How do we get back at Dh Travel for his spam attack?

What if we all emailed them with stange travel enquiries, like "I would like to book a mercedes stretch limo for a 6 day road trip from Hanoi to HCM City. Price is no object but the vehicle must be colored pink with very dark tinted windows. Could you please send a quote ASAP...Kind Regards, Elvis"

Let's all fill his inbox with more spam than a Red Cross soup kitchen.

Yahooo! dhtravel sets new world record for spamming the Fodor's board! Does it occur to anyone that Kathie may have indadvertantly started this avalanche off? lol lol lol.

I've also uncovered a little bit of unconscious sexism hidden deep in my heart. All along, I've been assuming the spammer was a SHE, not a HE.

Tell us everything dh...

This is very irritating, I just logged on and 49 of the top 50 threads are from advertisers, dhtravel and trekkinguide. The only two legitimate posts are this one and the one I just started complaining about the situation (before I saw this thread).

seriously...ENOUGH with the spam. fodors, please start taking more precautions. as others have mentioned, it's not THAT difficult to start installing some more validation/security filters that will prevent these types from taking over the forum.

and, yes, it HAS gotten much worse than it's ever been.

Why cant they just block this user and stop them from signing up again from the same URL. They have done it to others for small misdemeanours before.

Or allow some of the more level headed posters to have authority to remove this cr@p on nights and weekends...?

(and yes, I know I wouldn't qualify!)

I agree give a few "level headed posters", not me of course I loose my cool when KW and VB are around, the right to at least FREEZE the user/poster from anymore usage and the editor can take a look at the "suspension" when they start working again. The editor does not even have to declare who they have given this trust to and when the suspected poster try to post something a message "your account is under review" will appear.

Simple!

I agree, there should be more oversight to eliminate the spam more quickly. Do I qualify as level-headed? Bob?

No. Neither of you qualify. Dogster is the only level-headed one here. That is obvious. Pfft!

I think that <b>shanek</b> has an interesting idea (see about 9 posts before this one, at 12.35am eastern US time, 9.35pm pacific, 6.35am CET).

Suppose several people respond to the ad, not necessarily with ridiculous request but with seemingly legitimate, but perhaps complex, requests. Responding to those inquiries might well take some idle time off the spammers' hands.

Wow, these guys must never do any real work - dhtravel has started spamming the Travel Tips board now!

I was just thinking that I've only seen spam on the Asia board but never on the Europe or US boards. I wonder why?

There's some on the Africa/Middle East board too, in the sense of self-advertising, but not a whole spate from one poster.

I had another idea for the spam problem:

change the flag button /!\ that users press to report spam or obnoxious postings. Once 10 or 12 different fodorites push it, the post is automatically hidden till the editors can review and either delete or reinstate it.

Lcuy-- I am very sorry if somehow you were referenced in a post.

We have been working on the exact thing that you mention in your last post lcuy; I will check on its status. The offensive post icon isn't used that often; I sometimes get emails into other accounts instead ([email protected] or [email protected] for instance). I think we need to make it more noticeable.

I apologize again for the rash of postings this morning. It was definitely an oversight on our part and I apologize for the disruption.

The other suggestions regarding adding more moderation are all good ones--I appreciate the feedback.