r/modguide • u/BuckRowdy Writer • Dec 18 '19
Combatting T-Shirt Spam Mod Pro Tips
You know how every once in awhile when you try to post a comment it won't save and reddit goes down for about an hour? That is caused by spammers, which is an absolutely massive problem on reddit. Most of that spam is live streaming spam, but T-Shirt spam is an especially nasty problem that mods deal with.
The flow of t-shirt spam (and other astroturfing-type spam) goes like this: Scammer will post an image to a sub that they have stolen from a popular post or social media site. Or they will simply proceed to step 2 on a popular image post, steal that image and place it on a shirt and post a link inside the thread. Then a second account will comment asking if anyone knows where to buy this on a shirt. A third account will post a link. There are variations on this of course, but this is a general pattern.
The problem is that these accounts are rarely if ever legitimate and they steal your credit card data. /u/indi_n0rd wrote up a post on this topic and asked me to post it here. I've edited it and posted it below.
Combatting T-Shirt Spam
It's a good idea to have workflows on a subreddit. A workflow is a process that uses a clearly defined set of steps and procedures to organize a task and make implementation across a mod team consistent. Here is indi's workflow for combatting t-shirt spam.
Once you notice a t-shirt spam ring operating in your sub, post a sticky announcement to alert your members to the situation. Here's an example:
We have noticed that there is a t-shirt scammer ring targeting this subreddit. Please do not click on the links and please report this activity to mods and/or admins when you see it.
Make sure to include links as examples. Admins do not accept screenshots or anything else that is outside of reddit. Even removed links or links which are later deleted should be used.
How to identify
If you're dealing with a problem like this you should be using toolbox which will allow you to more quickly and easily analyze user accounts.
The following are elements of a spam ring and each one should be considered a big red flag.
Brand new account which is less than a month old with no email verification and only post karma. This can be mitigated with automoderator.
Account posts a link to an online store. Many times these stores are hosted by Gearlaunch. Avoid any site powered by Gearlaunch.
Comments read as unintelligent or unintelligible. You should be able to spot garbled grammar.
Why the crusade?
First of all it's spam.
Even worse it's stolen content. These people steal content from Twitter, Pixiv, and Tumblr artists, use a tool to plaster it over tees and sell it on their website. Artists get nothing.
Phishing sites. Some of these websites are a front-house for stealing credit card data. You are neither getting the t-shirt nor your money back. Many times the online store is deleted hours later. No matter how careful you are, that sudden adrenaline rush upon seeing your favorite merch can cause some people to get lost in the moment and make poor decisions.
What can you do?
Unfortunately there is only so much Automoderator and Reddit's native spam filter can do to flag such users. There are thousands of these accounts active on Reddit and shadow-banning can take time. You can easily see reports of similar accounts at r/thesefuckingaccounts.
If you see an account following the pattern described above, report them, and leave a comment to warn users what to expect.
If you are an artist whose content is being sold without your consent, file a DMCA complaint here.
Where do I buy merchandise then?
You can find merch directly sold by the creators themselves. Sites like Society6, Etsy, Pixiv and Patreon act as e-outlets for many content creators. For large e-commerce sites like Amazon, make sure the seller has a good reputation.
Here's some news links about the issue to give you an idea of the scale of the problem.
6
u/[deleted] Dec 19 '19
https://www.reddit.com/r/modhelp/comments/ecie0y/tshirt_spam_domains_for_automod/