Spambots are here.

I hadn't experienced this yet, but I knew it was just a matter of time: spambots.

On 3 alts, I have received the following personal IMs (not object IMs), from 3 different avatars all created early this month. I'm not the only one to have received this, several friends have too:

[23:17] <name deleted>: Want some free lindens? we got a new system for you to make fast lindens upto $L5000/day, just go to <url deleted> and check it out

The Web page uses LL's logo and layout, so it's really on the edge of phishing and definitely a trademark infringement.

These are evidently bots that use the search engine or group lists to find names at random and send IMs. Of course I've AR'd them, but we all know that they'll just created some alts and start again.

If LL doesn't put a stop to this bot nonsense now, SL is going to be as full as spam as my 8 year old hotmail address.

WOOOT! theyr'e finally here, the goldselling bots

any nigerian bots yet?

What's on the webpage?

*looks around for a mailbox near the Ironforge bank*

Wait, wrong game, similar spammer message though.

The spam link is to:

http://freelindens.thruhere.net

...which redirects to here:

http://www.cutiebutt.com/rot/

*snerks* Oh, I'm sure this falls under the spam AR heading. Too bad we don't have something like a /ignore_spammer, which fills out the AR, sends it and puts the idiot on mute/ban (if you own land).

Sure, you can AR. But that won't really stop them.

This bot business is getting out of hand, and once these spambots become widespread, and everybody's IMs get capped because of ads for Viagra or penis enlargement, SL will have made another step towards becoming unusable.

Definitely abuse report them. The avatar who sent me that message was gone from search pretty quickly. I'm sure there's a ton of throwaway accounts being used to do this though. Next one I get will be ARed for alt abuse as well.

Also, take it to a Linden Office Hours and complain. Between the surge in AR's and office hour complaints, maybe the flood will cause a policy change? *sigh* I know, wishful thinking.

It's not phishing then, as was suggested in the original post.

I know they are throwaway accounts but perhaps the Lindens can actually find a way to get rid of the people behind it.

If you stop the website which is using the Linden name (possibly the reason they are copyrighting their symbols?) you can dry up the income which is the real motivator.

They couldn't do that for that reason. They could maybe force the site to add the mandatory tm symbol, but that's about all.

One way to stop it is to charge for accounts, but what's more important to LL - the account numbers, or preventing users from receiving spam?

Yeah they will be wondering why transaction keep going down while population keeps doubling.

I was getting the 5 or 6 of the same messages at nearly every log on. The people in the land rental group for my skybox were also getting the same spam. I did ar one of them and haven't had anymore messages.

Unfortunately, an alt of someone I knew was sending me something I had asked for at the same time. Thinking that it was part of the same group of messages, I sent that person a pretty nasty im.

Awww crap. I just hate spam and spammers. Everybody does, so why pursue something that's only going to bring hate upon your head?

Anyway, at the very least LL could and should require payment info as a verification.

If only there was an easy way to filter out and kick bots off SL. Just think how very much better it would run without all that clartes clogging up the network ...

I've been spammed with that very same thing too.

Same answer as for the question
"what's more important to LL - the account numbers, or preventing users from the effects of overloaded asset servers?"

How would you filter out bots? Allow only, say, 2 or 3 account log-ins at once from one computer? Anyone have any ideas?

these people spam to get views on their sites, some losers who just made a site, want to spam their link to every 1/10 people click it, its a sad assed effort to advertise their site

as far as the free linden sites go, its identity theft, and its a wonder the FBI hasn't attacked those e-mails or sites yet (they don't care)

BUT!, but, listen, i get group spam from normal avvies, who are noobs, it turns out, they pay people to spam groups for shop advertisements, like this one

i forgot most of the names, and with the TOS, illl just blank out the names but i remember what was said

[18:53] Loser Withnolife: HOT DAMN, get some sweet sex furniture at (landmark deleted) and get your groove on.
[18:53] angry member#1: get a life, (beep)
[18:53] busy building: i was kind of busy building a commishion when you spammed with your BIAB (buisiness in a box) hellhole that probley sells stolen furniture.
[18:54] Loser Withnolife: sorry guys, i just thought you would like it, im trying to make a living on here.
[18:54] me: then get off your fat (beep) (beep) and go out and get a REAL job.
[18:54] Loser Withnolife has been ejected from "Group"

yea, we need to stop this, the fact that they are going to groups, is basicly leading talking group thats send annoucements to use notices, so that people dont scream at the admins for "spamming"

its bad enough, new people to the group, take normal conversation about the sim or club the group was created for, shouts "STOP SPAMMING".

Don't yell at them to stop spamming, just AR them for spamming unauthorized in a group.

Hmm I think we would have to charge everyone to play or restric non paying accounts somehow that would detrimental to bots, like slower TP's or being kicked every hour, or somehting, not sure what would prevent function of all bots

The header looks to me like an attempt to trick people into thinking it's an official Second Life site.

It's possible to track down people through their IP addresses back to their ISPs, and do something about them on that level. Once upon a time, ISPs were more serious about taking action when receiving a complain that someone on the ISP was using their account in an abusive manner. I don't know that ISPs are that cooperative anymore.

My partner and I got hit with a plethora of a particular spambot last night:

The object 'DiSSENT' has sent you a message from Second Life:
testGREETINGS, THIS IS DiSSENTi0N. WITNESS THE RAW POWER OF OUR NEW
SEKRIT WEAPON. ALSO, HERE IS COPYBOT:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=2YS97TVB

= DiSSENT is owned by (Name Deleted)

We both AR'd then muted the sender. However, the message was still showing up in our email boxes. (I had 3 more of the same this morning.)

My partner contacted a Linden, then went to the land the bot was originating from to see if he could AR the bot itself. When he got there the Linden he contacted and another Linden were there, so perhaps this is being handled.

....hopefully.

This morning when I logged on I received:

[2008/04/25 7:23] Second Life: Too many instant messages. Delivery capped.

I have never received this message before so I'm wondering if it was due to the spambot.