… a spammer that posts in an old thread …
You're referring specifically to spam posts, yes Dan? I'm not sure what other moderators do, but I lay eyes on every post added to the forum. If there's clear evidence of spam, I'll see it.
We have spammers who impersonate students; we've had spammers who pretend to be tutors. In each of these cases, some do it quite well. Eventually, they all spam. Working with MarkFL, I'm trying to make the forum as spam-proof as possible. Over time, with Mark's coding experience and Ted's willingness to query the database for specific data from time to time, I plan to seek out every last one of them (impersonators or not).
By the way, even in the absence of clear spam evidence, I often have suspicions. (I've been watching spammers for almost a decade. I recognize many patterns, and I see patterns within patterns.) For a long time, I've been running every new member through a multi-step vetting process. I have access to dozens of anti-SPAM databases. I keep watch lists. I compare IP addresses, username forms, and timestamps among members. (You have seen the Wall of Shame thread!) I have a lot of other tricks up my sleeve, but I don't want to let all of the cats out of the bag.
Hunting spammers is one of my pastimes.
Goodbye
spammers!
\[\;\]
