Don't get tricked by hidden spam on this forum

[hatshepsut93]

We all know to not click on any suspicious links, and on this forum spam usually gets deleted pretty quickly. However, there's a special kind of spam links that often stays for longer periods of time.
It usually looks like the following:

Code:

Has anyone tried this service?
*link to the service or just name of the service*

By making it look like the original poster isn't promoting the service but merely asking people's opinions about it, such thread generates much more clicks and genuine replies than the usual spam link that gets deleted after a few minutes. The sites that are spammed in this way are usually the same scams, ponzi's, phishing and malware sites.

Here's some tips for distinguishing genuine questions from hidden spam:
1. OP is a brand new account.
    If OP is a fresh account, they probably were registered with sole purpose of starting this thread.

2. The thread is created in incorrect section.
    If you see such threads in board other than Service Discussions, it should raise a huge red flag.

3. The OP is very short.
    Legitimate topics about services usually start with some small personal review or short description of a service. Spam threads usually start with just a single question like "Have you heard about X?".


What to do if you encountered such thread

1. Do not click on any links or visit the site that is mentioned by googling it.
2. Do not reply to the topic, unless to warn other users about suspicious activity.
3. Report the thread to moderators.

[sujonali1819]

Theories are very important for the newbie even some people who are not very aware of it. A suspicious link can do a lot of harm to a human being. Many times an unscrupulous person can post a phishing link by Showing greed, and mainly newbie click on the link and subsequently become a victim of hacking. Those who are not aware of this should read this thread very carefully. And thank you for sharing some important theories.

[hatshepsut93]

3. Report the thread to moderators.

IMO it's something we shouldn't do unless it there are flags of scam service, such as domain registered anonymously, fake office information or website design is very generic or similar with known scam website.

I usually encounter these threads in Bitcoin Discussion and Economics, and report them with comment "offtopic/spam/suspicious link". If I am wrong about such threads being a spam, it still doesn't belong to those boards and should be moved to Service Discussions.

I would gladly risk making a wrongful report over letting some dangerous link staying up for hours and days and potentially making some less careful people lose their money.

[GreatArkansas]

Here's some tips for distinguishing genuine questions from hidden spam:
1. OP is a brand new account.
    If OP is a fresh account, they probably were registered with sole purpose of starting this thread.
(......)

This can also be found in some ranks of every user, but most ot them are even Jr. Members-Full Members but most of them for sure are dummy accounts.

Why? Because of the construction of their thread/official post.
Like, on the first paragraph of the post, they are siting some problem of any as long as related in crypto, just like in trading and then, on their last paragraph or last sentence, here you go some of links from them which is really fishy because you can also see on their profile; a lot activity and posts but LACK of merits.

[Chikito]

~ ..any suspicious links, ~ ..malware sites ..
What to do if you encountered such thread
1. Do not click on any links or visit the site that is mentioned by googling it.

Some of the members are lazy to checking before and clicking the link when they are interested.

same as you I am not recommended to clicking the link, but when interesting to click do scanning first before.

Scanning Online virus :

1. https://virusdesk.kaspersky.com/
2. https://metadefender.opswat.com/
3. https://www.fortiguard.com/faq/onlinescanner
4. https://nodistribute.com/
5. https://www.virustotal.com/gui/home/upload

Insert the link at the following box to begin scanning.

[hatshepsut93]

Insert the link at the following box to begin scanning.

I guess it won't hurt, but generally if you are going to follow a risky link, you should do so in a separate browser that isn't used to access any important websites, and you should have addons like noscript and adblock installed and enabled. But this is for more advanced users, beginners should just avoid visiting such links altogether - you wouldn't miss any opportunities, but you will save yourself from risks of getting scammed/hacked.

This can also be found in some ranks of every user, but most ot them are even Jr. Members-Full Members but most of them for sure are dummy accounts.

Why? Because of the construction of their thread/official post.
Like, on the first paragraph of the post, they are siting some problem of any as long as related in crypto, just like in trading and then, on their last paragraph or last sentence, here you go some of links from them which is really fishy because you can also see on their profile; a lot activity and posts but LACK of merits.

