I don't know if this topic has been raised before, but almost every morning when I sign into the forum, I see avatars in the Users Online box that have zero posts and are actually using the forum to advertise their businesses or services in their Profile.
My question is, how are they able to breach the software to get signed up? Is it that automatic to sign up that anybody, model railroader or not, can simply register and post their profile?
Just wondering.
Rich
Alton Junction
Interesting. I've been on here for seveal years and have not noticed that.
Roger Hensley= ECI Railroad - http://madisonrails.railfan.net/eci/eci_new.html == Railroads of Madison County - http://madisonrails.railfan.net/ =
There is one up there right now, a Marion H Ross advertising cryptocurrency.
richhotrain I see avatars in the Users Online box that have zero posts and are actually using the forum to advertise their businesses or services in their Profile.
.
I rarely have more than one or two in the "Users Online" box, and have never seen what you have described.
Could you post a screen shot of what you are seeing?
richhotrainThere is one up there right now, a Marion H Ross advertising cryptocurrency.
All I see right now are Mobilman44 and my SGRR herald. I don't even see you, and obviously you are online right now. Interesting.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
ahh, maybe they are preying on me. Stalkers!!!
When you say advertise, do you have to click on their profile to see that?
I too only see one or two users. Sometimes I see myself as being online, sometimes not. I often leave the forum window open while doing other things, as I did after I made this post. I disappeared from Users Online until I clicked see all.
Often I see a couple of women, who work for Garden Railways or Classic Trains online frequently. They never post in this form.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
I haven't really noticed it, but then I never click on the Users Online anyway.
Maybe these are folks using a business account just to drop in and see what's happening on the forum. I understand we have lots of lurkers who never post.
Paul
There have been a number of "fake" members registering in the past, but it usually takes only a short while for the Kalmbach people to delete them. Nothing to worry about, just don´t click on their profiles.
Happy times!
Ulrich (aka The Tin Man)
"You´re never too old for a happy childhood!"
Unlike posting, registering on the Forums is an automatic, unmonitored process. So someone who never posts, and only posts advertising material in their profile, flies below the radar. I will occasionally seek these characters by searching the Forum for keywords they tend to use, but this is a time-consuming process. And since I don't have the ability to delete a user account, all I can do is forward these usernames up the chain to the IT department, who we would usually rather have working on more productive tasks (like keeping the Forum itself running). So as long as they don't cause any harm, disregard them.
--Steven Otte, Model Railroader senior associate editorsotte@kalmbach.com
if you have an emal address, you get validated ....
three email addresses?? three user ids !!
-almost- all users don't spam, and it's pretty easy to recognize ..
bottom line ... ignore the advertising , it's really not that bad, lol
Yeah, I've seen them. They're not fake, they're actually people behind them. Some of them I've actually clicked on and their profile was either an investment firm or a site to meet girls. I was really surprised to see the admins allow this registration.
My concern for these "non-model railroaders" would be are they here in an attempt to hack the site and gain personal information from it's registered members? Get into members profiles and get emails to send spam? Some forum members unwittingly expose themselves by providing to much information.
Terry
Inspired by Addiction
See more on my YouTube Channel
PennCentral99Some of them I've actually clicked on and their profile was either an investment firm or a site to meet girls.
It's hard to know who would be more disappointed by the selection of potential customers offered by this Forum: investment advisors or the girls.
Dave Nelson
dknelson Dave Nelson
Yeah, probably doesn't take them long to figure out that our disposable income goes to model railroading
PennCentral99 Get into members profiles and get emails to send spam?
Sure glad I don't get any spam, hold on Microsoft is calling something about my computer causing problems for the Internet.
Let them ramble on just a bit, then say "how can that be, I don't have a computer".
RR_MelMy longest is 6½ minutes before they figured it out.
6-1/2 minutes? Not even close. I had one on for about 1/2 hour.
They wanted me to go to a website. I kept telling them that the computer kept telling me "site not found". They gave me another website and I told them the same thing. So they escalated that to their supervisor. Went through the same thing again. They finally wanted me to hit the microsoft flag key (between the Ctrl and Alt keys) on the keyboard. I told them I didn't have one of those.
Next time they call I plan to tell them that the FBI hasn't returned my computer yet.
I don't get many calls from telemarketers or Nigerian princes, but I do get the occasional pop-up ad (as it were) for v1agra or c1alis.
Robert
LINK to SNSR Blog
My son, who was 12 at the time, had one phone sales rep call him back 3 days in a row each time he was on the phone for about an hour or so. Finally the rep asked if he was gonna buy or not. He told the rep "I cant cause I am only 12." The rep never called back. This thread is a good reminder why I dont give out personal info on line.
Aw, shucks - you guys get all the fun and I don´t get any!
Speaking of these fake accounts, I see one right now called "outlookservice."
This is the first time I have seen/recognized one of these fake accounts. Hmmmm...
I'm beginning to realize that Windows 10 and sound decoders have a lot in common. There are so many things you have to change in order to get them to work the way you want.
I almost want to burst out laughing!
I have never seen any of these face accounts until I got to the bottom of this thread. Waiting for me in the Users Online box is “outlookservice”. I click on his profile and read all about “Dave Heller” the “Senior Technician“ at “the domain email coustomer care.com” whatever that is!
This honestly really annoys me! There are a number of link which I definitely WOULD NOT click if I want my computer to remain virus free!
Thank you very much to the OP for bringing this up, it is very important forum members are aware of this so they are not tricked my some non modeler!
By the way has anyone seen what the comedian James Veitch does to scammers... very entertaining!
Now I have to decide how to mess with this “outlookservice” fellow...
Regards, Isaac
I model my railroad and you model yours! I model my way and you model yours!
I see outlookservice and John Robertson right now. Both look like 30 something business type photo avatars, which is why I noticed the Kalmbach employees. Seems like a low probabitlity way to solicit business, as most of us have no profile.
John boy claims to he a HP printer rep, willing to help solve your printer problems. Does his job description really include finding forums to join to help people with HP printers? I'll he will offer to sell you something that you will never receive.
He also didn't learn his English in the US: "Whenever you encounter any issue related to HP printer whether it’s a major or minor one, you can make contact with me and we both will resolve Printer Not Printing like queries within a pinch of time. It does not matter if you have engaged in the new and old version of HP Printer."
Americans don't engage their printers. We can be pinched for time, but to get it done quick, we do it in a New York minute.