Bot accounts

May 20th, 2009 (02:06 pm)

It's been an interesting day so far.

Now, this problem has been around for a while now, and still I from time to time see someone on my flist wondering about this.

Who are these strange people randomly adding me?!

Answer: Bots

Today alone, I have already got 9 friend requests. And it's only 2pm.

Now, it is very easy to report a bot. You can get right to the link when hovering over the icon before the username (or, use this link, provided by

kit84).

Here, I thought to compile a list of ways to recognize a bot (ones I've discovered; I could be wrong or miss something).

So, the most usual ways of spotting a bot:

The name makes no sense. It's just a jumbled mess of letters.

The journal is a plus account (they mostly are, for some reason).

The user doesn't mark their year of birth.

There are no userpics, or just one or two of them.

The user has no interests listed.

The user isn't part of any communities - although sometimes the default LJ comms.

There is no profile information, OR: if the profile is in English, run it through Google etc. search. Chances are it is copied from another user! [In those cases, I always report both the bot and the stolen userinfo].

There are no entries in the journal, or just a few. In some cases, I have seen many entries, but they are mostly or always in Russian, and from some you can clearly see they have been copied from somewhere else.

If you look at the user's friend list, you can possible see some of your mutual friends in there (I believe they go through flists or communities while adding).

A bot has no mutual friends.

Those were just off the top of my head. Feel free to add stuff in the comments, and I'll add them to the list ^^

Comments

Posted by: kit84 (

kit84)

Posted at: May 20th, 2009 12:45 pm (UTC)

These people drive me fricking mad. What's up with today? It's a hell of an influx o_O *sigh* and after they were silent for so long.

Anyway, suspected Bot report form (hover-over doesn't work on my set up for some reason): http://www.livejournal.com/abuse/bots.bml

And I tend to ban them too, as it hides them on my profile: http://www.livejournal.com/support/faqbrowse.bml?faqid=20&q=ban&lang=

*hopes that helps*

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Posted by: Del Rion (

del_rion)

Posted at: May 20th, 2009 01:01 pm (UTC)

Lol, I'm up to 11 this week XD Just got my 10th today, just some minutes ago ;)

Maybe they're pissed since I reported about... 40-50 of them since I found a list this idiot tkrhok posted (yeah, he/she friended me, and I spent a good part of an hour reporting them all XD) *shakes head* No idea if they are banned, or if they need douple-reporting or something...

Anyway, yeah, it's a way to pass time, isn't it? :P

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Posted by: kit84 (

kit84)

Posted at: May 20th, 2009 01:07 pm (UTC)

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Posted by: Del Rion (

del_rion)

Posted at: May 20th, 2009 01:35 pm (UTC)

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Posted by: kit84 (

kit84)

Posted at: May 20th, 2009 04:52 pm (UTC)

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Posted by: Debra (

gizzylove4ever)

Posted at: May 20th, 2009 01:27 pm (UTC)

Hi, I added you a couple days ago and just wanted to let you know I'm real and added you cause I love your fics. I'm a Jared/Colin freak btw and I live for 30stm. My name's Debra. Just thought I'd introduce myself and say thanks fr friending me back.

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Posted by: Del Rion (

del_rion)

Posted at: May 20th, 2009 01:37 pm (UTC)

No worries ^^ I did the standard check and could tell you were the real deal :) (after all, how many bots use Cols in their icon, especially a pic from Alexander? XD they don't have taste... nope...)

I always add people back after they've added me - I think it's polite. Of course, all my posts are unlocked, but still ^^ I hope you enjoy your time browsing around my site :)

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Posted by: kleemoon (

kleemoon)

Posted at: May 20th, 2009 02:15 pm (UTC)

Oh that tionown one has sig and kit on their flist.
I've only ever had like 4 of them - they mustn't like my name. XD

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Posted by: Del Rion (

del_rion)

Posted at: May 20th, 2009 02:32 pm (UTC)

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Posted by: Del Rion (

del_rion)

Posted at: May 20th, 2009 02:49 pm (UTC)

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Posted by: kit84 (

kit84)

Posted at: May 20th, 2009 04:58 pm (UTC)

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Posted by: Del Rion (

del_rion)

Posted at: May 20th, 2009 06:03 pm (UTC)

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Posted by: kit84 (

kit84)

Posted at: May 20th, 2009 04:55 pm (UTC)

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(Deleted comment)

Posted by: kit84 (

kit84)

Posted at: May 20th, 2009 04:48 pm (UTC)

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(Deleted comment)

Posted by: kit84 (

kit84)

Posted at: May 20th, 2009 05:21 pm (UTC)

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Posted by: Del Rion (

del_rion)

Posted at: May 20th, 2009 02:34 pm (UTC)

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Posted by: The path of excess leads to the tower of wisdom. (

seasidh)

Posted at: May 20th, 2009 05:06 pm (UTC)

Thankfully, no bot has added me today and the few cases lately have been single Russian or even American people that I have simply ignored. But it's seriously annoying that you get spammed with weird friends request. Sorry to hear you're getting bothered so much. I guess reporting them's the only way to do something XD

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Posted by: Del Rion (

del_rion)

Posted at: May 20th, 2009 06:07 pm (UTC)

I'm not bothered - more than naturally annoyed by this, of course. After all, instead of being "yay a new reader/friend, maybe, yes?", you just go "urgh, one of THEM again" :P

I know some people are more bothered by these bots than I am, and that saddens me. I have no personal info lying around this journal, but that isn't the case with everyone...

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Posted by: 20secondstomars (

20secondstomars)

Posted at: May 20th, 2009 05:40 pm (UTC)

I only had one of them. But this one added me THREE times (dammit!!). I wrote a mail that I cant add him/her if the year of birth isnt on the account and I even made a disclaimer on my "I'll add you back, I promise" statement because of that. A couple of days later the account was cancelled. I even bothered piximyr, asking if she knew this person (shame on me). She told me it was a bot. I didnt knew that I can ban them. Good to know.

Dont let them bother you, darling...
Sue

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Posted by: Del Rion (

del_rion)

Posted at: May 20th, 2009 06:09 pm (UTC)

LOL; nopes, it is good sport to be evil and go ban them, mwahahaha. So, I'm not upset ^^

But really, we're only seeing the surface of the problem. That there are thousands of these bots around LJ is kinda scary, you know? After all, they are there to fish info, not just to annoy us. *huffs*

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Posted by: 30 seconds to me (

tja_whatever)

Posted at: May 20th, 2009 07:28 pm (UTC)

Damn....9 spammers in just one morning?
I had my first yesterday *LOL*. I wondered why someone would send me a friendrequest since there is not a thing to read in my journal...but it was someone trying to tell me how to make a lot of money...pfff.
Hmm...when I think about it...my journal looks a lot like your description above haha...it's a miracle I'm not listed as a spammer already ;)

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Posted by: Del Rion (

del_rion)

Posted at: May 20th, 2009 07:46 pm (UTC)

Hmmm, I had one of those "make money" kinda bots; if you take a look, and google the posts, you'll find that those entries are copied from another website ;) So, once again, it is only a way to deceive us. They are so clever, those bots XD

LMAO, well, you better go add interests fast so that no one thinks you're a bot. Although mutual friends and comms help on that department a lot :P

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Posted by: mlady_rebecca (

mlady_rebecca)

Posted at: May 20th, 2009 09:56 pm (UTC)