Friends,
We're aware that recently a rather new trend (here) has been happening in which brand new members, often with zero posts, pretend to be an interested-in-BBQ-&-grilling new member. Some post topics and ask repeated questions, despite getting answers to said questions. Often they will PM you if you reply in the topic, repeating the same or a similar question for more info from you.
PLEASE IGNORE THESE!
It is rather obvious that they are either: A) bots, B), bots in training, C) humans trying to masquerade as legit members but simply mining for data to create bots, D) perhaps mining for data on how to make yet another knockoff device, or E) copying an pasting our responses somewhere. Perhaps they are some combo of all of these, who knows.
We're in the process of discussing as a team how best to handle these 'members'. We've even seen one today who actually paid, surely in an effort to head off quick banning of being marked as a Trial Member, their usual MO.
Some things we've noticed, but that they will surely change and adapt out of, are using the name "huang" (Chinese surname), often broken English or otherwise suspicious language, and repeated oddly specific questions like "I want to help my husband grill delicious food, which is better charcoal or pellets to help his grilling be more delicious", or "I would like to make a better camping grill, what are some designs that you think would make a delicious camp grill".
Of course it's not limited to this specifically, but this is what we've seen so far, so I'm sure you get the idea.
Again, PLEASE IGNORE POSTS OR PMs FROM these 'members'. Usually it is obvious if a new member is legit or suspicious, so go with your gut until mods & admin can investigate and remove them properly.
Thanks!
We're aware that recently a rather new trend (here) has been happening in which brand new members, often with zero posts, pretend to be an interested-in-BBQ-&-grilling new member. Some post topics and ask repeated questions, despite getting answers to said questions. Often they will PM you if you reply in the topic, repeating the same or a similar question for more info from you.
PLEASE IGNORE THESE!
It is rather obvious that they are either: A) bots, B), bots in training, C) humans trying to masquerade as legit members but simply mining for data to create bots, D) perhaps mining for data on how to make yet another knockoff device, or E) copying an pasting our responses somewhere. Perhaps they are some combo of all of these, who knows.
We're in the process of discussing as a team how best to handle these 'members'. We've even seen one today who actually paid, surely in an effort to head off quick banning of being marked as a Trial Member, their usual MO.
Some things we've noticed, but that they will surely change and adapt out of, are using the name "huang" (Chinese surname), often broken English or otherwise suspicious language, and repeated oddly specific questions like "I want to help my husband grill delicious food, which is better charcoal or pellets to help his grilling be more delicious", or "I would like to make a better camping grill, what are some designs that you think would make a delicious camp grill".
Of course it's not limited to this specifically, but this is what we've seen so far, so I'm sure you get the idea.
Again, PLEASE IGNORE POSTS OR PMs FROM these 'members'. Usually it is obvious if a new member is legit or suspicious, so go with your gut until mods & admin can investigate and remove them properly.
Thanks!
Re: my avatar, thanks, it’s my killer Papillon Cubbie, aka Mr Cub (pick taken on Halloween night 
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