Is the Spammer a Mac hater??

[Yarbro]

Just noticed all the new spam (as per usual on timing); and that it is all in the Mac Tech support thread.

I dont suppose anyone noted which sub-forum it was all posted in last time??

I am guessing a script is being used to make the postings, as the timings seem exactly 4 minutes apart.

[zipfile]

Just noticed all the new spam (as per usual on timing); and that it is all in the Mac Tech support thread.

I dont suppose anyone noted which sub-forum it was all posted in last time??

I am guessing a script is being used to make the postings, as the timings seem exactly 4 minutes apart.

Kinda sad to see it anyway. Ruins these pristine halls of intelect and wisdom that they're renowned for...

[djheydt]

Our most egregious spammer, Baba Ji, usually infests the General or New Players forums. Not being a Mac person, I haven't look in the Mac forums ... ever.

But you know what to do about any spammer:

(a) report him (use the little triangle at the lower left of the post) and

(b) don't answer him, which only bumps his post higher.

Update: So I looked at the Mac forum, and son-of-an-Orc, it IS Baba Ji again.

I still don't think he hates Macs; I think he thought the Mac forum was less often viewed, he could put his spammy garbage there and it would linger for a while before being deleted.

Note that it's Sunday morning in the US and SSG's personnel are probably taking a day of rest.

Has anybody reported him (see procedure above)? If not, I'll go back there and do it.

[Cordovan]

It's often just opportunity, so the person doing it probably made a successful post in the forum, then set things to auto-post through however these spammers do it.

[djheydt]

It's often just opportunity, so the person doing it probably made a successful post in the forum, then set things to auto-post through however these spammers do it.

One wonders why he thinks Mac users, or LotRO players in general, would fall for his snake-oil black magic love juju.

But the spams are all gone now (I just looked). Thank you, Cordovan.

[Yarbro]

It's often just opportunity, so the person doing it probably made a successful post in the forum, then set things to auto-post through however these spammers do it.

Every Sunday(GMT), for the past few weeks, at exactly the same time, the spam starts rolling across the "New Threads" search.

Someone should tip off the US, that Baba is a member of Al Qaeda, and perhaps they will use a drone to Hellfire his IP address.

[djheydt]

Every Sunday(GMT), for the past few weeks, at exactly the same time, the spam starts rolling across the "New Threads" search.

Someone should tip off the US, that Baba is a member of Al Qaeda, and perhaps they will use a drone to Hellfire his IP address.

I am having trouble visualizing how a missile would work. Okay, it could destroy his whole physical setup including his computers, but it could easily take out his innocent and unsuspecting neighbors.

I'm assuming he's in India somewhere, and I'm also assuming the Indian government doesn't give a damn.

Nosdracir's strategy seems to be the best,

https://www.lotro.com/forums/showthr...one-call-today

but I don't know if it would be safe to use it other than with a phone that's headed for oblivion anyway.

[Dinara]

Seems he's in the "Gameplay Discussion" section of the forums today.

[Yarbro]

Seems he's in the "Gameplay Discussion" section of the forums today.

Either there is nothing on India TV right now, or he is getting paid over time.

A temporary fix would be to add an extra posting restriction on newbies, by increasing the post time limit for each additional post over about 4 per 30 minutes, say up the time out to 10 minutes for the next post, 20 minutes for the one after that, etc - and flag the poster to the admin. Of course the scumbags will just reprogram the scripts they are using, but it will limit the flood.

If the poster is a genuine fast typer, Admin could reset the block, or lift the restriction.

Long term, perhaps better proof of identity, CC, ID and telephone number with a passcode exchange??; I know they can be stolen and misused, but it sets the bar higher and if you keep raising it, hopefully the effort will outweigh the benefits and they will go away

[Valamar]

Baba-Ji has been to the Mac forum many times in the past, so this was not a "new" effort.

The main thing to know about his posts, and therefore about how to control him -- they are ALL about phone numbers! "Call this number for . . ."

The game is this... and the scam is NOT new! It is basically called "international pay-per-call phone numbers."

