Aren’t spammers subtle?

Not having managed a blog with such a public profile before, I’m intrigued by the behaviour of those wanting to spam the comments field.

The blog is set up so that individuals from within the group can post using their Oxford credentials. Others can post comments, but the first time they comment, the comment must be moderated.

Some try posting their adverts for herbal remedies right away. Those are easy to spot and throw away.

There are several, though, who have posted comments like “I like this blog. You make good points.” I assume that the aim of these is that they are likely to get approved by a semi-vigilant moderator because then the commenter becomes a trusted poster.  Presumably, the advertising spam would follow thereafter.

I remark on this

  • (a) because other members of the group may moderate comments, and should be on the lookout for this ‘trojan’ behaviour;
  • (b) because it points to a greater degree of tenacity on the part of the spammers than I would have realised existed;
  • (c) because it seems a particularly hard problem to solve, CAPTCHAs notwithstanding.