It's a sign about the return of You-Know-Who!

Spambots out in full force today/tonight.

I actually counted... aside from the Introductions thread randomly in the middle of everything, there are more than 100 spam threads before you scroll down to find a real one.

This is so frustrating! Not even because us regulars have to dig through it all, but because it's probably keeping away a lot of PNMs who are looking for valuable information and advice.

ETA: And now 200-300? Uggghhhhh

The entire home page again >:-[
I'm pissed I paid for this. You can have your avatar back, John. I want a refund.

THIS!

Agreed.

The best part is, I can see the spammers online right now and apparently nothing can be done to ban them? jijigobaba or whatever the F is busy posting up a storm. There must be a better way to screen out people.

I am not sure why the spam blockers aren't working. Now we have moviqqw posting the same stuff as jijgobaba. It seems all you have to do is change your user id and keep on posting.

Anyone know about PayPal's policies? That's what we had to use to pay. We all paid based on a deal that we would receive immediate technical support. That part of the deal/contract has been broken.

Gosh -- SO much spam. And multiplying, minute by minute.

Can we call down ancient curses on their heads??

This is getting way too out of control and ridiculous. I would love to see some analytics showing how much legitimate traffic and postings have gone down lately. It's getting so that I don't want to even check in anymore or lurk. :(

Guess what Spammers? NO ONE is reading your posts or clicking on your links.
GO AWAY! This isn't the blog where you can make any money!

Seriously this ^^.

My question is what might be the motivation for a spammer to repeat the same (or similar) spam over and over? And why all the crazy nonsensical “words”? I’m more likely to click on a link that looks legitimate – and if there is only one of them.

The only thing I can think of is that they (the person or persons posting the spam) are paid by the post. Frankly, unless they are being paid per post, it seems like a waste of time and effort on the spammers part as they are not likely to get much or a “return” from mass posting.

It is getting ridiculous...

Screaming at the top of my lungs!!!!!!!

I completely agree.

I guess the super mods aren't able to block individual users or IP addresses? It would be really helpful if they could do that instead of having to manually move threads.

It's taking up the entire first page again!!! Ahhhhhh!!!

John, are you out there?!

I don't know if anyone has some insider information regarding his whereabouts, but I'm honestly a little worried.

I know others have been on this site for twice as long as I have, so I'm not sure if John has disappeared like this in the past. But if he hasn't, in my opinion, it's now a little concerning...

They're back!!!

^^^^ In full force times four.

I'm going to look into it after I get some sleep. Assuming he isn't incapacitated, I think taking our money back is the only way we'll get him to pay attention.

I am really starting to think that something bad has happened to John. I just can't believe that he would let this happen to GC if he could help it. He has done a LOT for this board for many, many years. Something serious must be going on. I just wish that he had trusted one of the super mods with the authority to take over all functions, in the event that he was unable to manage the board.

In the mean time I am just left wondering about the booming Greek life in Dubai and Kuwait....:(

I hate that some of the spam is about Oakley sunglasses. The dad of 1 of our UCLA members is an executive there. Cool factory, though -- very "Metropolis".

they are back with a vengeance. ugh.

Did some threads get deleted? I can't seem to find the 2015/2016 Expansion thread.

Even the thread with the inquiry that was just made about the 2015/16 expansion thread that you replied to has just disappeared. :mad:

It was accidentally deleted during a spam ban. It's been restored.

So, in the barrage of spam recently, the mods (myself included) have been on a mission of trying to keep the boards clean for everyone. For those of you new to GC, moderating is on a volunteer basis. No one is paid for the TIME it takes to clean this stuff. We are doing what we we can (from all corners of the world might I add) as quickly as we can. Please help us by continuing to report the spam as it comes in.

Oh, and in during the process of cleaning spam, sometimes a "real thread"
might get caught in the process. Just let us know and we'll fix it.

BTW, this is not a rant or "bitchfest" but folks need to know.

*Now back to your regularly scheduled program*

I just found an obituary online from mid-July that may (or may not) be an indication of why John has been MIA. Its definitely not HIS but possibly a close family member.
The timing makes sense and the surviving relatives list include a John Hammell... :-(

The full page now, in less than half an hour :( I don't get why they bother, why not go to a busier board?

Thanks, y'all, for working on this. I can only imagine what a job that is.

We love you mods! My angry emoticon will never be directed at you and will always be directed to the spammers. Thank you for all you do!

I hope that's not the case, but it would be understandable.

I just looked for it, and I think you're right. If that's him, then it's no wonder that he's been occupied with other things - and rightfully so!

I think one of the ongoing issues with GC is that there are a lot of expenses incurred through use of the site, and a way to properly monetize it for even subsistence purposes has been elusive. I would be willing to bet that there are many PNMs and PNM moms out there who would be willing to pay a little bit for more personal coaching and hand-holding through the major SEC recruitments, if we could figure a way to do that through GC.

I've said it before - I'd be in favor of setting up a paywall of a dollar or two for each new member, if at all possible.

An ode to NinjaPoodle:

Oh, Ninja, how we appreciate what you do,
Know that when we spam-bitch, it is not at you.
With all on your plate - GC, work and school,
We give our great thanks to a lady so cool.

NinjaPoodle (and the other mods), thank you for all you have been doing. I have definitely noticed your work and efforts and appreciate it immensley!

By the way, I think the Badge Trends thread was accidentally deleted with the spam? I would love it if it could get restored.

I hope he is doing okay.

I echo the thanks to the mods...you do much heavy lifting and I appreciate it. The spam is your heavy albatross to bear these days. I hope John is OK, and also hope the site can find solid financial footing etc.

When I became an advisor after many years of sporadic alumn involvement, I was woefully out of date. 6 week new member period? new members not pledges? RFM? Sophisticated risk management issues? Chapter choice options? What rabbit hole had I fallen down? Thanks to all the experts on GC I was soon up to speed!

My new favorite spam title!

【存档可查】约克大学YU毕业证

........

Over run this morning. They've even moved off the into forum.

NinjaPoodle -- you are my hero for tackling this. I have a question -- can you temporarily suspend the account signup functions? Put a sticky thread up explaining why. People won't be able to sign up, but it will at least keep everything going until John can get back. It might save this community if you can.

It does seem that Badge Trends was deleted