Richard's Animorphs Forum

RAF Section => Suggestions / Feedback & Issues => Topic started by: Hunter on September 26, 2016, 04:14:35 AM

Title: Bot Accounts
Post by: Hunter on September 26, 2016, 04:14:35 AM
So I'm just wondering if anyone's noticed the crazy amount of bots (I'm assuming) that have been signing up to RAF?

I'm only mentioning it because a few of them have pretty suspicious links in the signature :/
Title: Re: Bot Accounts
Post by: Quaf on September 26, 2016, 04:57:48 AM
Yeah, and a lot say they've made a ton of new topics in the general board (that haven't been approved by mods or however it works)

Title: Re: Bot Accounts
Post by: Cloak on September 26, 2016, 06:31:45 AM
I've noticed a lot of Guests trying to post in Memoirs too, when you look at Who's Online. I suppose its for the same reason that they are trying to make new threads. Or maybe some non-RAFians consider Memoirs controversial, I dunno.

But all bot accounts are lurkers, if they register at all, I'd imagine.
Title: Re: Bot Accounts
Post by: Ash on September 26, 2016, 03:05:49 PM
Yeah, it's a real pain. At one point we were removing up to 90 topics a day.
Title: Re: Bot Accounts
Post by: Cloak on September 26, 2016, 08:00:43 PM
Is there a way, perhaps, to find and delete bot accounts, or is that out of the question? Some way to verify that it's an actual human who holds the account?
Title: Re: Bot Accounts
Post by: Quaf on September 27, 2016, 01:07:57 AM
Well you have to answer the verification questions when you register, but I guess bots are really good at knowing that Jake is a guy :P

(http://i.imgur.com/acOW3eV.jpg)
Title: Re: Bot Accounts
Post by: Shenmue654 on January 02, 2017, 11:44:59 PM
Hey, I'm getting weird PMs from a guy I don't know and who has made zero posts on RAF: rvdlegstrish. That is a bot-y kind of name, so I'm wondering if they're a bot. Or, more likely, a hacker: One of their messages asked if I could "do a Rachel scene," whatever the hell that means.

Has anyone else seen anything like this?
Title: Re: Bot Accounts
Post by: Ash on January 03, 2017, 03:47:39 AM
Hey, I'm getting weird PMs from a guy I don't know and who has made zero posts on RAF: rvdlegstrish. That is a bot-y kind of name, so I'm wondering if they're a bot. Or, more likely, a hacker: One of their messages asked if I could "do a Rachel scene," whatever the hell that means.

Has anyone else seen anything like this?

Two more members reported this guy, Shen (thanks, gh and Saffa!) and there's something clearly wrong here so he's been banned.
Title: Re: Bot Accounts
Post by: redtailedsaffa on January 03, 2017, 05:11:41 AM
The message I got was simply "ya there? ;) " Not sure whose is creepier.
Title: Re: Bot Accounts
Post by: Cloak on January 03, 2017, 08:41:25 AM
Wow. I hadn't anh idea he was like that. I never got any message from him, so I guess I should consider myself lucky.
Title: Re: Bot Accounts
Post by: guitarhero01234 on January 03, 2017, 10:22:14 AM
The message I got was simply "ya there? ;) " Not sure whose is creepier.

Not gonna go into detail, but I think I had the creepiest interaction with this guy. Let's just say that I'm glad that perusing the weird side of the internet for years had conditioned my brain :P
Title: Re: Bot Accounts
Post by: Quaf on January 03, 2017, 06:45:24 PM
I had the creepiest interaction with this guy.

Debatable.
Title: Re: Bot Accounts
Post by: redtailedsaffa on January 04, 2017, 03:01:14 AM
This is not a contest :P
Title: Re: Bot Accounts
Post by: Ash on January 04, 2017, 03:07:25 AM
Let me know if any of you get any more such messages, guys. They're evolving, constant vigilance :P
Title: Re: Bot Accounts
Post by: guitarhero01234 on January 04, 2017, 03:30:58 AM
Ash, you should know by now that I report anything and everything suspicious :P
Title: Re: Bot Accounts
Post by: Ash on January 04, 2017, 06:03:39 AM
Yeah, you're great at it :D It was more a general request though.
Title: Re: Bot Accounts
Post by: redtailedsaffa on January 04, 2017, 06:15:28 AM
Yes ma'am!
Title: Re: Bot Accounts
Post by: Cloak on January 12, 2017, 10:42:29 PM
Now he has been in the chat. Tried to get me to go to a private chatroom with him. I refused.
Title: Re: Bot Accounts
Post by: NickDaGriff on January 13, 2017, 12:03:57 AM
This dude's been hanging around the chatroom for a little while, lurking, and posting in non-sequitirs mostly when everyone's gone.  Kinda weirding me out.

