Notice about spam threads in this section

[pogue]

Members, you may have noticed that there has an increase of spam messages posted in this section as of late. It seems that this section of the forum has been targeted by spammers. If you see spam in this section, please report it immediately. These threads are created by spambots who automatically post links to most of the typical spam related stuff (porno, drugs, ...). If you have already reported the post, or don't want to, simply ignore the threads. Since the threads are created by software bots, responding to the posts don't have any significant to the poster, but may cause other people to think it's a legitimate discussion.

Don't click or visit the links within the spam threads

Even if the links may sound enticing, you certainly DO NOT want to click on any of them. Even if you have the latest & greatest anti-virus protection software installed, new threats are created every day and may bypass your protection, so don't take chances. These "spamvertised" websites are always fraudulent. Don't even consider purchasing whatever they're advertising.

Many such [spam] sites reside on hijacked hosts, but there are also "server farms" especially in Russia and China - they offer their services for a price.

Typically the sites sell forged medicine, replica items, illegal software and such. But it's also very likely that they won't deliver anything - they just want your credit card details so that they can use it for their purposes [such as stealing your identity].

Many of the links posted by the spammers are links to sites that try to install viruses, trojans or ad/spy/malware (malicious software) on your system. If you have accidentally clicked on one of these sites, it would be advisable to run a full virus scan, or you may want to run an online scanner such as Panda ActiveScan (requires IE), which is free and can clean infections. Please also see the Computer Help Thread to make sure you have security software installed and running to prevent malicious software from being installed on your machine. Once malware gets installed, it can be hard to remove.

Report Spam Threads to Moderators

To report a post, just click the exclamation point on the left corner of the users profile that says "Report post" if you hold your mouse over it. For the text of the problem, simply put: spam. Below is an image showing where the "report this post" button is in each of the three skins currently installed on the forum (black , classic , and vBulletin 3 ). You can click on the image below to see an enlarged version. We appreciate your help in getting rid of these junk purveyors.



Finally, if you notice strange posts from individuals with low post levels, usually only 1, posting things such as "hey nice site here" or strange and irrelevant messages, please report them too. That is an attempt by the spammers to built up their post count, so they can try and pass off as legitimate users and begin or continue spamming thinking no one will notice. These posts are also off topic, since this section is specifically for discussion about Sports & related issues.

If you have any questions or need assistance, please contact me or another moderator.