Scam screen names?

[robcat2075]

Does this forum get lots of signups attempts for screen names with "88" ?

Another forum I help moderate gets about one a day like that.

88 can be "Heil Hitler" on the internet but it's also a highly "lucky" number in east Asian cultures.

They sign up but they almost never post, not even copy&paste spam.

So what is the scam? What are they getting for doing this?

[ArbanRubank]

Access to the membership roster?

[Bach5G]

The gov’t?

[hyperbolica]

Sometimes they use bots to probe the forum, and might be trying to insert malicious code that enables them to gain admin access, or download user email addresses. I've been running sites for a long time, and I've been hacked once or twice. It really doesn't matter if you think the prize has any value at all, sometimes you're just practice. Once they used my site to post a birthday wish for their girlfriend. I get daily attempts to access my site as admin.

[BGuttman]

I don't remember seeing any "88" names. Mostly I get a name and the first post is in Russian with a picture of a cement factory or an agricultural product. Also one with lists of pharmaceuticals (all probably counterfeit).

Thanks for the heads up. I was not aware of the significance of 88. Wonder if they would be using 88H? We do have somebody with 88H in his name.

[Peacemate]

Thanks for the heads up. I was not aware of the significance of 88. Wonder if they would be using 88H? We do have somebody with 88H in his name.

Honestly, on this forum I think we would be more likely to meet Conn lovers or 32 year olds than some Nazi. It's a pretty obscure reference/dogwhistle. I'd guess most of those kinds of people would keep it off this forum either way, and find more relevant (as bad as that sounds) places for those "discussions".

[BGuttman]

I doubt Vintage88H is being political. He's used that name back in the Trombone Forum days. He's a collector in Austria and sometimes I marvel at the esoteric models he's looking for.

[robcat2075]

Access to the membership roster?

That would be a reason to do it.

Although, in our case, only admins can see email addresses of members so they wouldn't get what they came for.

And there are so many of these names that I presume it's the same group doing it repeatedly, so they already know they won't get email addresses.

Wonder if they would be using 88H? We do have somebody with 88H in his name.

I had forgotten that 88H was also a trombone. The conspiracy goes deep!

Here's the ADL account of "88"

88 is a white supremacist numerical code for "Heil Hitler." H is the eighth letter of the alphabet, so 88 = HH = Heil Hitler. One of the most common white supremacist symbols, 88 is used throughout the entire white supremacist movement, not just neo-Nazis. One can find it as a tattoo or graphic symbol; as part of the name of a group, publication or website; or as part of a screenname or e-mail address...

It should be noted that 88 can be found in non-extremist contexts. The number is used by ham radio operators to mean "hugs" or "hugs and kisses." Also, a number of NASCAR drivers, including several very well-known ones, have used the number 88, resulting in various automobile stickers and other forms of merchandise sporting that number.

[greenbean]

Maybe they are planning something... like a TC insurrection!...

[greenbean]

Come to think of it, I used to own a 1971 Olds Delta 88... Uh-oh...

[BGuttman]

Come to think of it, I used to own a 1971 Olds Delta 88... Uh-oh...

My father had two of them: 1965 and 1973 (in succession). I drove that 65 in New York City traffic (with my heart in my mouth). Enough reminiscing.

I'll keep an eye out for racist Conn trombone players.

[hyperbolica]

Although, in our case, only admins can see email addresses of members so they wouldn't get what they came for

That's not true. If you go to a member's profile and select "Send Email to member", it uses your email application and puts the member's email in the To: field.

Plus, if you hover over the "send email to member" link, the shortcut which includes the email address shows up at the bottom of your browser.

So they can definitely mine for emails.

[robcat2075]

Although, in our case, only admins can see email addresses of members so they wouldn't get what they came for

That's not true. If you go to a member's profile and select "Send Email to member", it uses your email application and puts the member's email in the To: field. So they can definitely mine for emails.

Ah... modifier trouble!

