Report Suspected Bot

[foxgrrl]

Have you ever been friended by a user, with a newly created account, and a zillion friends, but no mutual friends, and either 0 or 5 posts, mostly of photos, with a bio in Russian, and most of the posts in Russian, and two tags, and one (random) userpic?

Yeah, it's a bot.

Report Suspected Bot
http://www.livejournal.com/abuse/bots.bml

Comments

[mayamaia.livejournal.com]

What would the purpose of said bot be?

[anaisdjuna.livejournal.com]

I have long wondered this....

These bots have friended me. They should come over and clean my house. We'd be much better friends.

[kitten-goddess.livejournal.com]

Would that also explain the random people who friend me who have:

* a zillion friends

* write incoherently

* no friends in common with me

* and I've never met?

[theflamecrow.livejournal.com]

Yes

[hummingwolf.livejournal.com]

If they have a bunch of friends-locked posts which eventually tell this story and their only other posts are spamvertisements for losing inches or working from home, they're definitely bots. They also probably stole every element of their profile page from someone else, which makes for some amusing combinations.

[theflamecrow.livejournal.com]

I've had a few lately. It's weird... Are they getting worse now?

No Russian, but just obvious bots.

[ff00ff.livejournal.com]

No! The Russians love me, you're lying ... You're a bot! *runs away crying*

[darkmane.livejournal.com]

SO, it isn't an extremely sad Russian girl with no friends who wants to post nude pictures?

*sigh*

Seriously though, I remember a researcher in computer security who ended up having a 3 month friendship with a bot before realizing that it was a bot. This guy just thought the language oddities were because of Russian to English translation. Eventually he noticed a pattern of ignoring specific questions or giving bizarre unrelated responses.

He figured that had he ever expressed an interest in meeting the girl the bot would have passed him to a real conman who would get as much money as possible from the guy.

[anaisdjuna.livejournal.com]

HA HA HA :-)

[heinousbitca.livejournal.com]

i get three a week, minimum.

i'm not sure why. it creeps me out a little, though, given that most people i know don't get them.

[kitten-goddess.livejournal.com]

Thanks, foxgrrl. I just banned and reported a bot named rositablogsharp. "She" had 32 posts on "her" LJ and they were all in Russian. I don't speak a word of Russian, so that was a big clue right there. That explains the occasional Russian who friends me, since all my LJ entries are only in English.

None of the people on the bot's large friends list was anyone I knew, so that was a big clue right there.

[prickvixen.livejournal.com]

I've been friended by new users who have no friends and who have friended no one but me...

[nikonraccoon.livejournal.com]

I always wondered about the random Russian journal that added me. Never added any of them back. Actually, just got hit by one again recently.