#spam warning

[kitsunesflames]

Why is #danny phantom and #dc x dp being spammed and flooded with what I am assuming to be fake job postings?

[chic-a-gigot]

Attention Followers

June month-in-review is commencing in 15 minutes. Around 300 plates will be posted for the next 9+ hours.

You have been warned.

[humanmaybe]

Check your followers, I just got hit by 50+ spam bot accounts

Literally had to go thru and report and block every single one 💀 I was shocked bc out of nowhere my account jumped waaay up and I haven’t gotten anything in my activity saying that many people followed me at once. Sure enough, it’s yet another tumblr bot spam problem. PSA I guess

[bluegumballmf]

Hi guys its me alvin from Alvin and the chipmunks

[adainesfroggieboggy]

ok so get ready for a whole slew of posts from me!

a bunch of d20 fics are being posted today, so the links will also be posted here! i’m also going to make a new criminal minds masterlist, so! watch out for that.

i might also make a cm sideblog today so. today is productive day!

[valewright67]

Hey, warning to any other AO3 authors out there.

I've gotten a bunch of comments from a Generic White Woman Named person, the links are all spam and lead to a porn site.

Just FYI, play it safe yall.

[triassictriserratops]

WARNING IF YOU GET THIS IN YOUR INBOX, DO NOT RESPOND OR INTERACT.

I got an ask from someone and it gave me a weird vibe so I searched the account, they send this message to a lot of blogs and follow up by asking people to join a discord.

Block, do not interact.

[acourtofquestions]

Officially starting Chapter 65 of Empire of Storms!

… I have a little less than 100 pages left in the book… I’ve got bonus chapter/chapters for after (to hopefully give me some consolation) and Tower of Dawn at the ready (actually looking forward to it quite a bit)!..

I may have cried wolf before but I’m prepared this time (got my books, got 20 days worth on renewals, got my dog who has been informed to follow in its ancestors footsteps & comfort me like Fleetfoot😂, All Too Well TS tissues at the ready to bawl my eyes out, my favorite kind of tea (okay so I guess that one’s just thanks to Kroger re-stocking), blankets and warm lighting, a whole day off from work (the first and only for a hot minute & the following days to come), and introvert time to read my book in peace… or distress… idk😅) and as much as I love these books and never want them to end, it’s been months and it’s time to know what happens and enjoy every second of it… hopefully😅😅 re-reads may be kinder 2nd time around😂🤣 so — ITS TIME — we shall see how much reading gets done today between the emotions of whatever the heck is about to happen, but EoS ending shall be occurring in T-Minus sometime in the next 12 hours. Probable spam to follow? We’ll see 😅😅😂🖤😁

[majjiktricks]

i got another donation post ask from an account called furrbum

i couldnt find the two images used in the above post on any reverse image searches, but the oldest post on the blog is a reblog from about an hour go. this is why im assuming this is a bot/spam post.

just letting yall know. always be wary of any asks or dms you get asking for donations.

[jayfeefle]

currently rewatching board AF legacy. warning; i am about to spam the page :/

[walks-the-ages]

[[ID: A cropped screenshot of the tumblr inbox, showing an ask from user @bugsbunnyanddaffyduck saying: "OOC: can i ask for help please? I'm isolated in my home because of the latest COVID variant and medications for pre-existing disabilities had already distorted my physical body." End ID]

Spam Warning!

there's zero posts on this blog

this blog has no 'liked' content

this tumblr is following 20 blogs total, none of which are me or any of the people they've sent messages to

you can't actually @ the blog properly (it comes up with another empty blog whos URL is @/ bugsbunnyanddaffyduck--blog)

when I search tumblr for this user?

[ID: A cropped screenshot of tumblr search results showing four blogs with their urls blacked out, two of them with visible messages from the user in question while the other two are tagging the user and asking for more information. end ID]

From November 2022 (aka two months ago as of me making this post) this account has sent 4 messages to random people they do not follow, All along the lines of asking for this unspecified "help", with no details and literally nothing on their blog to show they even exist.

