Afternoon.
We are currently mopping up after close on 100 (and that's just the last count) spammers posted all over our boards last night and this morning.
Thank you for all your reports. We hope you'll understand that we're not going to reply to them. Please take it as read that we're really grateful.
IMPORTANT: we think we have tabs on pretty much all of the spammers now, so (even if we haven't deleted them all yet) so there is no need to report any more. In fact, any more reports and our system might keel over!
Once we can see the wood for the trees, we'll post again and ask you to report any remaining spam posts we might have missed.
Please bear with us. We are getting there.
Any Qs, do post em here and we'll do our best to answer you.
MNHQ have commented on this thread
Site stuff
The official what's happening about the spammers thread. MNHQ will only post on this one for the time being (sorry, not being hoity; it's just to save time)
HelenMumsnet · 03/03/2013 15:11
million There are lots of forums where the moderators aren't on the ball.
If they can get even 10% of their posts up on the internet permanently and people click on them, it can generate revenue for the commissioning website.
Also, Google picks up the links to the spam posts and increases the number of hits on them through searches.
The posts could all be from the same person or a small group. It is quite possible to write software that is "press a button and spam". It's a simple process of keystroke logging, and all the spammer has to do is record the sequence and then replicate it again and again, anywhere and everywhere.
In some cases last night there were 20+ posts from the same username posted in the same minute. They were coming faster than it was humanly possible to post. Meanwhile the spammer was posting on other forums at almost the same time!
One problem for MNHQ is that sometimes these peope have built up a "bank" of usernames weeks before the attacks, and suddenly they unleash them. Doing things like banning new registrations doesn't help in that case - a bit like shutting the door on the Augean stables (great allegory, Greenhill - take a gold star 
) after the horse has bolted.
Likewise there is no point in doing as some MNetters suggested - emailing them back. The email addresses are fake or dead letter boxes.
As Clay says, lots of malware hiding there as well - and other nasty stuff. Never click on a spam link, even out of curiosity.
Pan I am still expecting the $1.6m lottery win I was promised at least 3 years ago. I will complain furiously before long. 
million The revenue comes two ways. When you click on the link you are drawn into a site where they sell stuff legitimately, legal or illegal, nice or nasty.
Otherwise you get stuff like pop-ups where your PC screen suddenly goes blank and you are told that you have a fatal computer error, and only by clicking on it can you retrieve the situation. It looks legit but within moments you are asked for your credit card details to resolve the problem ... or they retrieve your personal information ... or they hack your passwords ... or they hack your emails. The list is endless.
The internet is a very unsafe place. The best advice is to have strong passwords (Google it for yourself - don't trust a link from me ) and change them regularly, especially for email accounts. Also, never ever use the same password for internet banking and finances as you do for anything else.
And once again, never click on a link that may not be trustworthy, never open a link sent to you by email unless you trust the sender and it is in character for them - someone you know who is a quiet homebird with a Hotmail account is not going to send links about Viagra!
Delete the post and tell them that their account has been hacked and they need to change the passwrod.
Enough already. Time for gin!
Don’t want to miss threads like this?
Weekly
Sign up to our weekly round up and get all the best threads sent straight to your inbox!
Log in to update your newsletter preferences.
You've subscribed!
[Nebuchadnezzar 15L bottle of gin], [ice], [lemons, limes] [tonic, bitter lemon, elderflower cordial]
^ a small token of appreciation for everyone at MNHQ 
To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.