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Are spammers attacking my MySpace blog?

Not sure whether this is a friend who I, um, don't remember or not, but I think I got the first spam comment on a blog entry on my MySpace weblog. Blech. Heard anything about this, Dave, and can you suggest a way for me to minimize the impact as, I'm sure, it gets worse?

Dave's Answer:

Yeah, I had no idea that spammers were building tools to attack MySpace blogs but just this evening noticed that my "approve comments" setting had netted me a blog comment spam on MySpace into my mailbox rather than on my blog. Check it out:

I added the highlighting to make it clearer which was my original blog entry (about AIM settings) and which was the additional spammy blog entry. The spammy comment says:

"hey intresting blog, i thought id let you know though this site is giving out free $500 gift cards to spend at Kmart to the ppl who sign up, i got mine and bought a new cell with it."

If nothing else, anyone who reads my blog should know better than to have a typo in the first three words! Seriously, this is a potential problem -- yet another spam problem -- on MySpace and I really wish the News Corp parents would help them clean things up so that MySpace remained fun, not a hassle.

To get your own comments mailed to you for approval (which seems to greatly deter spammers, by the way), see this article: How to approve MySpace Comments before they're posted.

While you're here, can I highlight that I have lots of MySpace help here, mixed in with a whole lotta tech support and that I also have a MySpace page if you'd like to check it out. :-)

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Comments

Keep in mind that there are a lot of "bots" that have been created--some that you can even purchase for $16 or so that will automatically "surf" MySpace and attempt to "add friends" for you. Not only are you most likely getting spammed over at myspace, but the people who you're adding as friends may not actually be friends--they may be just a "bot" whose intention is to befriend you so that they can send you spam.

Posted by: Bill Hartzer at June 4, 2007 4:46 PM

I have something to say, now that you mention it, but ...

I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you for all your efforts on this Web site by buying you a cup of coffee!

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!