Then there was this, out of the blue, with zero context:

[spoiler]
[22:26:14] guitarhero01234: Wait now it is
[22:26:16] guitarhero01234: Wtf
[22:27:52] Memoirs Writer: Er, it's not -- (spoiler).
[22:27:52] RVDLegsTrish: Hi ya, ty for agreeing to help
[22:28:15] Memoirs Writer: I agreed to nothing.
[22:28:17] guitarhero01234: Wut
[22:28:36] XenoFrobe: ?
[22:30:11] guitarhero01234: Alright, serious question here
[22:30:12] RVDLegsTrish: I have no clue what happened just now
[22:30:27] RVDLegsTrish: Who wants to see splt?
[22:30:41] Memoirs Writer: . . .
[22:30:44] guitarhero01234: Just curious, why are you hanging around here if you got banned from the forum?
[22:30:52] RVDLegsTrish: split[/spoiler]

And that was it.  Just awkward silence.  No clue what he was talking about.
Title: Re: Bot Accounts
Post by: redtailedsaffa on January 13, 2017, 12:16:01 AM
I have a clue, but I'm saying nothing.
Title: Re: Bot Accounts
Post by: NickDaGriff on January 13, 2017, 12:59:37 AM
I mean, yeah, I have a clue as to most of the "what", I just don't get the "why".
Title: Re: Bot Accounts
Post by: Ash on January 13, 2017, 04:38:02 AM
Thank you, Cloak and Quaf, for the PMs. Well, this is certainly annoying - since chat accounts are different from forum accounts, throwing him/her off from here wasn't enough.

I've looked at the chat logs. Unfortunately, I don't have the power to ban him on chat (unless he's online) so I'll leave a PM for Richard. I'll also pop in intermittently in the meanwhile - and if any of you are online with him, please PM/whatsapp me immediately so I can say au revoir to this fanfiction aficionado.
Title: Re: Bot Accounts
Post by: guitarhero01234 on January 13, 2017, 05:16:41 AM
You da best, Ash :D

I sent you a PM about him a few days ago, I'm guessing you didn't get it?
Title: Re: Bot Accounts
Post by: Ash on January 13, 2017, 05:21:07 AM
The last PM I got from you was on the 10th of January, around 3am my time. Fell asleep after :P That one, or did you send another?
Title: Re: Bot Accounts
Post by: guitarhero01234 on January 13, 2017, 05:33:07 AM
Sent Jan. 9 around 9:00 NY time:

Quote
Hey, just thpught I'd let you know that that rvdlegstrish guy that was banned a few days ago can apparently still get in chat. Not sure if that's really a big deal or not, but I figured I'd let you know
Title: Re: Bot Accounts
Post by: Ash on January 13, 2017, 05:39:28 AM
That's the one, yep. I'm 6 hours ahead of you.
Title: Re: Bot Accounts
Post by: Dylan on January 17, 2017, 07:14:26 PM
I mean, yeah, I have a clue as to most of the "what", I just don't get the "why".
I don't get what any of that means
please explain
Title: Re: Bot Accounts
Post by: Cloak on January 17, 2017, 10:46:29 PM
I mean, yeah, I have a clue as to most of the "what", I just don't get the "why".
I don't get what any of that means
please explain

Please don't -- I get the feeling the less said, the better, on the subject. I do suspect RVP's reasonings to be lewd.
Title: Re: Bot Accounts
Post by: Canicula on January 18, 2017, 04:33:51 PM
The message I got was simply "ya there? ;) " Not sure whose is creepier.

I got one too. Title as "Rachel roleplay?" and in  the message it was also just something like 'ya there' or something. I just deleted it because it was so nonsensical.
Title: Re: Bot Accounts
Post by: Dylan on January 18, 2017, 09:15:30 PM
I mean, yeah, I have a clue as to most of the "what", I just don't get the "why".
I don't get what any of that means
please explain

Please don't -- I get the feeling the less said, the better, on the subject. I do suspect RVP's reasonings to be lewd.
Xeno explained to me what it meant
I make jokes about writting fanfiction that are gross like what this dude says but I don't actually mean it 
This is nasty
Title: Re: Bot Accounts
Post by: Ash on January 23, 2017, 08:34:56 PM
Update: Thanks to our founding father, pesky little chat bot is gone.
Title: Re: Bot Accounts
Post by: Cloak on January 23, 2017, 09:08:49 PM
Thank God.

I mean, Richard.
Title: Re: Bot Accounts
Post by: redtailedsaffa on January 24, 2017, 01:18:21 AM
Hah! Away with ye, bot scum!
Title: Re: Bot Accounts
Post by: Richard on January 25, 2017, 08:14:03 PM
:-)
Title: Re: Bot Accounts
Post by: NothingFromSomething on January 31, 2017, 05:22:23 AM
Make RAF Great Again!

*Hopes lighthearted sardonic tone comes across through text*

*Ah, screw it - laughs evilly*
Title: Re: Bot Accounts
Post by: Shenmue654 on March 08, 2017, 06:02:26 PM
XD No worries, Nothing. The lighthearted tone does come through. : }