Has My Blog Been Hacked By The Russians?

74B0C064-9C8A-4BD2-BF6F-AB00E5BC3D31Up until a few days ago, the WordPress Akismet filter seemed to be working flawlessly. Bogus comments by phony commenters rarely made it by that filter and into my comments sections. But these insipid spammers have apparently come up with a new strategy.

Starting around three days ago, someone who goes by the name Alex began commenting on my posts. His first comment was, “Nice weblog here! Additionally your web site loads up fast! What web host are you the usage of? Can I am getting your affiliate link to your host? I wish my web site loaded up as quickly as yours lol.”

Obviously this was spam that sneaked by my Akismet spam filter. I marked it as spam and didn’t give it a whole lot of thought.

But then I started getting more comments from “Alex” on different posts. Comments like

You actually make it seem really easy along with your presentation however I find this topic to be actually one thing that I think I might by no means understand. It sort of feels too complicated and extremely huge for me. I am taking a look ahead in your subsequent publish, I will try to get the cling of it!

Wow, superb blog layout! How long have you ever been blogging for? you make blogging look easy. The entire look of your website is great, let alone the content material!

I am no longer certain where you’re getting your info, however good topic. I must spend some time studying more or working out more. Thanks for excellent info I was on the lookout for this info for my mission.

It’s really a great and helpful piece of information. I am happy that you just shared this helpful info with us. Please stay us up to date like this. Thank you for sharing.

At least a dozen similar comments from “Alex” showed up on various posts. And I designated each as spam.

I haven’t received any comments from “Alex” yet today, but “Ula Guzman” wrote

F*ckin’ awesome issues here. I’m very happy to look your article. Thank you so much and i’m taking a look forward to contact you. Will you please drop me a e-mail?

“Stacy Henderson” commented

Someone necessarily help to make critically articles I’d state. That is the very first time I frequented your website page and up to now? I surprised with the research you made to make this actual publish incredible. Fantastic activity!

And “Delores McCarty” wrote

Thanks for any other fantastic post. Where else may anybody get that kind of info in such a perfect means of writing? I have a presentation subsequent week, and I’m on the look for such info.

Definitely Russian hackers. This new strategy to get through the spam filter is apparently working and it’s really starting to piss me off.


Written for today’s one-word prompt, “strategy.”

17 thoughts on “Has My Blog Been Hacked By The Russians?

  1. Marilyn Armstrong January 21, 2018 / 9:04 am

    You have “Alex” too? He is ALL OVER my site. I can’t find where he’s coming from, either. This isn’t the first time Askimet has failed me. They always say it has nothing to do with their uncontrolled “followers” thing, but I think it does. I get a wild burst of “followers” with names like “Cheapfurnitureforeveryone” or “buycarinsurancehere” or some such nonsense and then every other minute, some dude with a can full of viruses hits me either as spam or as an attempted comment. This is the first time someone else got the same spammer. Usually it’s just me alone.

    Last time, one of these spammer pumped me up with more than 6,000 messages in a couple of weeks. We should get in touch with WP. Thank you for letting me know. Sometimes I think there’s something wrong with ME!

    Liked by 2 people

    • Fandango January 21, 2018 / 9:10 am

      No, it’s not just you. “Alex” is apparently making the rounds. The only thing I’ve been able to discern is that “Alex” and the other spammers all have an “outlook.com” email address, but “Alex” has multiple outlook email addresses.

      Like

  2. Megha's World January 21, 2018 / 9:11 am

    hmm… I have been getting the same kinds of comments on my site as well but luckily they are getting blocked by the Akismet. You are right in saying that they are getting smarter as if they start commenting on how great your content is, then it becomes difficult to mark it as spam. I’ll keep an eye too.Thanks.

    Liked by 1 person

  3. Marilyn Armstrong January 21, 2018 / 9:12 am

    I did write to WP and I included your site, too. Maybe if they can track both of us, they may actually find the problem. Askimet is NOT doing its job and these things are full of viruses and trojans and lord knows what else.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Fandango January 21, 2018 / 10:21 am

      Thanks. I wonder if the “Happiness Engineers” at WordPress will respond.

      Like

  4. Sight11 January 21, 2018 / 10:03 am

    As long as I’m not passed as a spam. Also I was bombarded with more than 70 spams on my earlier website in a single day. The next day apparently I was marked as Spam. So yeah.. I’ve been a victim and as per Akismet, falsely accused of being a perpetrator, FALSELY… Read the word..

    Liked by 2 people

    • Suze January 21, 2018 / 3:42 pm

      i dunno…you COULD be spam…how do you feel about pork products? Are you rectangular or more rounded?

      Liked by 2 people

      • Fandango January 21, 2018 / 3:46 pm

        I love pulled pork sammiches, but my wife thinks I’m a real square.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Sight11 January 22, 2018 / 1:02 am

        I’m a vegetarian and apparently a squiggle.. And not a Bot..

        Liked by 2 people

  5. ladygaladriel50 January 21, 2018 / 11:29 am

    Aha! Well that explains the weird comment I had from dear Alex. He/she seemed somewhat flummoxed over suitable base layers for yoga practice.

    Liked by 1 person

  6. BAEast January 21, 2018 / 12:48 pm

    lodge a complaint with the NRA. I hear they’re working together now.

    Liked by 1 person

  7. cagedunn January 21, 2018 / 2:24 pm

    And yet, the other day, all my comments went to nowhere’sville – and ended up as spam. I think I’m real – am I real? I also think it’s fixed, but will wait it out.

    Liked by 2 people

  8. Suze January 21, 2018 / 3:40 pm

    well, now I know where Alex went…just as I was sure he was going to propose…he wrote so frequently!

    Liked by 1 person

  9. V.J. Knutson January 21, 2018 / 6:16 pm

    Interesting…I had an onslaught of new followers, all with suspicious email addresses. I even sent wordpress a little note to say what’s going on. The Russians are coming….

    Liked by 1 person

  10. Blog March 27, 2018 / 2:42 am

    I wish this site was a scratch and sniff sticker.

    Like

    • Fandango March 27, 2018 / 9:52 pm

      You ought to create an “about” page for your blog to tell us a little about who you are.

      Liked by 1 person

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