[DoctorEldritch]

And now, a message from @MrSnow:

As you may or may not have noticed, we have had some not-so-wonderful spam in the last few weeks. We've seen it creep into posts and new threads, resulting in much work for the team and frustration for you, our members.

I wanted to address this in a State of the Nation-type post and clarify what is going on without giving away too much of what we are doing behind the scenes -- a community manager must have their secrets, after all.

So, what's going on?
We have been under attack from a malicious third party, and while their intent isn't to bring down the community, they have, a few times, caused it to slow down. A number of "bad links" have been posted from these spam accounts, which, in many cases, have contained malware. Please ensure that if you have clicked any of the links, you take appropriate measures to secure your device(s).

So what are we doing about it?
Rest assured, we are following through. Our very talented tech team is working on several new countermeasures to prevent such attacks in the future. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we implement these changes.

While we implement the next generation of these countermeasures, you might find yourself in a situation where your post doesn't go on the forum immediately but instead ends up in our moderation queue. Don't worry; this is a temporary measure, and YOU can help us immensely by continuing your activity on the forums. This will allow us and our systems to get a lot better at spotting malicious activity. That way, we get better at getting rid of the spam before you even see it and creating a more engaged and robust experience for your fellow members.

How will this affect you?
As time passes and we see more of your activity, you will see fewer and fewer of the countermeasures. That doesn't mean they aren't there; it just means that the new systems are working. The more you're active, the less it will affect you.

What about the future?
Well, fingers crossed, everything will be back to almost normal very shortly. But we have taken the opportunity to make some changes to the overall set-up that we will be rolling out in the future Including new quality-of-life improvements that I'm personally excited about, so stay tuned!

As always, all the love,

Mr.Snow

[DracoTarot]

@DoctorEldritch I've noticed all the spam and bad links. Some weird posts on here lately.

[DoctorEldritch]

@DracoTarot Yeah, but hopefully, the worst of it is behind us now.

[DracoTarot]

@DoctorEldritch

[DoctorEldritch]

@DracoTarot Best not to respond at all, but if you absolutely must, you can show you're onto them:

[DracoTarot]

@DoctorEldritch I like to respond to them, especially on WhatsApp. I go through the whole process with them except I do not click on links or share any info. Then I'll send them a fake template with a pin location traced to the IP address and let them know the authorities will be on their way soon.

Usually, it works and they never bother me again. 😂

[DoctorEldritch]

@DracoTarot They are not using VPNs?

[DracoTarot]

@DoctorEldritch I'm sure they do use VPNs. The IPs I mention are usually made up. It seems to work as they go into panic mode and will block me or delete the whole conversation altogether.

[DoctorEldritch]

@DracoTarot Well, at the end of the day, this is what matters.