Bitcoin Forum

Looking at the Report Malware and Suspicious Links here so Mods can take Action ! thread: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5182222.0
Most of them are in Alternate cryptocurrencies > Announcements (Altcoins) which is a cesspool anyway, but beyond that most of the posts that get reported & removed are locked topics. They are locking them so people can't post warnings in the threads.

Not allowing for locked topics could probably alleviate some of this.

That or just give lafu and a few other posters in the reporting thread their own ban hammer / delete ability.

Stay safe.

-Dave

What if we applied a "negative bump" to all locked threads in the Altcoin boards? If a thread is locked, then there it must have fizzled out of relevance and thereby requires no further discussion. Why else would you lock it, after all? (Self-moderated threads can be used for clearing spam)

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Given that we've added the bump option for the boards, couldn't this be a way to fry two patties with one spatula?

Interested in seeing any problems with this idea.

Or modify again the default sorting so locked threads will be arranged automatically after the non-locked ones regardless of how many bumps or super bumps or mega bumps it receives.
When the thread is locked sent to the bottom of the pack
Does it sounds like a step in the right direction?

I'm sorry dave, I'm afraid I cant support that.

Lafu was pushing exit scams on members and is likely responsible for millions of dollars of members lost funds.
He also directly supports scammers. He must not be given delete powers for any threads or posts anywhere.

Not allowing the threads to be locked is a better idea. This is more sensible.

For actmyname but what would prevent people coming to that thread via google links?

I also don't agree alt announcements is a total cesspool there are still some interesting projects on there.
Perhaps though there should be a separate board for tokens.  I see more scams pop up and far more frequently for projects that dont maintain their own designs or at least have their own bc.

Maybe reports that are for malware should be super priority for mods so they are removed super swiftly.

Worst case on a locked thread all links are auto deactivated and if you click then a warning appears that offsite links on locked topics are risky do you wish to proceed for sure? Maybe that could help.

Still yes locked topics being held down below active topics is a good move just that you will still get people on those threads albeit in a reduced number so that could be a help.

There already is a sub-board for tokens: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=240.0

I believe Google takes some time to get the search results from new pages on the site (I'm not sure about the exact time but as an example, look up this thread's topic name). It's also probably not going to be great SEO if it's a single post (I could be wrong, refute this if you can). And if the problem is them accessing the forum from any third-party link, well, there's no real solution to that... anyone could simply write a thread, wait for it to be buried and then edit it after-the-fact to link to malware.

I personally use a [P#] prefix to my reports to label their priority from 1 to 5, something similar to a ticketing system, and I recommend fellow reporters to do the same. Malware and links that result in significant user harm should be P1, whereas spam/one-liners rest along P3 onwards, with bumps/consecutive posts at P5.

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Could be good, perhaps with the warning disappearing after the thread has been around for x duration in order to prevent false positives.

Cryptohunter is trolling around again and write as usual crap and shit in long text walls with his Alt Accounts.
Why you dont write anymore with your main Account Cryptohunter ?
Oh yes because it will get banned again i guess maybe.

@DaveF

Locked threads are ok and i guess if Users cant write in this threads or see the thread is locked they normaly dont get into it !
Anyway i look into any new thread as it is locked or not and a few others doing the same .
As long the thread creator is a newbie there there are some Moderators that helping to delete the trash fake anns.

Please no off topic wild speculation scam pusher. I never heard ch was banned sounds like lies.

Let's tackle my valid on topic points and suggestions please.

My refusal to support giving a scam pusher and scammer supporter like you lafu ban hammer powers is legitimate and specifically on topic. Please accept that is my undeniably valid opinion.

I think the locked thread offsite links deactivated or passed through a warning page is good.
Top priority malware based reports to mods is also good I think

The hold down/back of locked threads by actmyname would also be useful.

To actmyname -  good points and yes the priority in reports I didnt know some already developed their own priority system that could be screened by mods.

I think with these 3 improvements the damage by these scammers can be reduced dramatically.

Never said you was banned for lies , did i ?
So why you dont start helping reporting them and doing something against them cryptohunter ?
Before you waste your time on long text walls it would help to start reporting instant of writing on threads everytime with the same complaining at some stage !

Anyway its a waste of time with you and your alt accounts to reply.
Back on ignore  ;D

You?

Must be some language barrier. Have another read.


Long walls of text with sensible, credible and very valuable information.
In a corrupt and scammy environment you can start at the bottom or the top
I feel the top is where most fear tackling scamming hence why I focus my efforts there.

I am though here giving my help to tackling the problem of malware on locked threads in a more comprehensive manner.
Sadly my great ideas in this thresd are lacking appreciation by you. The fact you are trying to claim my valid, truthful and helpful contributions are walls of trolling shows how dishonest and dangerous you are.

You make no effort to discuss my points and like a brainless weasel just make off topic speculative personal attacks based on provable false lies.

I hope more sensible and honest members will benefit from my ideas. Some are already using such methods themselves it seems

Adding an alert for links in locked thread is an interesting idea.. (I'll be honest, first time I stopped reading before those paragraphs. Might also be an idea to start with the on-topic part next time  ;D)
Both of them (link alert & sorting locked topic below active) would probably fit in more places like ANN boards, Services and several Marketplace boards.

