Topic: Don't get tricked by hidden spam on this forum (Read 675 times)

Yes, but if you look at that thread, the author shills for maybe 2 out of the 3 sites he mentioned. Only Kraken does ring a bell to me, the two? Perhaps it is the crypto trading exchanges that he is shilling, I can't find plagiarism, so yes, they have advances in terms of taking advantage of this forum for shilling.

That's so true @op. The thing is, we've all got the idea of the fact that, the bitcointalkforum is that which clarifies issues on cryptos and verifies platforms and at times, we forget that the forum is free for all and as such, some users here can use the trust on the forum to perpetuate these crypto scams by coding links in a way that it seems appealing and original.
It's left for more experienced users to note and raise alarm when discovered and so far, we've been doing so, at least I see quite a few and some locked topics by moderators. But then, you don't always get tempted to tap just any link out of curiosity as it could be phishing oriented links.

This case baffles me somewhat, on the correct cause of action, or namely the correct concept to report it under. The profiles creates OPs of the kind, whereby the shilled site is placed alongside at least one known site, trying to be read as "good by association or comparison". Normally, the OP will create the thread, and not comeback to it when queried. As far as I can tell, it’s on the verge, or surpasses, the cases covered by rule nº 24:


It’s not an Ad per se in terms of format, but the whole purpose of the post, especially when taken with the perspective of prior posts from the same person, is to shill for a given site, amidst a longish post that can be partially true, and largely misleading due to skewed information. It’s better disguised than most that aim at shilling, and can’t be immediately dismissed as those that are clearly cero added valued shillers, off-topic, advertising in someone else’s thread and so forth. Nonetheless, it is reportable, but requires some detailed explanation.

Ive always saw this on some boards on altcoin, they likely show some rating of different project like exchange and you would noticed the title that best crypto of 2020, but if you would scanned their post you only noticed there is something like an outlier. Of course everyone are familiar with the top coins then suddenly an unknown is part of the list. Im sure you all find the name of titan coin with these kind of post. Obviously a shilling method. But isnt those kind of post allowed?

Something similar happens on the altcoin board - users create topics like "top 3 coins to invest", the first two are one of the big coins, and the last one is some unknown shitcoin that is being shilled for. And on Bitcoin boards shills promote blogs and news sites all the time. I generally avoid the threads created by brand new users that contain links in OP - it's some spam or shilling 99% of the time.

Yes I had encountered it even here in the section. I even qouted that the post is like indirectly promoting the links which could be a malware. I never click on that kind of link because I know that there is a possibility that it is justo trick other people by doing such like posting an innocently asking tye opinion of others and then post the link they wanted to promote.

This is likely bad most who report bad links here explain why it is that kind of link is bad or probable malware.

I would just like to bump this thread because it seems that those shillers has evolved as well.

1. They will put like a wall of text to look like it was well crafted posts and carefully thought of
2. Then they discreetly insert what they are shilling for, i.e trading exchange.

This is just one example seen recently: The 3 Most Trusted Crypto Trading Platforms in 2020.

Newbies or beginners should take note of this because they are solely prone to be victims and targets of hidden spams for people behind it knew that newbies are so naive and innocent about what's really in this forum and are exploring and wants to test everything. Once and for all, everyone should think like they are the spammer or let's say the criminals in crypto world so they can foresee and hesitate to visit links provided in threads.

Sometimes newcomers are even too lazy to read topics specially created for them, and even more so to report and disseminate information about skms.
I urge everyone not to be lazy and always strive to disseminate information especially about scammers and questionable sites / forms / services.
There are many Scamers, but our vigilance will allow us, if not to get rid of them, then reduce their impact on the market.

in fact, the rank doesn't mean anything and you should not trust someone just because he has a high rank especially if he ranked up before the merit system has been implemented.
What you should check is his trust page and feedbacks left by other members who dealt with him before.

Well, that old member you are talking about may not be the real owner. It could be an account that has been sold to someone secretly. Other possible things that it could be the real owner and want's to earn money by planning a scheme. That old member shoupd be red tagged.

Basically games are already implementing protection in banning links that can be spread across the game chats. It's part of the regulation and standard that they need to follow. But that is from the mainstream games, small rated and unfamiliar games mostly didn't follow protocols. As I experienced, some spammers and frauds use the quotations on this forum, they quote, and change the context and attach the links which makes it believable from the viewers.

From the very beginning, I realized that knowledge and investing in security is most relevant when it comes to cryptocurrency. Because of that I invest in hardware wallet, then in the best security software for my PC/smartphone, as well in constant learning about crypto. All this combined together is enough to make me feel fairly safe, although there is no absolute security, and we are all subject to errors.

Most suspicious links in forum are removed very quickly, but those "hidden spam" is sometimes difficult to detect. Even if it's removed, it's easy to create a new account and start over again.

I don't think this is paranoia only common sense.

Just imagine that you were lazy and haven't checked a link properly (because you had no time and trusted your antivirus software), which leads you to a fake website that takes over your password and because of this lost money.

Paranoia? Of course not, just a simple "No Exceptions Rule" in my opinion, especially when dealing with crypto.

this scam is working not only here on bitcointalk
in fact such scum attempts are used in game chats!! for example, my friend's account on eve online was attacked and hijacked  this way
he open link from in game chat and here we go.
so always use your brain and antivirus on your pc!

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 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

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  .

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.

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.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.

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.

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.

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 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. 

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.

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.

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.

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).

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

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.

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.

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.


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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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:


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.