Yes, there are other variations of this hidden spam that are even more sophisticated. But the same red flags still apply. So, always be alert, malicious links aren't always as obvious as we are used to think.

[Alluro]

That's right, I have seen that thing and similar things on bitcointalk forum and I have understated they are spams and scams. If you have good knowledge and experience, you can understand those things. Most newbies are doing smae thing in different ways. My personal opinion is please be careful with those things guys.

[wildey]

1. OP is a brand new account.
2. The thread is created in incorrect section.

these two things I get most often. some newbies sometimes send messages about hype or an investment that gives a pretty lucrative bonus on behalf of a big company. in fact, messages like that are indeed quite disturbing and intriguing. but, sometimes I always read messages that flag them, and that makes me suspicious.

sometimes I immediately delete their messages remembering so many strange sites made by hackers today.

[Bttzed03]

Here's some tips for distinguishing genuine questions from hidden spam:
1. OP is a brand new account.
    If OP is a fresh account, they probably were registered with sole purpose of starting this thread.

2. The thread is created in incorrect section.
    If you see such threads in board other than Service Discussions, it should raise a huge red flag.

3. The OP is very short.
    Legitimate topics about services usually start with some small personal review or short description of a service. Spam threads usually start with just a single question like "Have you heard about X?".

If still in doubt whether they are spamming the forum "secretly", just check their post history. You will easily notice if their topics are meant to discuss or to spam.

Example

[tranthidung]

5. https://www.virustotal.com/gui/home/upload

I have a guide on virustotal.com. [Guide] Virustotal scan guideline to detect viruses, trojans, malwares, worms. People can use as guest but I suggest to register a free account to have more available free features (more than guest).

[judeafante]

5. https://www.virustotal.com/gui/home/upload

I have a guide on virustotal.com. [Guide] Virustotal scan guideline to detect viruses, trojans, malwares, worms. People can use as guest but I suggest to register a free account to have more available free features (more than guest).

You can also use anti virus and anti malware with web control, these kind of links has been in the database of these anti virus and anti malware, so they will eventually blocked if they it has virus attached and give you information on what are on the link, but I have seen similar threads that asking legit question about the link, but we still need to be very careful.

[Quidat]

Code:

Has anyone tried this service?
*link to the service or just name of the service*

Anytime when i do able to read up of these kind of introduction then i do already able to spot out that they are just simply
making some indirect advertisement of their own site or scam links.You can spot it out if you are really keen into suspicious links
and if they are hidden with url you can easily quote it up and see the masked one.You will able to tell if that link is good or
something bad.Dont click links if you arent sure and with this behavior you do save up yourself into potential risk and lastly i
agree with that Report moderator button that should really be used into these kind of threads.

[finzyoj]

It's not that I hate this kind of messages, actually I like it somehow because they're trying to share new ideas to us where we can pick up information about a certain topic. What I only don't like is the fact that they were trying yo sneak an advertisement which is wrong since they're not doing it on the right board. I oftenly see some of it in the Bitcoin/Altcoin Discussions and Economics. Furthermore, if you're uncomfortable of visiting such links then avoid doing so but I don't think clicking it will cause you trouble either because it usually directs you into their site and is not a form of hacking at all.

[Kakmakr]

3. The OP is very short.
    Legitimate topics about services usually start with some small personal review or short description of a service. Spam threads usually start with just a single question like "Have you heard about X?".

This is not true in every instance, because a lot of these scammers has caught on to the fact that short discussions are scrutinized more often and easily identified, so they are writing more detailed threads lately <mostly in poor English> and then they hide the URL within the wall of text to make it look less inconspicuous. 

You might have to change that statement a little and probably say, "The OP is mostly very short".    If people are only cautious of short threads, then they will fall for the longer and more detailed threads. 

[hatshepsut93]

This is not true in every instance, because a lot of these scammers has caught on to the fact that short discussions are scrutinized more often and easily identified, so they are writing more detailed threads lately <mostly in poor English> and then they hide the URL within the wall of text to make it look less inconspicuous. 

You might have to change that statement a little and probably say, "The OP is mostly very short".    If people are only cautious of short threads, then they will fall for the longer and more detailed threads. 

