Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Spam

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by SiobhanHansa (talk | contribs) at 15:35, 10 October 2008 (→‎Bookspotcentral.com and fantasybookspot.com redux: Investigation reveals extensive spamming over several years). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

    When reporting spam, please use the appropriate template(s):
    As a courtesy, please consider informing other editors if their actions are being discussed.
    Shortcuts
    {{Link summary|example.com}} -- do not use "subst:" with this template - Do not include the "http://www." portion of the URL inside this template
    • {{IP summary}} - to report anonymous editors suspected of spamming:
    {{IP summary|127.0.0.1}} --- do not use "subst:" with this template
    • {{User summary}} - to report registered users suspected of spamming:
    {{User summary|Username}} -- do not use "subst:" with this template

    Also, please include links ("diffs") to sample spam edits.

    Click here to start a new report
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    User:Vesco77

    Vesco77 (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · blacklist hits · AbuseLog · what links to user page · count · COIBot · Spamcheck · user page logs · x-wiki · status · Edit filter search · Google · StopForumSpam)

    User has been adding external links to www.corerspondent.tv to numerous articles. pedrito - talk - 20.09.2008 15:57

    Timestamp. MER-C 11:00, 8 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Local catching

    As you all know, I am running the bots that collect the data about external link additions, here 'interfaced' by COIBot. The linkwatchers also do some statistics about the user-link combination, which helps on-IRC to show how a link gets used by that user.

    I have lately programmed some functions in the bot so that it saves (in a file on the computer that runs the bots, filed per wiki) cases which exceed a certain treshold, e.g.:

    • Only IPs adding the link (catches at about 5 different users).
    • Mainly added by IPs in a /24 range.
    • Practically all additions by one user.

    I am still trying to tweak the thresholds a bit, and the data contains quite some good editors and good links. As such the list is not suitable for immediate publishing on-wiki. It needs to be looked at by local editors, filtered, and the rest can be published. I guess that about 50% of the file will be spam (in an earlier version I XLinkBotted 30 out of about 80, the 80 were caught in almost one day of linkwatching).

    It is a bit too much work for me to have a look at it every day, and I would like to ask if there are local editors who would be wanting to have a look at the list. I have a sign-up-list on m:User:COIBot/Local. If you want the list (I can send parts of lists per user, or change user on a daily basis, or whatever you feel like, and I have time for), please add your username, a link to a Special:EmailUser, and which wikis you want to recieve the files for on that page. --Dirk Beetstra T C 10:32, 3 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    http://spam.uttrakhandhotels.com

    uttrakhandhotels.com: Linksearch en (insource) - meta - de - fr - simple - wikt:en - wikt:fr • Spamcheck • MER-C X-wiki • gs • Reports: Links on en - COIBot - COIBot-Local • Discussions: tracked - advanced - RSN • COIBot-Link, Local, & XWiki Reports - Wikipedia: en - fr - de • Google: search • meta • Domain: domaintools • AboutUs.com

    Spammers

    Dumping prose spam into articles. MER-C 10:33, 3 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    www.speedwayresearcher.org.uk

    speedwayresearcher.org.uk: Linksearch en (insource) - meta - de - fr - simple - wikt:en - wikt:fr • Spamcheck • MER-C X-wiki • gs • Reports: Links on en - COIBot - COIBot-Local • Discussions: tracked - advanced - RSN • COIBot-Link, Local, & XWiki Reports - Wikipedia: en - fr - de • Google: search • meta • Domain: domaintools • AboutUs.com

    Spammers

    Repeated spamming after numerous warnings. Waterden (talk) 12:02, 3 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    User 71.188.174.137

    Here is the user's contributions page; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/71.188.174.137

    Here is the user's talk page; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:71.188.174.137

    This user has repeatedly added original research to numerous Godzilla related articles, even if it contradicts provided references. His edits have been REPEATEDLY undone, and he's been warned on his talk page. He seems impervious to any argument, as he refuses to even respond. He shows no inclination to stopping, therefore, an administrative action seems appropriate.Dark hyena (talk) 07:48, 4 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    This isn't a spam problem - spam involves the insertion of promotional material or links in violation of Wikipedia's mission. You have a content dispute. The fiction noticeboard seems to be a more appropriate place for reporting this stuff. MER-C 08:25, 4 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    http://spam.arabiccomplete.com

    arabiccomplete.com: Linksearch en (insource) - meta - de - fr - simple - wikt:en - wikt:fr • Spamcheck • MER-C X-wiki • gs • Reports: Links on en - COIBot - COIBot-Local • Discussions: tracked - advanced - RSN • COIBot-Link, Local, & XWiki Reports - Wikipedia: en - fr - de • Google: search • meta • Domain: domaintools • AboutUs.com

