They’re back!
After a short lull, the spammers are back again ... and they seem to have chosen yesterday's blog entry to be the target of their spamming!
For once, it does not seem to be Russian-based IP addresses that are the source of the jump in traffic on my blog; it is Indonesia!
Why this should be happening is totally beyond me ... and I wonder if other bloggers are experiencing a similar sudden upsurge of interest from that part of the world.
I am still at a loss to know why people do this, but I am very glad that I haven’t removed the ‘comments moderation’ option as it is stopping them from clogging up my blog with unsolicited rubbish. I’m quite capable of clogging it up with rubbish myself without any external assistance!
After a short lull, the spammers are back again ... and they seem to have chosen yesterday's blog entry to be the target of their spamming!
For once, it does not seem to be Russian-based IP addresses that are the source of the jump in traffic on my blog; it is Indonesia!
Why this should be happening is totally beyond me ... and I wonder if other bloggers are experiencing a similar sudden upsurge of interest from that part of the world.
I am still at a loss to know why people do this, but I am very glad that I haven’t removed the ‘comments moderation’ option as it is stopping them from clogging up my blog with unsolicited rubbish. I’m quite capable of clogging it up with rubbish myself without any external assistance!
I've been getting a lot of spam as well recently... mostly trying to sell anti virus software! Thankfully my spam filter is isolating it, so it's easy to delete before it gets posted.
ReplyDeleteBig Lee,
DeleteMost of the spam I’ve been receiving appears to come from Mcafee, but has that pseudo scratch off text. By having the ‘comment moderation’ option in operation is helping me to isolate and delete them.
All the best,
Bob
The easing of the English lockdown is obviously linked to this increase, if you believe in conspiracy theories etc! I'm so glad I kept the comments moderation on, as it kiiled 99.9% of Spam almost overnight:).
ReplyDeleteSteve J.,
DeleteI suspect that you are right about the increase in spamming being related to the lockdown. Like you, my ‘comment moderation’ has prevented the spam getting through ... but it's a pain having to have it in place.
All the best,
Bob
It's a strange business - I sometimes get 100+ views from Indonesia in the Stats (there can't be 100+ interested parties there). I'm sure there must be a devious plan behind it all but I can't work out what.
ReplyDeleteMaudlin Jack Tar,
DeleteInteresting that you are also getting so may ‘hits’ from Indonesia as well. It might be that the spammers are using IP addresses there for nefarious reasons, but no doubt they will move on once this has been spotted by the powers-that-be.
All the best,
Bob
@Maudlin Jack Tar
DeleteIt's interesting you say there can't be 100+ interested parties in Indonesia. I wonder how the wargaming hobby translates to other countries and cultures? I'd go out on a limb to say it's popular enough in Japan, but I wonder about the rest of the world.
Mr. Pavone,
DeleteIt would be interesting to get some sort of idea of how widely spread the hobby is, but once you get outside the limit of the English-speaking world, statistics seem to be difficult to come by. It seems to quite strong in Russian, French, Dutch/Flemish, German, Italian, and Spanish-speaking countries ... but elsewhere in the world, who knows?
All the best,
Bob
I periodically look at the chart showing where the greatest blog hits are from. Indonesia has been rising but while there may be some valid hits from shy wargamers there it smacked of spam which mostly gets blocked.
ReplyDeleteRoss Mac,
DeleteIt sounds as if Indonesia is the new home for spammers ... or at least, it is acting as a host for them.
All the best,
Bob
Yesterday's blog post about US Independence Day. An obvious target...
ReplyDeleteMike,
DeleteI must admit that isn’t a factor that I had considered ... but it may well be a major reason for the increase in spamming.
All the best,
Bob
Don't knock SPAM When this shut down started I went out and bought a case of Spam, A case of Canned Corned Beef and a case of beans - I'm ready for anything! I just wish that I had thought to by an extra lot of toilet paper as it was quickly hoarded up here!
ReplyDeleteDick Bryant,
DeleteNow REAL Spam is a very good thing ... and goes very well with beans! It sounds like it would a banquet fit for a wargamer! (I loved Spam - especially grilled - when I was a child, but my wife hates it ... so I never get to eat it these days.)
We didn’t buy any extra toilets rolls when there was a shortage ... and we still have plenty. I suspect that there are some people who bought so many that they will be using up their supplies well into 2022!
All the best,
Bob
Weirdly Indonesia has dropped off my top ten recently. They must have decided to bother everyone else.
ReplyDeleteUkraine is still number 3 on the all time list but has also disappeared off recent charts.
Nundanket,
DeleteHow interesting! I don’t seem to have had enough ‘hits’ from the Ukraine to register in my current monthly top ten. The US is my all-time No.1, (just under 1.5 million ‘hits’) followed by the UK (over 860,000), Russia (213,000), Germany (105,000), France (90,000), Canada (60,000), Australia (56,000), Italy (40,000), Unknown (34,000), and the Ukraine (with just under 31,000 ‘hits’).
All the best,
Bob
It’s easy to get in my top ten Bob, starting from a lower base. Azerbaijan made it with just one genuine reader 😆.
DeleteNundanket,
DeleteYou are certainly outperforming me in one area! I don’t think I’ve ever had a ‘hit’ from Azerbaijan!
All the best,
Bob
Only the occasional, random SPAM for me of late. The SPAMMERS rarely seem to target my most recent post and always go for an older one. With my moderation set on anything older than three days, I can catch most of these without having to moderate every post.
ReplyDeleteJonathan Freitag,
DeleteThe spamming seems to come in cycles, with the present upsurge coming after a period of relative inactivity.
The ‘comment moderation’ seems to be working well, and as much as I dislike it, I will not be turning it off in the near future.
All the best,
Bob
I'm getting increasingly grumpy about spam - it used to be Russian and Thai brides, but nowadays it is funeral policies and Stannah Stairlifts!
DeleteRegards, Chris.
Chris Kemp,
DeleteI used to get emails from lonely Russian women, people who wanted to sell me Viagra, and - of course - people who wanted my assistance to unlock money that was stashed in foreign bank accounts. At my age, I could do with some from Stannah Stairlifts ... but never get them!
All the best,
Bob
Had a recent spate of Indonseian 'Spam', the same guy and very persistant very annoying and had to add comment moderation to stop. Don't have the Russians anymore, they were nicer about it though.
ReplyDeleteHendrid,
DeleteThe situation makes sense if the spam is coming from a single IP address in Indonesia. Like you, I've found the 'comment moderation' option has worked to block the rubbish getting onto my blog, but it is tiresome having to go through people's comments in order to weed out the rubbish.
All the best,
Bob
I had a wee bit of spammery recently but nothing too much. I don’t know why they bother. I hope the outbreak finishes for you soon.
ReplyDeleteTradgardmastare,
DeleteLike you, I cannot understand what they hope to achieve by spamming blogs etc., other than to annoy other people and to prove that they can do it!
All the best,
Bob
Spam on my blog has dropped off again recently after it's upsurge earlier the year. I just review the comments every couple of days and pick off any spam. Email is another matter, well over 90% of mail traffic to the servers at work is spam and has been for 20 years. Most of it is filtered out before users ever get to see it. Computers can type much faster than humans:)
ReplyDeleteMartin Rapier,
DeleteBecause my blog gets so many 'hits' and comments, I have to review the comments at least twice a day.
Email spam is a major nuisance, but the 'delete' key works wonders in consigning the rubbish to a sort of oblivion.
All the best,
Bob