Comments on: Craigslist computer and electronic classifieds in New York and San Francisco under spam-and-scam attacks! http://cyberaxis.wordpress.com/2009/04/11/craigslist-computer-and-electronic-classifieds-in-new-york-and-san-francisco-under-bot-spam-attacks/ as the world turns Sat, 28 Nov 2009 00:08:27 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: DCM http://cyberaxis.wordpress.com/2009/04/11/craigslist-computer-and-electronic-classifieds-in-new-york-and-san-francisco-under-bot-spam-attacks/#comment-479 DCM Mon, 23 Nov 2009 02:02:50 +0000 http://cyberaxis.wordpress.com/?p=1789#comment-479 Why doesn't Craigslist just require that the IP address of the poster be located in the geographic area of the Craigslist site they are posting to? That seems like a somewhat simple solution. It's possible that legitimate ads may be placed from, say, China to the Atlanta Craigslist, but the likely hood of it being real is not good. <strong>Bob</strong> Why doesn’t Craigslist just require that the IP address of the poster be located in the geographic area of the Craigslist site they are posting to? That seems like a somewhat simple solution. It’s possible that legitimate ads may be placed from, say, China to the Atlanta Craigslist, but the likely hood of it being real is not good.

Bob

]]> By: cyberaxis http://cyberaxis.wordpress.com/2009/04/11/craigslist-computer-and-electronic-classifieds-in-new-york-and-san-francisco-under-bot-spam-attacks/#comment-217 cyberaxis Wed, 03 Jun 2009 03:49:48 +0000 http://cyberaxis.wordpress.com/?p=1789#comment-217 We have never understood Craigslist's reluctance to appoint community moderators to deal with stuff that it cannot effectively deal with at this point in time. There is nothing earth-shakingly novel about the idea. Craigslist currently relies on flaggers to keep spammers and other rascals from destroying the website. Without these flaggers, Craigslist would go to the dogs in a San Francisco minute. Community moderation would just be an extension of this flagging initiative. All they have to do is pick the best and most committed from gadzililions of people who would do this for free; a win-win situation not only for Craigslist but the community at large. While no system is perfect, community moderation has been known to be an effective way of dealing with internet rascals. The mess in the Computers & Electronics Classifieds of the affected cities is a minuscule portion of what goes on Craigslist locally and or world-wide, but we really can't tell that to the locals who have been spammed out of their local markets by these crooks. It would be cold comfort, on a "Rainy night in Georgia." We hope Craig and Jim will put their heads together and come up with something that works to rescue the affected sections. <strong>The Editor – Cyberaxis</strong> (Remember the words of Chaim Bertman, “In the venom, is a whisper of the antidote.”) We have never understood Craigslist’s reluctance to appoint community moderators to deal with stuff that it cannot effectively deal with at this point in time. There is nothing earth-shakingly novel about the idea. Craigslist currently relies on flaggers to keep spammers and other rascals from destroying the website. Without these flaggers, Craigslist would go to the dogs in a San Francisco minute. Community moderation would just be an extension of this flagging initiative. All they have to do is pick the best and most committed from gadzililions of people who would do this for free; a win-win situation not only for Craigslist but the community at large. While no system is perfect, community moderation has been known to be an effective way of dealing with internet rascals.

The mess in the Computers & Electronics Classifieds of the affected cities is a minuscule portion of what goes on Craigslist locally and or world-wide, but we really can’t tell that to the locals who have been spammed out of their local markets by these crooks. It would be cold comfort, on a “Rainy night in Georgia.” We hope Craig and Jim will put their heads together and come up with something that works to rescue the affected sections.

The Editor – Cyberaxis
(Remember the words of Chaim Bertman,
“In the venom, is a whisper of the antidote.”)