By "our" I meant the other forum I am associated with. On that one, if you send a member forum PM, the forum sends them an email alerting them to the PM (if they have opted for those alerts), but you don't get to see their email directly.

[BGuttman]

Note:

You cannot see e-mails unless you have two approved posts. Nor can you send or receive e-mail or personal messages.

Keeps me busy, but I appreciate the security.

[stewbones43]

Come to think of it, I used to own a 1971 Olds Delta 88... Uh-oh...

I'll keep an eye out for racist Conn trombone players.

Are we allowed to mention the colour of the bell, or the tuning slide or the outer slides?

Cheers

Stewbones43

[Doubler]

https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffnt&q=what%2 ... +88&ia=web



Or maybe the Conn 88H is a hell of a trombone.

[robcat2075]

Here's an example of a recent run of "88" names.

It's got to be the same person doing it, just incrementing the number on the end of the name. When they post a profile pic it's a gambling theme so that suggests the lucky number aspect at work.

But i'm still unsure what they get out of it.

88s.jpg

[Posaunus]

I'm sure that General Motors never had any hesitation about the number "88."
For many years (1949 until 1999), the Oldsmobile 88 was their bread-and-butter model:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldsmobile_88
There was also the Olds 98 - their full-size "flagship" marque:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldsmobile_98

It's a bit dangerous to insist on associating a particular name, number, or symbol with any organization, evil or benign. There are too many choices out there. Even the swastika had a long and proud pre-Nazi history:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swastika

[Doubler]

Here's an example of a recent run of "88" names.

It's got to be the same person doing it, just incrementing the number on the end of the name. When they post a profile pic it's a gambling theme so that suggests the lucky number aspect at work.

But i'm still unsure what they get out of it.

88s.jpg

Definitely something wierd going on, and it doesn't look legit.

[robcat2075]

I think I've figured it out.

They never post in the forum but they could put spam links and advertising in their member profiles.
Who will look at their profile? No one from the forum, but it is a way to camouflage a link to spam.

Social media like Facebook won't let you include a link to known problem sites in a post or PM but a link to a member profile on Steve's Heating and Air Conditioning Discussion Forum will probably go through.

"88" and "eight" seem to be essential to their purpose so i added a filter that prevents anyone from signing up with those in their screen names and that has stopped the new arrivals, for now.

[BGuttman]

They may indeed try to post on the Forum, but most of us Mods will reject the bogus posts although we don't delete their accounts (maybe we should).

[BrianJohnston]

Here's an example of a recent run of "88" names.

It's got to be the same person doing it, just incrementing the number on the end of the name. When they post a profile pic it's a gambling theme so that suggests the lucky number aspect at work.

But i'm still unsure what they get out of it.

88s.jpg

88keys might be a regular account since there are 88 keys on a piano! The other names look like scammers though.

[robcat2075]

88keys might be a regular account since there are 88 keys on a piano! The other names look like scammers though.

Right. The filters won't boot already-registered names, those have to be judged individually, but it does stop new ones that fit the pattern. Someone who wants to join our computer animation software forum will quickly choose a different name when an "88" name isn't accepted.

They may indeed try to post on the Forum, but most of us Mods will reject the bogus posts although we don't delete their accounts (maybe we should).

What they used to do (on our software forum) was copy and paste a long-past post by an existing forum member. It would give the appearance of a genuine, on-topic post in competent English, much better than a generic "This is very good topic. I wonder often. Very thank for posting" sort of thing.

Then they would come back later and edit their post to be an ad for something like an escort agency in Hanoi or Bangkok. The regular forum users would not notice it because merely editing the post didn't bring it to the top of any activity list, but that old post could be linked to in social media that wouldn't normally allow the content.

I noticed when a new member asked a question that made me think, "wow, that is an extremely specific question for a new user. I've been using this software for 20 years and I've only encountered that once..."

They had copied a post I made 10 years ago!

[BGuttman]

Thanks for the heads up. Fortunately, many of our readers will bring such stuff (like odd edited posts) to our attention (I hope you are one of them!).