Clearly would not stop the spread but agree would decrease it somewhat.

So since I posted this about 36 hours ago there have been 6 reports in the thread: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5182222.0 all were locked.
I *think* I saw at least 2 more that were nuked so there were probably more, can't be sure of the number I did not have the time to check / deal with it because of work. All were the same format: Locked thread, clone of an announcement, github linking to malware.

However, I have no idea if any non locked threads were removed. @mprep  @Welsh do you have any stats on the removal of locked vs.non locked threads on that board?

Stay safe.

-Dave

So this AM between 7:25 and 10:01 there have been 5 malware threads:

1) https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5253891.0      not locked or moderated
2) https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5253809.0      moderated
3) https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5253905.0      moderated
4) https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5253914.0      moderated
5) https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5253927.0      moderated

They are still active but no longer locking them just moderating them. So they have to keep deleting replies.

Still not great. And the mods can at times take hours to get to the reports (yeah I know they have to sleep sometime) but there should be a better way of policing this.
As I said in beginning, the altcoin board is a cesspool, but it is here and does need something to keep it from stinking up the rest of the board.

-Dave

Interesting idea. But there is one thing that is on my mind. What if the "negative bump" feature is misused ?. In a sense, the feature is used to "attack" (vilify) another project. Isn't that even worse?

My main point, I agree with your idea. Only, the mechanism (how to apply that feature) must be considered.

It can't be misused, as you can't lock someone else's thread. "Negative bump" in this case only means that locked topic would go all the way down.

I like both @DaveF and @actmyname  suggestions how to sort this issue, any would be good and big help against fake ANN threads with malware.

Its hard to find a way to limit abuse of the negative bump aspect though....  there are some asshat legendary users, as well as a plethora of basic users and less....

maybe locking a thread instantly brings its value down by X amount when locked?

*edit* just make the root act you wish to curb;  something that people must be willing to accept if they are going to lock their thread.   Make thread re-locks compound;  not multiply.

Maybe another idea for those threads that get created and instant locked would be that the links in there gets unclickable when the thread gets locked within 24 Hours.
Dont know if that is possible. Or Accounts that just woked up cant locking threads as long they are in the woke up period.
Just an Idea i got.

Another idea would be to allow only Member+ to make selfmod threads in certain boards like ANN, miners or any other board where users announce smth and provide download links...

A rank barrier would mean scam websites would pay higher for a member+ ranked member to create their thread, this would reduce the problem, buy will not solve it. Also threads can be locked even if they're not self-moderated.
Newbie restrictions is also not something favoured by the admins

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I would suggest a banner, such as the trust flag, which would appear above a post should users suspect it was made with malicious intent. This could work like a negative bump, if enough users flag a post, in addition to it dropping down the pages, it also carries a warning, such as; "This thread is suspected to contain suspicious links, apply caution while interacting with it"

I wasn't talking about scam projects. Some of them are in it for the long term scam and it's not obvious to everyone at first. Was mainly suggesting this to prevent the fake ann, the ones with malware etc.

If a DT member gives a negative to the user there is a banner that would appear for users with less than 7 days login time

So at least there's that.

AFAIK, this only applies to flags and not negative feedback, any user can create a flag, and if they have more support than opposition, it would appear at the top of threads made by the suspected account.
Negative feedback is visible on the users trust rating.

Seems you're right. Got a bit confused I guess   :P
Hard to find the perfect solution

I was going to start a new post, but figured bringing this thread back to life might be better.
It looks like the new method is to post a copy of a legit announcement with legitimate links and then go back and edit them later.
Still using locked / self mod posts.

So how about a combination of things?

1) If the post is started as locked or changed to locked at any time or if it's a self mod even the OP can't edit their post. This way what you post stays what it is and then of you want to change something you have to make another post in the thread.

2) If a post is locked / self mod links in the posts are not active for 24 hours. This way people can take a look and see if they look good. The issue that I see with this is that they could have a legit github / whatever and then they just change that link.

3) Both 1 & 2 can be avoided by copper members. If it's a legit project throwing $20 is not a big deal, if it's not it's going to get real expensive real quick.

4) ??? looking for ideas.

I doubt anything will come of this but still think it needs a discussion.

-Dave

Is it in the context of editing the links, then locking the thread and preventing others from warning users about it?

I still don't see a problem with simply moving locked posts to the very back of the board, perhaps in a section of their own. It can function as a soft-trashcan "sub-board". A thread is locked only when the author decides that there should be no more posts. In that situation, they should have little complaints about being shoved to the back of the queue.

This would prevent abusing the lock feature, as well as provide users a way to finally get rid of those threads they're done with, without having to resort to moving it to Archival. ::)

Yep. They make copy of already existing announcement thread and use legit links( social media, website, github etc) in order to appear legit and to avoid getting nuked immediately, and later on change legit wallet with malware infected one. That happens basically on the daily basis.

That idea about automatically placing locked topics on the bottom of the board sounds like an easy and solution, with no major drawbacks that I can see.