Just for the record

[ffutures]

So far today I've deleted two comments from two "different" people who had evidently not actually read the posts (or at least were unable to reply to them in any coherent way) but were presumably hoping to be friended as a result of commenting and complimenting me on my post. Both "replies" were virtually identical. This is usually a sign of an impending spam storm or scam.

Needless to say I have deleted both posts and blocked these accounts from commenting in my journal again - I will do the same to any other post that shows the same hallmarks of coming from an automated lying scumbag. I do not friend people casually, and when I do so I make bloody sure that they are real people, not sock puppets.

Since people who do this get journal names by accessing someone's friends list, don't be surprised if this happens to you too, and don't be tempted to friend someone who cozies up to you this way - it's usually a VERY bad idea.

Comments

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

Damn, that's sneaky. More russian looking nonsense?

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Probably.

[purplecat]

I got a weird comment (thanking me in vaguely generic terms for posting it) on the sticky post at the top of my other journal. I suspect you are correct.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Sounds about the same.

[dandello.livejournal.com]

I occasionally get comments on my stories by people who have obviously not read the story. Thank goodness for the delete button.

And then there was my niece who signed on here, made one post to her account and was asked to friend 5 different Russian dudes.

[keristor.livejournal.com]

I think there are some people who watch for new accounts and pounce on them. I don't know if there is some list of new accounts somewhere...

[akadougal.livejournal.com]

Happened to me. Thanks for highlighting this. Been a little freaked out by it.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

It's annoying, one of the curses of livejournal and other similar sites, but easy enough to spot.

[kip-w.livejournal.com]

Seems like every day or so, I'm deleting one or more garbage comments. I'm told that if I do nothing, they'll eventually be deleted by the system, but I generally go and delete them as soon as I see them, cursing all the while. Sometimes I get the option to ban them forever, which I do.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

I always delete and ban - even if you don't get the "ban" option coming up when you delete a post, you can do it from the user info page.