Briefly put -- Because of the way in which global telecommunications works, when you place a call to a phone number which contains some kind of charge, your telephone company is immediately and automatically sent a charge from the destination phone company. Because of the various arrangements and treaties concerning global communications, your telephone company immediately pays the destination company, and then charges your phone on your next bill. These charges are an exhorbitant charge to simply connect the call, and then exhorbitant charges to continue the call.

The FCC has a much better description of this problem than mine . . . https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/one-ring-wireless-phone-scam

The National Consumers League has an article from 2008 (shortly after LOTRO went live!) describing multiple different types of phone scams, including the Pay-pre-Call ones.
http://www.nclnet.org/be_on_the_lookout_for_phone_fr aud

Pay-per-call abuses

Information and entertainment provided by pay-per-call services are accessed through 900 numbers, some 800 numbers, and even some international phone numbers. They can be recorded weather reports, stock quotes, group chat lines, psychic services, reports about a company's complaint record from a Better Business Bureau - just about anything.

When you call 900 numbers or 800 numbers that provide pay-per-call services, you pay a charge that is set by the service provider, not your phone company. Services provided through international phone numbers result in charges at whatever the rate would normally be for calling that country from your phone.

Dishonest pay-per-call service providers don't disclose, or misrepresent, the cost of their services. They may also misrepresent the services that they offer. You may be tricked into dialing pay-per-call services by following instructions to punch in a "personal activation code" that actually connects you to a pay-per-call line, or you may be switched to a pay-per-call line without knowing it. Some consumers report being charged for pay-per-call services even when their phones were never used to dial them.

And for yucks simply google "Baba Ji Spam" and see how many different forums have gotten hit over the years.
And yes, the country code for India is 91.

[Valamar]

BTW, thanks to the forum moderators (whoever they might be) who purged the Baba Ji stuff from the Mac Support forum!
I was involved with helping my brother celebrate his 65th so I didn't even notice it.

Thanks again.

[Yarbro]

BTW, thanks to the forum moderators (whoever they might be) who purged the Baba Ji stuff from the Mac Support forum!
I was involved with helping my brother celebrate his 65th so I didn't even notice it.

Thanks again.

I know it is not new, and I know what the scam is. I also note that he is already taking measures to get around a filter that might pick up the phone numbers - by breaking some of the numbers up into discrete digits.

What is new is that he is getting back into the forums so regularly; so he has found a new way around the existing checks, and found TWO time periods when the SSG staff arent monitoring; I am guessing that same time period will be moderator free most nights, so after todays out-break, I suspect we will get another inundation tonight - unless SSG keep someone in late to deal with him.

As for the advice on not to follow his links and numbers; it doesnt matter how many times you tell people, the same idiots will carry on doing what idiots do; I have a friend who got caught by the same scam time after time - even after I warned him it was a scam - AND gave him the evidence it was a scam, he still went ahead and got scammed. In one year alone I know of him being scammed out of several tens of thousand of pounds, and that is just what he admitted to me; it was almost certainly a lot more.

The last scam I nearly fell for was a young "lady" on an international dating site; all the replies seemed right, and she acted as expected in all correspondence, said all the right things and never raised one red flag - except she was supposed to be living in Irkutsk, and her emails were coming from New Jersey.

[Rugongrod]

You can avoid all the pay per call scams by using a pre-paid voip service.

[Yarbro]

You can avoid all the pay per call scams by using a pre-paid voip service.

Which misses the point entirely, the scammers only need a 1% reply rate to generate a profit, replying, even if they dont make any money off of it, merely encourages them.

I put a lot of the blame on the big telecom companies; they have had the technology to stop this type of scam for at least a decade, yet they do nothing; why?? because they make a percentage on every call.

[Valamar]

I put a lot of the blame on the big telecom companies; they have had the technology to stop this type of scam for at least a decade, yet they do nothing; why?? because they make a percentage on every call.

Not only do they have the technology, the have all the details necessary to block the activity. The co-conspiritors in this are the banking facilities which allow the funds to be exchanged.