Repurpose Spam/spambot accounts

[VirusZero]

So I'm sure that every admin, at some point or another, has had accounts registered by a spambot. (Random names with equally random email addresses.)

Have you ever considered repurposing those accounts (after you've verified that the account is in fact a spammer or spambot of course) by maybe renaming or altering their name (so they aren't confused with other spambots of the same name and thus doesn't confuse any potential people trying to search to see if that is a legitimate user or spambot if they register on their site) and their other details (so the spammer/spambot can't log in later) then using it to post on site like if it were actually a new member?

Would you ever do this? Why or why not?

How would you feel if you were on a site that did this? (Would you care?)

 

[pandaa]

Maybe I'm a little lost, but why would you do this? It seems like it would be more work than creating users from the ACP. I've never been a fan of creating fake users anyway, I think they're hard to maintain.

 

[VirusZero]

One point for doing this is that someone (or a bot) has already taken the time to register (picked a name so you don't have to, since choosing names is hard), but instead of just either deleting that account or disabling and letting it sit there (depending on what you'd do with it normally) you'd put it to use to help generate some activity.
This way it looks like a new and legitimate member has joined and is posting. So you don't have to go and create fake accounts, but can just turn spam/bot accounts into something more useful (that doesn't look like you created it).

It is just a slightly different version of fake accounts (along the mindset of: you didn't create the account, but now that it exists... why not use it?)

 

[AndroidOS]

Personally I would not do this. I do not appreciate fake accounts as I see it as cheating. One of the reasons I love forums is because of the communities within them, and using fake accounts ruins this in my opinion.

Also, I agree with pandaa; if I was going to do this I think making an account via the ACP would be easier anyway.

 

[Ashley]

Personally I would not do this. I do not appreciate fake accounts as I see it as cheating. One of the reasons I love forums is because of the communities within them, and using fake accounts ruins this in my opinion.

Also, I agree with pandaa; if I was going to do this I think making an account via the ACP would be easier anyway.

I wouldn't do this either, for the same reasons as AndroidOS and Pandaa. I used to do fake accounts when I first started out to try and generate some activity, but it was hard to post without incriminating myself first...trying to make up fake interests and whatever, and it got even harder once I started getting real members conversing with the fake accounts. It just didn't feel right to me and it still doesn't. I'm against fake accounts these days anyway, as when you go to promote your site/forum, you really aren't giving honest facts.

 

[pandaa]

One point for doing this is that someone (or a bot) has already taken the time to register (picked a name so you don't have to, since choosing names is hard), but instead of just either deleting that account or disabling and letting it sit there (depending on what you'd do with it normally) you'd put it to use to help generate some activity.
This way it looks like a new and legitimate member has joined and is posting. So you don't have to go and create fake accounts, but can just turn spam/bot accounts into something more useful (that doesn't look like you created it).

It is just a slightly different version of fake accounts (along the mindset of: you didn't create the account, but now that it exists... why not use it?)

Well, for one, most spambots pick names like djkbgsdjkbgf, so a rename would already be necessary. And by the time you would take to change the password and email, you could already have made an account. So I don't think it would be any easier, personally.

If I really needed posts that badly, I'd get a posting package. 😀

 

[VirusZero]

Not all bots pick terrible names. (Sure there are some obvious ones like "dsfdsfdsf", but other ones like: "SongBook" or "stebriery" aren't so bad. It would largely depend on the spammer/bot account in question.)

And if an admin is desperate enough for posts/activity and looking for methods any sort of fake account idea might start to sound good. (Something to at least look like it's not just one person always posting. Because they may very well be using post exchanges or post packages but don't find those help to generate enough activity.)



For my own stance though, I'm not a fan of fake accounts mostly because they foster distrust with members. They get posting with a fake account and think it's a real other person they're talking to and they get angry when they discover it's a fake and they've essentially been lied to that entire time. Thus making them less likely to stick around and be a part of a site.

(I don't think it negatively affects the post count since any posts made under a fake account could likely just as easily been made under normal name so it's not like posting under a fake account for that reason is bad. Though if you registered the account yourself to use specifically as a fake account then, yes, it does misrepresent the number of accounts on your site. And I could see how that could be an issue.)

Though I agree that post packages (or post exchanges) are probably better solutions. (Even if a post exchanger doesn't actually come through with their end, but only registers... that's still at least a legitimate member and they may yet return and post.)