Another new bot/spam variant.

Anything dealing with the game Team Fortress 2 or the servers we host for it.
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SuperPotato
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Another new bot/spam variant.

Post by SuperPotato » Sun Dec 07, 2014 5:50 pm

Hi all; for my first post here might as well post something useful.

Recently, I've had lots of bots add me (10-20), and most seem to be run by the same person/organization.

They usually say things like
Hello mate. My friend in fb ask me add you. He want to talking with you, but he can't add you, have an error...
Then comes the obligatory (fake) Steam community page, usually a minor misspelling like "commnunity" or "commumety".

Another variant is tells you to click some link or copy it to your browser, but those are pretty easy to spot - however, the link (and domain) changes nearly every time.

This shouldn't be a problem for most people, but I've decided to accept every friend request I get from the bots and report them with every message in hopes of preventing other people from getting hijacked. I'm not sure if someone specific is leading the bots to me on my friends list, or if there's just a resurgence in activity. Also, most of the bots I've seen seem to be 5 years old (the account was created in 2009) for whatever reason.
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mbaxter
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Re: Another new bot/spam variant.

Post by mbaxter » Sun Dec 07, 2014 6:31 pm

The ones adding you are probably more targeted, generally at an unusual.
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A Ninja
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Re: Another new bot/spam variant.

Post by A Ninja » Sun Dec 07, 2014 7:48 pm

Building off of bax, if your inventory is public you are more prone to getting these kind of invites, I would suggest changing that setting.
Last edited by A Ninja on Sun Dec 07, 2014 9:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Cheddars
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Re: Another new bot/spam variant.

Post by Cheddars » Sun Dec 07, 2014 9:10 pm

I had a pretty hilarious one left on my profile page earlier this week.

"Hey,sorry for trouble you. I unbox my first unusual,but i noob in tf2,and i need your help.Check please screenshot,it good or bad unusual?and maybe you know price? i could trade with you?
{LINK REMOVED - Please don't spam, and be wary of scams.}"

To which I responded with:

"I'll definitely check it out for you just add me at {LINK REMOVED - Please don't spam, and be wary of scams.}!"


How odd. :|
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Re: Another new bot/spam variant.

Post by Grndslmhttr3 » Sun Dec 07, 2014 9:17 pm

I can't remember the last time I got one of those messages, then again I don't think I have a ton of Steam friends compared to a lot of you. Who wants to be my 69th friend?
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dmitri ravinoff
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Re: Another new bot/spam variant.

Post by dmitri ravinoff » Wed Dec 10, 2014 4:58 am

I get like one random add a week. just don't accept random adds, for fuck's sake
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Re: Another new bot/spam variant.

Post by prolix » Wed Dec 10, 2014 5:55 am

If they have a steam rating of 5 or less it's pretty certain to be a spam bot/new spam account.

99% of spam msg's I get are from people with a steam rating/level of 0. It shows their steam rating on the accept friends page.
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Re: Another new bot/spam variant.

Post by Roughjericho » Wed Dec 10, 2014 11:52 am

dmitri ravinoff wrote:just don't accept random adds, for fuck's sake
Seriously, just don't.
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