Suspicious member name

Doug_Elliott · by **Doug_Elliott** » 2019-04-24 1:22 a.m.

Does anybody else think bennieemado is not a real member? Take a look at his 3 posts (April 22, 23, and 23)

They don't make much sense or are extremely generic.

I say watch out, I think he's trouble down the road.

Compare his username, email, and signature on the 2nd post:

bennieemado, <EMAIL email="jameshaffington916@gmail.com">jameshaffington916@gmail.com</EMAIL>, and Greg.

Topic "Any tips for transposing alto to bass clef? "

The title was changed to eliminate Re: so it looks like a new topic

His post is: Hi. Could anyone please help me to find a famous painting which has two focal points?

Topic: "FS Rath detachable gooseneck"

His post:

I like this

If you make these to sell let me know I would be interested in one

Greg

Topic: "Somebody please explain this vision problem..."

His post is: im looking solution for this problem too.. if anyone have something please let me know:

Doug_Elliott · by **Doug_Elliott** » 2019-04-24 10:41 a.m.

And today he posts this in "Summer 2018 Camps and events"

"The pole vault thread seems to be growing nicely, lets get the party started on high jumping. What camps are good for high jumping?

On the michigant&f email list David Mitchell suggests that UM has a nice camp for high jumping. Others?"

===========================================

I think this is another Russian bot that got through. Somebody who knows how, please check the origin of this member.

Matt_K · by **Matt_K** » 2019-04-24 10:54 a.m.

Probably a mechanical Turk. Trying to avoid the post approval limit but doesn't know how long it is until they get certain features etc. We had another one a few months ago. I banned them and haven't heard from them. Probably what we'll end up doing with this guy. I'm off to work but I can take a look at this when I get home. Another tactic is to make a post, let it rest for 2-3 months until we forget about it then he edits it and has a bunch of spam in it. It's crafty for sure. Good way to maniupate search results.

I'd say if he posts anything with a link before I handle it, just ban them. Otherwise, I'll probably do that when I get home.

BGuttman · by **BGuttman** » 2019-04-24 11:04 a.m.

He just posted another non sequitur in the Summer Festivals. I'm going to eliminate the post, but I don't know if I can ban him (but I'll try).

Matt_K · by **Matt_K** » 2019-04-24 12:03 p.m.

I'm running a long running script at work so I just went ahead and banned them.

Matt_K · by **Matt_K** » 2019-04-24 10:05 p.m.

Aha, it was a bot. It appears that it takes things other members have said in phpBB sites and then post them elsewhere. The one about the focal points is from here, word for word:

<LINK_TEXT text="https://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showth ... ?t=1414622">https://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1414622</LINK_TEXT>

Ulterior motive is as I mentioned where they later edit the post with spam.

Neo_Bri · by **Neo_Bri** » 2019-04-25 4:56 p.m.

Good catch.

BGuttman · by **BGuttman** » 2021-09-27 5:13 a.m.

New suspect: DominicaSanchez

Started a topic that sounded like a kid looking to "cheat" to gain trombone prowess (provoked interesting discussion,though). Then put a non sequitur on the Children Demonstration thread. Then posted a non-sequitur in her own topic.

Did a WHOIS on her and the country of origin is RU.

Watch for some bad posts now that the account has 3 approved posts.

Matt_K · by **Matt_K** » 2021-09-27 8:57 a.m.

The

can Ш use

definitely indicates that the person is using a Cyrillic keyboard. Indeed, when I swap mine out for Russian (bearing in mind my wife is Russian so I occasionally use that alphabet myself), the shift "I" gives me a Ш character.

It actually looks like it might be organic. But good catch and certainly keep an eye on them.

Doug_Elliott · by **Doug_Elliott** » 2021-09-27 9:59 a.m.

Especially posting links.

BGuttman · by **BGuttman** » 2021-09-27 11:07 a.m.

From her MuseScore profile:

I'm not typical latin-american girl from religious family. I love life, music and of course to make it! My specializing is woodwinds (trumpet, saxophone and trombone).

