I was just made aware of a new trend in SPAM being used on many Internet Brands websites. This new trend is to PM members in hopes to get them to click on shortened URLs that will redirect you to another website that may attempt to hijack your computer. Please do not click on any links in PMs sent to you unless you have verified the source of the PM.

As always, if you get a PM from someone stating that they are a member of the staff of the forum, please verify that they are on the list of staff members first before taking any action based on the content of the message. Another tell tale that it is not from a member of the staff is that their user title under their name will not contain Administrator or Moderator. All forum staff members have their title under their username.

The staff of the forum will NEVER ask for your password or other contact information so do not even respond if asked for that type of information.

If you receive a PM from someone and it sound similar to the situation detailed above, please PM a member of the staff and we will take the appropriate action.

 

Is it possible to set a minimum posts to use PM like in the classified section? Like 5 or 10 to stop one post PM spammers too ?

 

I thought about that, but new members can sometimes have problems posting and PM is the only other way to contact the staff. I'll have to see if I can limit it to the staff...

 

I banned 3 more suspect user names last night:

• AdminGirLX - Joined: 01-23-2010 - Posts: 0
• LadyAdministrator - Joined: 01-14-2010 - Posts: 0
• Lady_Admin - Joined: 01-14-2010 - Posts: 0

On other Internet Brands websites, it has been noticed that user names are being taken out that contain titles (Admin/Administrator) to try to give the impression that the person is a member of the staff of the forum. As a response to this, we are banning user names that contain these words in such a manner that we see them being used inappropriately. This is part of our proactive approach to mitigating this exploit.

If any of the banned user names are indeed legitimate, please email me at bf.com.admin at gmail dot com. I will reset your user name to anything else you wish, so long as it does not contain Admin or Administrator.

I see no option to limit PM's to staff members only. I would have to shut it off for new users much like the waiting period for the classifieds section is setup. This would work, but it would limit the means that new users can get help if they are not able to post... I suppose I could just open up my bf.com.admin email address to all of those types of requests... Before I do that though, I want to wait to see how big of a problem this turns into.

 

I support what ever decision you make, but I also support what ever it takes to keep the forum open and smoothly flowing. I dont think you (or any staff member) should have to shoulder the burden of taking EVERY e-mail you will get from opening your account to that IN ADDITION to all of the PM's you recieve.

Even if you designated a member of the staff to no other responsibilites to anything other than manning an open e-mail they would be tapped by all of those that just have a 1 shot-1 kill problem and dont wish to join the forum community. They would be inundated with "Help me fix my ___" e-mails.

I don't know (as I am not an staff member) how many problems posting are legit and you guys recieve PMs about, but if one takes the time to look at almost ANY of the helpful links they can pretty much get the feel for it.

This is the first vbulletin forum i have ever used (and only the second forum period) and I'm dug in like a tick now

I believe a 5 post minimum to PM and 10 min to use classifieds is adequate and justifiable. For those that have trouble, there are resources available to them if they look for them (they aren't exactly hidden) that can get them on board. Just my

 

Got a PM from username: ForumModerators

 

Yep, ignore that! I deleted all of the Admin ones so now they are trying something different. I'll search through again and remove any username with "Mod" or "Moderator" that looks suspicious. Thanks for the heads up!

I just banned the following names:

• BestForumTeam - Joined: 02-08-2010 - Posts: 0
• forumAdmin - Joined: 01-30-2010 - Posts: 0
• forumComrad - Joined: 02-03-2010 - Posts: 0
• ForumModerators - Joined: 02-10-2010 - Posts: 0
• ForumsAdministrator - Joined: 02-06-2010 - Posts: 0
• ForumTeamSupports - Joined: 02-09-2010 - Posts: 0
• ModeratorTeam - Joined: 02-10-2010 - Posts: 0

As always, be wary of any Private Messages from new members. Check the validity of the message against the list of forum leaders.

 

Add RooTModerators to the list Kyle...I just got a PM from that name earlier today.

 

Gone. And about 50 others as well. Searched on their unusual email addresses and cleansed the user database of them!

 

Just dropped the hammer on Admin&Moderator and TeamModerators.