    Spammers

    MER-C 10:26, 4 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    spam.searchoptima.com spam.theclickinfo.com

    Adsense IDs
    • pub-5988640535894714
    • pub-6401467784160848
    Sites spammed
    Spammers

     Defer to Global blacklist MER-C 13:15, 4 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    User:Tsbay

    Tsbay (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · blacklist hits · AbuseLog · what links to user page · count · COIBot · Spamcheck · user page logs · x-wiki · status · Edit filter search · Google · StopForumSpam)

    User systematically adds warez sites to existing articles, nearly always replacing existing links with his own. Every single edit made by user is spam-related. He has even added a spam-site articles Sharingaccess, which will be submitted for review, and a previous, Downloadwarez that was already Speedily deleted. User is warned and reverted after each attempt, then waits a few weeks to add the sites back. Samples: [1] [2] Rurik (talk) 20:28, 4 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    istild.com/man-pages/

    I'm watching Manual page (Unix) at the moment in the repositories list. I'm not even sure if this is classed as link spam, vandalism, or difference of editor opinion. I've been trying to group the various repositories into some sort of alpha order, but numerous IP only edits move this one link further up the list on a regular basis, despite a clear banner saying this will be treated as vandalism.

    This is the only repository that moves, and it moves on an irregularly regular basis. I keep reverting it to alpha order, but...

    So I'd like someone experienced in link spam to take a look, please. Diffs? Heck, just look at history!

    http://www.istild.com/man-pages/: Linksearch en (insource) - meta - de - fr - simple - wikt:en - wikt:fr • Spamcheck • MER-C X-wiki • gs • Reports: Links on en - COIBot - COIBot-Local • Discussions: tracked - advanced - RSN • COIBot-Link, Local, & XWiki Reports - Wikipedia: en - fr - de • Google: search • meta • Domain: domaintools • AboutUs.com

    Fiddle Faddle (talk) 08:23, 5 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    spam.rock-fotos.de

    Previous incidents
    Sites spammed

    rock-fotos.de: Linksearch en (insource) - meta - de - fr - simple - wikt:en - wikt:fr • Spamcheck • MER-C X-wiki • gs • Reports: Links on en - COIBot - COIBot-Local • Discussions: tracked - advanced - RSN • COIBot-Link, Local, & XWiki Reports - Wikipedia: en - fr - de • Google: search • meta • Domain: domaintools • AboutUs.com

    Spammers
    • Cross-wiki spammer, see [3].
    • Cross-wiki spammer, see [4].
    • Cross-wiki spammer, see [5].
    • Cross-wiki spammer, see [6].
    • Cross-wiki spammer, see [7].

    Spamming through XLinkBot,  Defer to Global blacklist. MER-C 12:49, 5 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Online "education" sites

    Spammed across several articles today:

    See this set of changes for an example. Others used misleading edit summaries like "correct spelling".

    There are no legitimate reasons to be linking here, so I'd be happy to see them permanently blacklisted. I'm off to find the elusive linksearch... WhatamIdoing (talk) 03:14, 7 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    I modified the above to use {{LinkSummary}}, so the usage of the links could be more directly found. --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 04:19, 7 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    http://spam.digital-kaos.co.uk

    digital-kaos.co.uk: Linksearch en (insource) - meta - de - fr - simple - wikt:en - wikt:fr • Spamcheck • MER-C X-wiki • gs • Reports: Links on en - COIBot - COIBot-Local • Discussions: tracked - advanced - RSN • COIBot-Link, Local, & XWiki Reports - Wikipedia: en - fr - de • Google: search • meta • Domain: domaintools • AboutUs.com

    Spammers

    Spamming through XLinkBot. MER-C 12:28, 7 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    User Dargen

    Dargen (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · blacklist hits · AbuseLog · what links to user page · count · COIBot · Spamcheck · user page logs · x-wiki · status · Edit filter search · Google · StopForumSpam) is adding links to http://finduslaw.com/ to a number of pages, as footnotes following wikilinks where the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is cited. The user indicates states on the userpage:

    Dargen is my volunteer account for Find US Law. At Find US Law, our mission is to provide information on Employment Law to the Wikipedia community.

    See the user's contribution history.

