if you need a bump

Thank you for the clarification, Marydoll.

I have some knowledge of the internet, and if even I thought that you were linking hacking to the flood of spam posts on GN, then many of those who have no idea what goes on "under the bonnet" could think that GN has indeed been hacked, and be afraid for their own devices.

(They arrived at a rate of about one a minute - quite long enough in between, in fact, for them to have been individually posted by a real person typing really fast and cutting and pasting a lot of the text. Bots can be programmed to send messages much faster than that.)

In case anyone is worried - as far as we know, these spam posts are just an online version of the piles of unsolicited advertising that we move daily from behind our fronts doors and put straight into the recycling., and our real names and email addresses are safe. No-one will invade our security through the spam posts - unless we are daft enough to contact the posters direct and tell them private details.

A misunderstanding Elegran. I wasn't suggesting GN had been hacked, far from it, but trying to demonstrate that even companies with high levels of security like Dell, are having problems. It is not just GN. The Ministery of Defence was hacked the other day.
It's happening everywhere, whether it is bots flooding sites with SPAM or hacking. It is very concerning.

Note to self: Re and re-read before posting to avoid any confusion.

I hope your security hasn't been compromised, Marydoll but my point was that the flood of spam messages on Gransnet is NOT due to a hacker getting into internal site files illegally as you describe, but to some sales/marketing organisation (or individuals) using an automatic system that sends posts to the addresses on a list that they have acquired.

There is probably no-one actually controlling sending the posts BUT they may be monitoring the new threads they started to see whether they have caught any fish. That is why it is better to just report them WITHOUT adding any posts , which just confirms to them that it was successful in getting attention.

Bump other posts or not, as you please, to push the threads down the page, but remember that if they are unanswered they go down the page anyway, and answering just keeps them at the top.

Report and ignore.

From Dell: Dell Technologies takes the privacy and confidentiality of your information seriously. We are currently investigating an incident involving a Dell portal, which contains a database with limited types of customer information related to purchases from Dell.

It does go onto clarify what has been accessed.

Marydoll

We have just had an email to say that the Dell IT company database of customers has been hacked. DH and I, both have Dell PCs. If a hi tech company like Dell can be hacked, what chance has GN got!

Marydoll I don't think these are the result of hacking - that would interfere with the workings of the files that run the site, or harvest our real names and email addresses to send the rubbish direct to us all.

This is bulk marketing, like the piles of flyers that get put through the letterbox and go straight into the recycling bin. Anyone can join GN and immediately post something, even if they are not a real person but an artificial intelligence creation - a bot. That identity and email address can be banned, but it is very easy to set up another identity and get another email address.

Plus, lists of possible suckers sites which could be profitable to send marketing stuff to are sold to would-be millionaires who hope to make money without actually working for it. The lists are sold on and circulate for years. A few days ago, I had an unsolicited marketing call from someone who asked to speak to my husband, by name - he died twelve years ago!

I haven't joined in the bumping, but I've done my best this morning to add a comment to existing threads to push them up. Trouble is, the blighters keep coming. Anyway, I'm off out now for the day. Good luck!

It is a post to keep the thread from slipping down the list of recent posts. In this case it is probably to keep it high so as to push the spam threads down and out of the limelight.

what is 'bump' supposed to mean

I've just reported another - without giving the poster the pleasure of knowing it.

Thing is, Notagran, I don't think we have full-time moderation any more, even in daytime, and they rely on reports to show them problems.

I find all this beyond maddening. Sometimes ordinary threads are bumped up barely a minute after the previous post. What is the point.

Reporting keeps them on their toes. I think they divide their attention between GN and MN. Gransnet has less overall traffic than MN so they could be busy there, and so don't always take any action about a few sales/marketing posts.

If they get a lot of reports THEY are overloaded with rubbish, as well as the posters, so we get more priority. Yesterday I reported over 50 posts in one session - some had posts to say they been reported already but they were still there, with others it wasn't obvious, but I reported them anyway. They had all vanished the next time I looked.

In the past, night time SPAM posts were missed and often daytime ones stayed for hours.

However, I would hope that GNHQ are being more vigilant in the light of recent events and are monitoring.

Why do the threads need reporting anyway?

GNHQ know there is a problem, and shouldn’t need to be told each time surely if they are moderating properly 🤷🏼‍♀️ ?

We have just had an email to say that the Dell IT company database of customers has been hacked. DH and I, both have Dell PCs. If a hi tech company like Dell can be hacked, what chance has GN got!

OH, Bluebelle!! I am so used to being told off, especially on GN, I have become paranoid!! 🤣

I will try not to be so grumpy in future. .

Oops I meant it genuinely because I know you’re a very tech person no it was far from a telling off oh dear that wasn’t meant at all Marydoll I was hesitant to add my two penneth as I know you’re much more clever than me at tech stuff

I have reported a few over night too and done as you Calandergirl written reported so others know it’s been done and don’t replicate

Thank you Calendargirl.

I have reported 13 spam posts this morning, from about 6.30 onwards. Also posted ‘reported’ so others know it has been done. Probably duplicating the reporting, as others don’t say they have done it.

They have all gone now. I think reporting them and posting ‘reported’ is more effective than ‘bumping’. Does it matter if they push others down the ‘Active’ list? They soon get pushed down anyway.

‘Reporting’ is time consuming, but if none of us did it or let others know….

🤷‍♀️

Why greatest respect, Bluebelle, am I being told off? 😉
I'm finding the bumping extremely irritating too! If only one person says they have reported, no need for anyone else to do so, but at least we know they have been reported.
This morning at 6am. there were a number of SPAM threads and lots of bumping, which knocked active threads down the list.
I had no idea if those doing the bumping had reported them or not. Even if they had indicated that along with their bump, that they had reported, I wouldn't have needed to report.
Apoligies if I sound grumpy, I am!! .

Farzanah when you bump the thread goes to the top of the list ( suppose to) so the idea is to overload the spam posts and send them down the list into obscurity but let’s be honest it’s not working and is irritating
PLEASE just keep writing on valid threads, that’s surely the answer and will help them stay up with great respect to Marydoll I m finding dozens of bumping threads almost as annoying as the spam 🤣

Bumpety bump!

I have reported the latest three spells.
I shall continued to state reported, otherwise we do not know if they have been or not.

bump

Bump 🤣