait a little before they can ask their Camino questions after signing up).

I have also changed a few things related to the signup process... hoping that we can catch these people there.

Either way, I am so sorry for this...

Happy Caminp Planning!
Ivar

Hi Ivar,
Yes unfortunately I was one of those people who got one of those emails.
Aisling

 

[CuriousPippa]

What a horrid thing to wake up to. Thank you for dealing with it so quickly and having a fix for us.

I have also left the conversation and ticked box to Ignore future messages.

Thank you again

 

[Opiemoore]

Update #2 on this.

I have now created a new user group on the forum for users that have 5 posts or less. These users will have a less privileges compared to users with 6 or more posts. For example, users with 5 or less posts can not start a Private Message, they can not add links in their signature, and a few more things.

As the user posts their 6th posts, they will get "normal" privileges as a normal user.

Any donating member (no matter how many posts they have) will get "normal" privileges.

This is a big change, and if you see something that is strange or something that does not seem right, I might have messed up the permissions... could you please respond here and let me know? Then I will have a look at it.

Also, if you see any spammy strange posts, please use the "Report" link under the post and report it to us (the moderators).

Thank you for your patience!
Ivar

Thanks Ivan.

Sad that you had to spend time on this. Eric

 

[Opiemoore]

Thanks Ivan.

Sad that you had to spend time on this. Eric

Fat finger (or autocorrect)…Ivar

 

[Simperegrina]

What a pain for you, Ivar. Well done for moving quickly on this

 

[LindaGRobert]

Dear all,

I woke up this morning to over 200 new spam accounts having signed up and started sending inappropriate Private messages to members. I am so sorry for this!

They have now all been deleted. When I woke up, I did disable the functionality of starting a new Private Message for members. I will now open this up again, but I will have to manually approve new members for a few days (so new members would have to wait a little before they can ask their Camino questions after signing up).

I have also changed a few things related to the signup process... hoping that we can catch these people there.

Either way, I am so sorry for this...

Happy Caminp Planning!
Ivar

Thanks for letting us know that it’s Spam! I was a little surprised when I saw it in my inbox this morning. Too bad you have to deal with this!

 

[Bristle Boy]

Ivar, I am so sorry to hear this but I am not totally surprised.
When I am able I will send you a pm with a few observations and suspicions
I was unaffected but sympathise with those that were. I am sure you are busy so will leave it at that.

 

[anoldfireman]

Dear all,

I woke up this morning to over 200 new spam accounts having signed up and started sending inappropriate Private messages to members. I am so sorry for this!

They have now all been deleted. When I woke up, I did disable the functionality of starting a new Private Message for members. I will now open this up again, but I will have to manually approve new members for a few days (so new members would have to wait a little before they can ask their Camino questions after signing up).

I have also changed a few things related to the signup process... hoping that we can catch these people there.

Either way, I am so sorry for this...

Happy Caminp Planning!
Ivar

Thanks for doing this - you did burst my bubble though- I thought there was a beautiful woman of exotic nature and foreign character wanting to spend time with me walking the Camino LOL

 

[WalkingJean]

Dear all,

I woke up this morning to over 200 new spam accounts having signed up and started sending inappropriate Private messages to members. I am so sorry for this!

They have now all been deleted. When I woke up, I did disable the functionality of starting a new Private Message for members. I will now open this up again, but I will have to manually approve new members for a few days (so new members would have to wait a little before they can ask their Camino questions after signing up).

I have also changed a few things related to the signup process... hoping that we can catch these people there.

Either way, I am so sorry for this...

Happy Caminp Planning!
Ivar

Thank you Ivar. I’m sorry this happened to your site

 

[Former member 115125]

I got messaged as well and will be £6 million pound richer and be provided with 12 vestal virgins next month ....those Nigerian princess are really genourous.

 

[ciaosylp]

Thank you Ivar for your diligence and efforts.

 

[Kailua920]

Dear all,

I woke up this morning to over 200 new spam accounts having signed up and started sending inappropriate Private messages to members. I am so sorry for this!

They have now all been deleted. When I woke up, I did disable the functionality of starting a new Private Message for members. I will now open this up again, but I will have to manually approve new members for a few days (so new members would have to wait a little before they can ask their Camino questions after signing up).