Anyways, I typed out all of the above ^^^ last night, reached out to a few people that had been messaged, and saved this as a draft before heading to bed.

It's now the next day and one of the users messaged me back to confirm not only is it spam, it's even worse! It's some kind of gross fetish thing, too. If you respond to them or message them directly that's when I assume they start doing gross shit.

SO! Everyone, please block and report this user for spam, and do not respond to any of their asks, if you receive them! Block both Bugsbunnyanddaffyduck and Bugsbunnyanddaffyduck--blog to be safe.

If they come into your inbox, click on their profile photo and open in a new tab to report them for spam there and black them, before clicking back to your inbox in the other tab and using the three dot menu to report the message itself for spam.

Once that's done it will hide the message from your inbox, on Desktop you can 'delete all messages' to get rid of any hidden messages you've reported for Spam or abuse-- "ghost messages" as I like to call them, the way they haunt your inbox otherwise. You might have to click on the 'delete all messages' once or twice for it to take effect, but it helped me clear out a lot of spam ghost messages from mobile notifications.

here's the links to the two blogs to block and report them: --blog and asker

[chirpycreations]

What the heck is happening with Deviant Art tonight?

I think I logged on to an ADVERTISING platform. Like... even the NSFW-not-tagged can keep up tonight, which is rather incredible considering that's what I normally need my eye bleach for.

[delirious-dove]

just a heads up, there's spam going around on ao3 right now. if you get a comment from a generic name that's just short gibberish and a link, delete it. i've never reported anything like this on ao3 before so idk how that process works but maybe flag it as well

i stg nothing chafes like thinking you've got a comment but no, it's malware :(

[bluegumballmf]

some needleswap content since I literally just remembered I have tumblr

[solabees]

apparently my ex (ow) deleted tumblr so I can say and post whatever I want now I guess? not that I couldn't earlier I was just like, idk timing it so in case he saw anything it lined up with how I was feeling

Anyway spam incoming

[vivarocksteady]

Another hint is that the unregistered guest is using the name of a REAL AO3 user. You can just search the name and see if they’re registered on the site.

Though none of the spam comments I’ve received so far have a link or entreaty or phishing attempt. I’m curious what the point is? I suspect the bot is learning what kind of comments are stealthier and get by our radar. Some of them are pretty convincing, if what they’re saying happens to be relevant to your fic. 

what to do with spam comments on AO3

First, let's identify the comment as spam. Some things to look for:

The comment is left by a guest user. You can tell they are a guest because the username isn't a link. In most site skins, links are indicated by text that is underlined.

The comment is trying to get you to do something - visit a webpage, sign up for a service, join a discord server.

The comment doesn't make any sense for the work that it's on.

Here's a comment I've received. The username is a keysmash and I can tell they're a guest because the name doesn't link back to an AO3 user profile page. The comment is formatted more like an email, and it asks me to join a discord server. Also, the comment references that I'm writing for Marvel and while this is true, it's specifically Agents of SHIELD and not a crossover with other Marvel franchises so from the first sentence, I was already suspicious.

If you receive a spam comment like this one, all you need to do is hit the button marked Spam. This button appears in your fic comments, but you won't see it in your AO3 inbox. If you're in your inbox, you can go directly to the comment on your fic by clicking on the fic title (see below).

Selecting the Spam button reports the comment as spam to AO3's spam detection system and removes the comment from your work. It also teaches that system that comments like this one are spam and should not be posted on works.

You can also simply delete the comment, if you prefer. These comments aren't anything that you need to worry about, although I advise you not to actually follow any links or visit any sites that they might direct you to.

There is no need to write in to Support or the Policy & Abuse team, either. They are aware that spam bots exist, and they do what they can to train the system to spot them.

You can avoid receiving spam guest comments by editing the Privacy settings on your works to only allow comments from registered users. That means only people who are logged into their AO3 account will be able to comment.