    The links appear to me to be unnecessary, both because the term iteself is a wikilink, and the laws are publicly available by other means. Kablammo (talk) 14:46, 7 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    User notified. Kablammo (talk) 14:52, 7 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    The finduslaw.com site is run by an employment law firm, http://deskinlawfirm.com/ (note the "dlf" at the top of the finduslaw.com site). As such, these are inappropriate commercial links and should be reverted—there are plenty of non-profit government or academic sites that post the full text of U.S. federal statutes online and we have always preferred those (note, for example, Template:Ussc). Postdlf (talk) 15:06, 7 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Thank you. Someone with rollback will have to do the reversions; there are 150 or more of these links, including at least one to a user page of another user. Kablammo (talk) 15:09, 7 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    Done, though as you've noticed, he's still adding more. We're caught up as of now. We should add the finduslaw.com link to the bot spam removal list (however that's done). Postdlf (talk) 15:41, 7 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    Nice job. I'm not sure how the bot thing is done either, as I don't hang out in this area. Kablammo (talk) 15:44, 7 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    I am sorry, I am volunteering for finduslaw. I will talk with them about the law firm, but from what I understand they sell advertising space on their website like FindLaw or many other legal resources. I will let you know … Dargen (talk) 15:57, 7 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    I doubt that the firm is merely buying advertising; it's the only law firm noted on the finduslaw site, and seems to attribute ownership of the site rather than a separate banner advertisement. The finduslaw and deskinlawfirm sites also share the same web design. Postdlf (talk) 16:55, 7 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    Also, the websites share the same domain servers, and the website registrations show the same address and contact phone number for each site. --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 17:02, 7 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Link Summaries

    Link
    Accounts

    An external links search via the LinkSummary above shows well over 150 uses of the site linked to various articles. After checking a handful, it appears that most (if not all) were added by past spamming of the external link, some at least as far back as 2006. --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 16:17, 7 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Dargen is a volunteer for our website. Our firm does web development using Drupal as our content management system. We developed findUSlaw to be able to provide federal and california law to the public and eventually advertising. The theme you are seeing with findUSlaw is Drupal's basic theme.
    Deskin Law Firm is our client. They ordered the basic theme as well.
    Naturally, our client, Deskin Law Firm advertised on the site since we were able to promote to them easily. We are working on integrating Wikipedia and findUSlaw better so we can attaract more traffic and thus more advertisers. Please do not shut us down by taking the links off of Wikipedia. We are not trying to be malicious. We are a small web development firm that is trying to provide a service like FindLaw or Justia's service and we are just trying to build up our traffice to compete by providing a service to the Wikipedia community. We should not be shut down simply because we are not nearly as well funded as FindLaw and don't have advertisements ALL over our website, like they do.
    To show you that we do have advertisers. you can see this page with links to law firms in different states, but we have chosen not to litter it all over our site: http://finduslaw.com/locate_an_employment_lawyer The States on that page link to pages with ads for other law firms from Google.
    As for IP addresses being similar. We host most of our websites on GoDaddy and purchase the domains for our clients. Our clients are hosted on GoDaddy as well - at our suggestion.
    Again, please do not remove our links. We are not trying to be malicious - we are simply trying to provide a service to the community like Justia and other similar services. Mind you Justia simply advertises Oyez and US Court Forms. We are working on growing to become link FindLaw. Please let us provide this information to the community in the process. Finduslaw (talk) 00:05, 8 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    Unfortunately, you have it backwards. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, not a form of advertising for a webiste - Wikipedia does not exist to assist site owners to "attaract more traffic and thus more advertisers". Once a website is established as a reliable source, then it should be used as a ref where relevant and appropriate - but Wikipedia should not be used to get a website up to that point. --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 00:17, 8 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    Note, I've requested feedback from Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Law#Question regarding the use of FindUSLaw.com on the links that have already been added. --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 00:36, 8 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    http://sss.encyclopediaofalabama.org/

    Link
    Accounts

    These WP:SPA accounts have been adding the listed URL to multiple articles. User:Encyclopediaofalabama has already been indefinitely blocked after ignoring warnings. --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 17:37, 7 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Hima-Sella Ltd spam

    Links
    Accounts

    New editor, adding spam links and promotional text such as this.