I'm not claiming that any of the red flags that I've posted is enough to call someone a spammer, even all of them at once don't necessarily mean that it's a spam, those are just things that should raise your suspicion. You're right that spammers can have longer posts, and you are right about poor grammar, I even considered adding grammar as another red flag, but decided against it, because there's a lot of non-native speakers on this forum, so it's not a strong reason for suspicion.

[khaled0111]

1. Do not click on any links or visit the site that is mentioned by googling it.

This is exactly what I do whenever I come across a similar post. It became kinf of a natural reflex.

I look for more reviews about the link on other trusted websites and check the website's registration info on WhoIs.
Better be safe than sorry. You never know where that link will take you.

[Wexnident]

3. Report the thread to moderators.

IMO it's something we shouldn't do unless it there are flags of scam service, such as domain registered anonymously, fake office information or website design is very generic or similar with known scam website.

It is indeed bwtter to not report it without solidifying evidence of scams or anything of the sort. This doesn't mean that you should proceed to click the link to check. It'd still be better to ignore such posts or manually search the site through a search engine like google.

Here's some tips for distinguishing genuine questions from hidden spam:
1. OP is a brand new account.
    If OP is a fresh account, they probably were registered with sole purpose of starting this thread.
(......)

This can also be found in some ranks of every user, but most ot them are even Jr. Members-Full Members but most of them for sure are dummy accounts.

Why? Because of the construction of their thread/official post.
Like, on the first paragraph of the post, they are siting some problem of any as long as related in crypto, just like in trading and then, on their last paragraph or last sentence, here you go some of links from them which is really fishy because you can also see on their profile; a lot activity and posts but LACK of merits.

It's like they are forcing the site they want others to see towards the problem itself. All for the purpose of saying that their "site" is actually helpful but they really just want you to open it.

Most of these scam sites are actually easy to see. You can immediately notice itsbdifferences from posts that were solely linked for information and such. You can see scams where they just post a topic about it, paste the source and thats it. Unlike most regular users whom quote the main topic of the discussion and then giving the link for the topic.

[yazher]

Sometimes there aren't from a newbie account rather from an old account like what happens to me last year. I was browsing at the services looking for something that can benefit me. when I saw a Full Member posted a referral link for an airdrop. When I see him that he was a full member, I never doubt his post and I continue to make the task he ask for. He said when you do this, I give you that. not only me, including some other old members, fall to his hidden trap. because he offers a hundred dollars for 1 referral. everyone is telling him that if he lies he suffer the consequences.

After the appointed times that he promised that he will give the reward, he didn't give anything, instead he mocked at us. he didn't give a single penny to the participants of his scammed referral task. Everyone is banned after that incident including me for 1 week. after that, I learn some lessons. even the offer comes from a legendary member if it is strange. I won't take it anymore.

[wwzsocki]

This is good that OP raises awareness about these spammy posts because the more we talk and warn about them the more people will change their online habits.

I see personally that I changed my online habits a lot. Never click links in email, simply never. I always copy-paste them after full check. Never click any links on the forum, etc.

Always use a sandbox, password manager, anti ads and safety addons,  Brave browser, VPN, virustotal, run scans and more.

A couple of years ago I would open any link from my email without a second of thinking, sometimes even without anti-virus to not strain the laptop too much  .

[Lucius]

I reported many such attempts that some service is promoted in a way that some newbie account starts asking for something, and then other newbie accounts start to post the same link and saying how that service is the best one they ever use...

Sometimes such questions can be quite legitimate, but those who abuse the forum for hidden advertising can be easily detected by looking at their post history. Almost any post contains a hyperlink, and I notice that some of them advertise a few links, which they then rotate through the posts.

I see personally that I changed my online habits a lot. Never click links in email, simply never. I always copy-paste them after full check. Never click any links on the forum, etc.

I think it is excessive to not click any link on this forum, especially the links posted by trusted members. If a user has good security software the possibility of an infection is very low, and checking any link/file is always possible with online tools like VirusTotal. I have all important links saved in my browser bookmarks, and only use them from there with an additional check before logging in.

Safety always comes first, but I don't want to be a slave to paranoia