Trumpet and trombone as woodwinds? :shuffle:

BGuttman · by **BGuttman** » 2021-10-01 6:03 a.m.

Interesting guy here: Dsbones

He's looking for a DE LT 99 rim in pecan. When did you start making wood, Doug?

Note also that his avatar has been used a lot by spammers.

Keep an eye on him.

Matt_K · by **Matt_K** » 2021-10-01 7:00 a.m.

Probably autocorrected from lexan. I think that is a stock logo from a coding platform. His posts seem organic but I'll keep my eye out for him one way or the other.

BGuttman · by **BGuttman** » 2021-10-01 7:41 a.m.

I assume posts on this thread are not indictments, just suspicions. We can have lots of suspicious posts that turn out to be legit.

Matt_K · by **Matt_K** » 2021-10-01 8:51 a.m.

100%. I appreciate everyone keeping an eye out for people. Its better to be proactive than reactive.

BTW, anyone have thoughts about the obvious troll who asked how he can beat the other trombonists at school? I feel like we should ban them; I was hoping after the first thread they would just go away

Doug_Elliott · by **Doug_Elliott** » 2021-10-01 9:07 a.m.

I moved all of his topics to the Litter Box. I think he should be banned. But I'll let you do that.

Matt_K · by **Matt_K** » 2021-10-01 9:11 a.m.

Done. Didn't provide a reason to them but indicated "Obvious Troll" for us.

BGuttman · by **BGuttman** » 2021-10-06 6:11 a.m.

Dominicasanchez posted a piece in Performance that probably should be moved to Composition, but I don't really know enough to make the distinction. Very odd. The piece is violin and piano but she said she wanted to do violin and trombone. If it's the latter, the piano part doesn't translate too well to trombone. The violin part placed in proper tessitura would work on trombone, but I personally don't care for it.

BGuttman · by **BGuttman** » 2021-10-21 3:46 p.m.

NatashiiklCheet posted a request in Music Business (usually a bad sign) but the question had some validity. Moved to Comments and Suggestions. If NatashiiklCheet starts posting odd stuff, feel free to "off" it.

FWIW, the Whois scan shows Poland.

Matt_K · by **Matt_K** » 2021-10-21 4:01 p.m.

I'll eat my shorts if that isn't a bot but you're right, its borderline. We'll nuke em if they post nonsense.

BGuttman · by **BGuttman** » 2021-10-23 7:46 a.m.

It's a bot. Gay dating topic posted. Moved to Litter Box.

BGuttman · by **BGuttman** » 2021-11-11 5:47 a.m.

CodyPrice is from Austria. Posted an odd response to DakoJack's thread about a mouthpiece podcast. Possibly a 'bot. Keep an eye out.

BGuttman · by **BGuttman** » 2023-01-16 8:05 a.m.

Got a real odd post from a new member, who I suspect is an AI 'bot:

Is there a cork washer within the cork barrel? If so, is it possible to make it work as a house? I question since there is some play in the slide when I pull it to the first position and turn the slide lock. I work as furniture.

He's posted it in the "Cork Barrel" topic.

Note that the user, pdkw, shows with a San Francisco location (could be an alias) but the language doesn't look like an English speaker.

Anybody else, feel free to reject the post.

Matt_K · by **Matt_K** » 2023-01-16 8:38 a.m.

Hm ok I’ll take a look. Good chance that if I google that someone else has made an identical post in anothe rfprum

BGuttman · by **BGuttman** » 2023-01-18 1:34 p.m.

pdkw made another post that I approved and somebody flagged it as spam. New topic called "Is there any platform for earning money?" in Teaching and Learning.

Doug_Elliott · by **Doug_Elliott** » 2023-01-29 11:00 p.m.

I'm starting to wonder about Silverbee, based on the last topic started as the OP, "Question for those who use crutches."

Distinctly not trombone related, with a link in the post to a Canadian medical supply company, and the last sentence is not directed at this forum at all.

Previous posts have been vaguely trombone-related but maybe learned by a bot? Somebody should investigate.

BGuttman · by **BGuttman** » 2023-01-30 12:33 a.m.

I moved the thing to Litter Box after it was reported as spam.

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