Somone using DVDTalk to send SPAM?
 

I just got this E-mail:

-----Original Message-----
From: customer service [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Monday, February 17, 2003 12:40 AM
To: deleted emails, randyc
Subject: moviemail : dvdtalk.com member

Dear dvdtalk.com member

I noticed that you have shown an interest in DVDs movies on http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum

Heres a site that you maybe interested in:

http://www.multixmedia.50megs.com/custom.html

Dvds from $5 !!

Thanks

Yeah, a couple of others got it too.

I noticed that the email address' in your email are different, so there must have been multiple copies of this email sent out.

I've reported this to yahoo as spam.

Thanks

http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthr...15#post3320315

I got it also.

If you got the spam please report the user to thier hosting provider:
http://www.50megs.com/cgi-bin/feedba...rt_a_violation

i received two of these!! :mad:

I just went in and made it so that now only REGISTERED users can look at anyone's profile/email address.

If problems like this persist I can switch it over so that instead of displaying someone's email, there's a form that someone has to use to email someone....

Something I may switch over to it there are further issues.

Which also brings up the question I've been thinking over:

Should we restrict reading the forum to people who are registered and logged in? Basically this means unless you have an account on the forum you can't see any of the threads...

I say why not do that? HTF does it, so does avsforum for some of their stuff...I can't see it being a bad thing.

I got an e-mail from this guy, but I don't think you should lock down the forum to only registered posters. Otherwise people don't know if they should join or not.

Requiring users to register to view e-mail addresses is a good idea. Someone with decent programming knowledge can get around almost anything (including forms to e-mail people with, with something like PHP + libcurl) but you can stop the most incompetent ones.

What about just locking down specific areas of the site, such as the 'exchange forum' and the 'share the love' forum?

Unfortunately, those two somewhat require you to post your email address in a message for things to work properly and could continue to be a source of spam.

Yeah - I got this too and immediately came here to report it.

I'll report their mail as a violation, Geoff.

Thanks.

Thanks for the link, Geoff.

Reported!

Grrr, got it too. Annoying.

I would hate to see the forum locked down because of it though.

Got the same thing....it's sent to email addresses that begin with 'v', which my email address does also. I like the fact the forum is open to read without registering, that's how I came on board, if it's a choice between that and letting scumb--er, spammers have open access, that's no choice at all. Now, only registered members finding email, that's excellent. I'm not sure what your options are, Geoff [I know nothing about webmastering], but thanks for listening.

i got it,


but hey! dvds from 5$! wooHoo!
-rolleyes-


btw, mine was to 5 'S' emails.

I got it, to three 'L' addresses. Require registration to view emails, or even go with the form route, but don't lock the forums, except maybe Exchange and STL.

Has anyone even clicked on the site? I am not sure if it is just plain spam, bootleg spam, or even virus, since I am not going to click on it.

Got same email and reported them as suggested by our illustrious leader, Geoff.

I agree with Breakfast with Girls that you shouldn't do that. Most people lurk a while before joining because they need to know first if it's worthwhile. I am afraid preventing unregistered people from reading threads would lead to slower growth of this site which, I assume, is a bad thing. On second thought, I don't know if that's a bad thing ;)

I got that email too =(

Their Hosting provider Shut them down as a result of complaints!!

:up:

Excellent!

I got it also.

Today marks the first day I smiled when I saw a "404 Error."

Now to get the email addys shut down!

email reported.

-k
###

reported. got it twice!

Just got one too! What is going on in here?????

Nah, I wouldnt do that. If you did people would not know what this place is about and could potentially hurt your banner sales. I personally lurked for a good six months before I registered. I was looking for CH DVD club info and your forum was what I found. Ever since then I have been hooked.

I think it'd be reasonable for disabling the email views for non-members, but I think we should also have PM enabled which could let more people turn off their email addy. Yet, I think that'd just hog the resources a bit more. :)

I wouldn't do that either. You've gotten a few new viewers thru me because I'll be at someones house and something comes up and we'll look up a thread. It is bad enough that you have to register to search (I think), but to force them to register would be a large deterrent.

Conversly, you may get some new members if you force some of the people who come here ONLY for columbia house info. You may turn them into contributing members, or drive them away.

It's a matter of weighing the pros and cons.

Pros:

1. Keeps spammers from getting e-mail addresses, or at least requires more effort on their part.

2. Will save some bandwith by keeping away lurkers who add nothing to the discussion.

Cons:

1. Will greatly reduce new member sign-ups. Not many people will sign up for a forum they can't look at first.


I'd say the cons probably outweigh the pros there. Maybe you could do as the other member suggested above and keep a forum or two open (i.e. DVD talk) to anyone to view so they can get a feel for the site, and close the rest of the forums so only registered members can view them to take advantage of the pros listed above.

Got that spam too. Laughed when I saw the webite was gone.
Totally in favor of only letting registered members view e-mail addresses.
Not so sure blocking the entire forum is the right solution. Are there any other limitations you could place on non-registered lurkers, like only being able to look at posts from the past 24 hours?