]]> By: Michael http://cyberaxis.wordpress.com/2009/04/11/craigslist-computer-and-electronic-classifieds-in-new-york-and-san-francisco-under-bot-spam-attacks/#comment-216 Michael Wed, 03 Jun 2009 02:05:11 +0000 http://cyberaxis.wordpress.com/?p=1789#comment-216 Craigslist is a joke in this manner. It's obvious that they can't do much against this with their draconian stance against appointing moderators. I'm starting to visit the site less and less every day. My opinion is that they need to fix this problem quickly or lose hoards of visitors which will undermine their viability. <strong>Michael</strong> Craigslist is a joke in this manner. It’s obvious that they can’t do much against this with their draconian stance against appointing moderators. I’m starting to visit the site less and less every day. My opinion is that they need to fix this problem quickly or lose hoards of visitors which will undermine their viability.

Michael

]]> By: cyberaxis http://cyberaxis.wordpress.com/2009/04/11/craigslist-computer-and-electronic-classifieds-in-new-york-and-san-francisco-under-bot-spam-attacks/#comment-159 cyberaxis Tue, 21 Apr 2009 14:32:11 +0000 http://cyberaxis.wordpress.com/?p=1789#comment-159 The threat to Craigslist is two-fold; namely usability and the company's own bottom-line. Browsing the electronic and computer classifieds in the last couple of months has been anything but easy. That can turn off users and that couldn't possibly be good for Craig. The second threat has to do with the company's size. Running a cyber empire with a staff of 24 people is possible only if you have automated systems. This latest onslaught of spam calls for automated controls or increased staff involvement, if not third party monitoring. Maintaining a stiff upper lip in the face of all this spam is probably part of Craigslist's P.R. But they really have to be concerned about the recent breaches and are probably digging deep into their well of geek wisdom to come up with killer apps (no pun intended) to combat these intruders. <strong>The Editor - Cyberaxis</strong> (Remember the words of Chaim Bertman, “In the venom, is a whisper of the antidote.”) The threat to Craigslist is two-fold; namely usability and the company’s own bottom-line. Browsing the electronic and computer classifieds in the last couple of months has been anything but easy. That can turn off users and that couldn’t possibly be good for Craig.

The second threat has to do with the company’s size. Running a cyber empire with a staff of 24 people is possible only if you have automated systems. This latest onslaught of spam calls for automated controls or increased staff involvement, if not third party monitoring. Maintaining a stiff upper lip in the face of all this spam is probably part of Craigslist’s P.R. But they really have to be concerned about the recent breaches and are probably digging deep into their well of geek wisdom to come up with killer apps (no pun intended) to combat these intruders.

The Editor – Cyberaxis
(Remember the words of Chaim Bertman,
“In the venom, is a whisper of the antidote.”)

]]> By: bluetoothspytools http://cyberaxis.wordpress.com/2009/04/11/craigslist-computer-and-electronic-classifieds-in-new-york-and-san-francisco-under-bot-spam-attacks/#comment-158 bluetoothspytools Tue, 21 Apr 2009 05:42:33 +0000 http://cyberaxis.wordpress.com/?p=1789#comment-158 Great article! I am very surprised Craigslist has not done anything about this issue. I even called them to ask if I could moderate for them and have "super flagger" access but they kindly declined :) I am guessing by the numbers of ads posted they are using trojan infected computers which would make it very hard for CL to stop as the spammers have a virtually endless amount of ips and email accounts to post with. They could however in the mean time hire someone to just sit and monitor all posts in the buffer waiting to go live and flag them for the 2 major cities. That would certainly take the wind out of the sails of the spammers. Almost all of them are easy to identify just based on the goofy locations they use in the location field. Great article! I am very surprised Craigslist has not done anything about this issue. I even called them to ask if I could moderate for them and have “super flagger” access but they kindly declined :)
I am guessing by the numbers of ads posted they are using trojan infected computers which would make it very hard for CL to stop as the spammers have a virtually endless amount of ips and email accounts to post with. They could however in the mean time hire someone to just sit and monitor all posts in the buffer waiting to go live and flag them for the 2 major cities. That would certainly take the wind out of the sails of the spammers. Almost all of them are easy to identify just based on the goofy locations they use in the location field.

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