I have also changed a few things related to the signup process... hoping that we can catch these people there.

Either way, I am so sorry for this...

Happy Caminp Planning!
Ivar

Ivar,

Thank you for acknowledging and immediately addressing this situation. Perhaps there are content moderation tools that can be integrated to immediately catch and censor inappropriate content in the future.

Thank you for maintaining this great community space!!!

 

[Bothydave]

Like many others I had a young lady lusting after me this morning. Deleted

Ivar, this is not your fault but that of the internet. Don’t fret over it and thanks for keeping the forum running. It is one of the friendliest and best moderated sites I have seen.

Cyber attack seems to be the big thing and I had several other phishing emails today on my own system. Stay on your toes folks. If it is too good to be true then it is!

 

[ivar]

Ivar,

Thank you for acknowledging and immediately addressing this situation. Perhaps there are content moderation tools that can be integrated to immediately catch and censor inappropriate content in the future.

Thank you for maintaining this great community space!!!

Yes, I have made changes... see post #5 above. I have not seen any new spammer since I made the change. So it looks ok for now, but... it is a cat-and-mouse game.

 

[Ellen Gotts]

Thank you Ivar. What a job !!!!!!!!!!

 

[peregrina2000]

Just to add — many of you have reported receiving private messages from these spammers. I think this is the first time a spammer actually started conversations with members. Usually it’s just links and posts on the main forum.

I don’t think there is any way we can delete the PM message, so hopefully it will just fall into oblivion. And thanks to all who responded so quickly - it really helps to have so many people paying attention!

 

[Richard Smith]

On a more pleasant note, I saw an ad for Ivar's camino store when I was reading my Sydney Morning Herald online this morning.

 

[Makaala]

Dear all,

I woke up this morning to over 200 new spam accounts having signed up and started sending inappropriate Private messages to members. I am so sorry for this!

They have now all been deleted. When I woke up, I did disable the functionality of starting a new Private Message for members. I will now open this up again, but I will have to manually approve new members for a few days (so new members would have to wait a little before they can ask their Camino questions after signing up).

I have also changed a few things related to the signup process... hoping that we can catch these people there.

Either way, I am so sorry for this...

Happy Caminp Planning!
Ivar

I just recieved another message from a naked dirty sex woman of 30!!! Oh dear

 

[ivar]

I just recieved another message from a naked dirty sex woman of 30!!! Oh dear

Now? Please report it so we can spam clean this user. (Click the report link under the message)

 

[ivar]

Now? Please report it so we can spam clean this user. (Click the report link under the message)

I saw your email. That user has been spam-clean and is no longer with us...

To delete the message from your Message inbox, click the "Leave" button. More here:

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/sorry-for-the-spam-overnight.86068/#post-1242600

 

[Brackloon]

Dear all,

I woke up this morning to over 200 new spam accounts having signed up and started sending inappropriate Private messages to members. I am so sorry for this!

They have now all been deleted. When I woke up, I did disable the functionality of starting a new Private Message for members. I will now open this up again, but I will have to manually approve new members for a few days (so new members would have to wait a little before they can ask their Camino questions after signing up).

I have also changed a few things related to the signup process... hoping that we can catch these people there.

Either way, I am so sorry for this...

Happy Caminp Planning!
Ivar

Thanks Ivar,

Thanks for sorting the junk mail I tried to pm a simple thanks but ran into the you're a new poster block

 

[WildBillMN]

Update #2 on this.

I have now created a new user group on the forum for users that have 5 posts or less. These users will have a less privileges compared to users with 6 or more posts. For example, users with 5 or less posts can not start a Private Message, they can not add links in their signature, and a few more things.

As the user posts their 6th posts, they will get "normal" privileges as a normal user.

Any donating member (no matter how many posts they have) will get "normal" privileges.

This is a big change, and if you see something that is strange or something that does not seem right, I might have messed up the permissions... could you please respond here and let me know? Then I will have a look at it.

Also, if you see any spammy strange posts, please use the "Report" link under the post and report it to us (the moderators).

Thank you for your patience!
Ivar

Thanks for the update!

 

[RobertS26]

So, I finally thought that I had made a deep and meaningful connection with an attractive person who seemed to be genuinely interested in me and now you tell me that it was spam?