    –Signalhead < T > 18:38, 8 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Gerry0065

    Previous incidents
    Accounts

    Some more accounts. As of this post, the previous case has not been closed. Dancter (talk) 18:54, 7 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    User:Brian2wood

    I've gone around cleaning up spam from Brian2wood (contribs), but almost every article he's hitting is already loaded with external links. It would be a real good thing if someone who knows these fields would take a shovel (or maybe a scalpel) to these lists. TIA, -- Mwanner | Talk 21:35, 8 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]


    VertigoMama

    VertigoMama (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · blacklist hits · AbuseLog · what links to user page · count · COIBot · Spamcheck · user page logs · x-wiki · status · Edit filter search · Google · StopForumSpam)

    currently spamming date pages with a calendar link; [8].

    chases.com: Linksearch en (insource) - meta - de - fr - simple - wikt:en - wikt:fr • Spamcheck • MER-C X-wiki • gs • Reports: Links on en - COIBot - COIBot-Local • Discussions: tracked - advanced - RSN • COIBot-Link, Local, & XWiki Reports - Wikipedia: en - fr - de • Google: search • meta • Domain: domaintools • AboutUs.com

    --Rogerb67 (talk) 22:15, 8 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    http://spam.newscrux.com

    Spam pages
    Sites spammed

    newscrux.com: Linksearch en (insource) - meta - de - fr - simple - wikt:en - wikt:fr • Spamcheck • MER-C X-wiki • gs • Reports: Links on en - COIBot - COIBot-Local • Discussions: tracked - advanced - RSN • COIBot-Link, Local, & XWiki Reports - Wikipedia: en - fr - de • Google: search • meta • Domain: domaintools • AboutUs.com

    Spammers

    Citation spammer. MER-C 12:33, 9 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    193.220.93.38

    193.220.93.38 (talk • contribs • deleted contribs • blacklist hits • AbuseLog • what links to user page • COIBot • Spamcheck • count • block log • x-wiki • Edit filter search • WHOIS • RDNS • tracert • robtex.com • StopForumSpam • Google • AboutUs • Project HoneyPot)

    User is persistently adding entry for "Labourforce" to List_of_companies_of_Tanzania. Suspect this is the same person who was posting as username Labourforce before it was blocked here, whose previous article Labourforce Consulting Agency (Tanzania) was speedily deleted. Please stop user spamming other pages.

    Chris Neville-Smith (talk) 13:45, 9 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    209.137.162.254

    Keep an eye out on this anon, multiple additions of external links to seemingly unrelated articles. Reverted one already. -Marcusmax (talk) 20:25, 9 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Update, this user has added links to myspace in the past and been reverted by bots. -Marcusmax (talk) 20:27, 9 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    Inserted linksummary. --Dirk Beetstra T C 09:51, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    User:116.206.19.244

    Has been spamming Retail loss prevention‎ (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) and Electronic article surveillance‎ (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) with a link to a electronic tag company. Michellecrisp (talk) 05:57, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Inserted LinkSummary. --Dirk Beetstra T C 09:50, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    spam.fibre2fashion.com and related

    Previous incidents
    Sites spammed
    Spammers

    That's enough.  Defer to Local blacklist MER-C 10:01, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    http://spam.callcentreonline.com

    Spam pages
    Sites spammed

    callcentreonline.com: Linksearch en (insource) - meta - de - fr - simple - wikt:en - wikt:fr • Spamcheck • MER-C X-wiki • gs • Reports: Links on en - COIBot - COIBot-Local • Discussions: tracked - advanced - RSN • COIBot-Link, Local, & XWiki Reports - Wikipedia: en - fr - de • Google: search • meta • Domain: domaintools • AboutUs.com

    Spammers

    MER-C 10:36, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Bookspotcentral.com and fantasybookspot.com redux

    Summary: Fantasybookspot.com (a site that was at least partially spammed) has become bookspotcentral.com. Link updates are being reverted by editors and bots leaving articles with links to pages with no content.

    Last month there was some investigation into this. But it seems we didn't follow up completely. And it's coming back to bite us now :-)

    An IP editor who initially spammed the fantasybookspot.com site has been changing the links to the new incarnation at bookspotcentral.com These edits keep getting reverted by editors and XLinkBot.

    The reversions are bad for us since the old links no longer point to appropriate content. The question (I think) is whether we should go through and remove all the links as spam, leave the reversions in place, or find some other solution.

    I started deleting but stopped as I realized that some of the links may have been placed by editors in good standing.

    See also the IPs talk page.

    -- SiobhanHansa 13:23, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    I don't think there are many added by editors in good standing, but there may be some. One way would be to identify the accounts that were originally 'spamming' the links, go through their contributions and remove the links they added. Then we can assess how much is left over (I don't expect it to be much) and if necessery convert them. --Dirk Beetstra T C 13:28, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    So turns out the site has been spammed for years. There are quite a few good faith edits too though. Editors who have added the fantasybookspot link:

    I'll take a look at bookspotcentral later. In the meantime I have received this message from User:Jmlthr and will responded pointing him to this discussion. -- SiobhanHansa 15:35, 10 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

    Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Spam&oldid=244387612"