The Mystery, Crime, and Thriller Group discussion

Well, at least he's over in that group and not here! If he does manage to sneak back in, you all know what to do, right?


:)

Thanks for the update Faith.

I got a call yesterday from a number saying that they owed me money from my computer which I'm still paying. I got really upset with and told them that if they are legit they already have my info and to call again or I would call the police.

Linda wrote: "I got a call yesterday from a number saying that they owed me money from my computer which I'm still paying. I got really upset with and told them that if they are legit they already have my info a..."

We have different ways of dealing with these sorts of calls, but my favorite one is from one time when we got a call from someone who wanted to sell us Sprint. My husband let the guy do his spiel, then he says "Why are you calling me? How did you get my number? Don't you know that I am the President of Sprint?" The poor guy was like "Oh, sir, it is a true honor to speak to you," apologized and said he'd remove our number from his list.

My latest call was from someone telling me there had been some strange charges on my credit card. I told him not to bother me and hung up. Then I called my credit card company and told them and they said they don't tell people that way. If you get a call like that, don't give any personal information!

I went to a talk today by a retired IRS lawyer. He said that the IRS does not call people. If you get a call from someone claiming to be with the IRS report it to the U.S. Treasury Inspector General.

Thomas wrote: "I went to a talk today by a retired IRS lawyer. He said that the IRS does not call people. If you get a call from someone claiming to be with the IRS report it to the U.S. Treasury Inspector General."

As a former IRS employee, your first contact will NEVER be on the phone. And it will NEVER be e-mail. It will ALWAYS be snail mail, and quite possibly certified.

Every spring I've received calls telling me that the Canadian equivalent of the IRS has a case against me.... once again, I hang up and then call the guy who does my income tax... Spam artists.. It is frustrating.

We get ones around here pretending to be the police.

Another sighting:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Start flagging.

Flagged and reported to GR.

awesome.

He joins dozens of new groups each time he sneaks back onto GR, but for some reason he keeps coming back to this group.

well, I just deleted him (again) from group membership. Like Nell, we need to flag and report to GR if he shows up again. Thanks for you diligence, people.

Flagged.

Faith wrote: "He joins dozens of new groups each time he sneaks back onto GR, but for some reason he keeps coming back to this group."

It's a large group and one for a popular genre.

Well, he's gone until the next round. If I kept getting deleted from a group, I don't think I'd be back. But he is evidently not like me.

GR has not removed him from the site this time. Maybe they have accepted defeat. He's a member of many groups and since authors are so desperate for reviews he probably gets a lot of responses.

I've seen on the Authors Feedback group that at least a few have been taken in.

Spammer's back

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

I have flagged him twice this morning !

He seems to be having a stroke. He has posted at least 15 times in this group under several identities, just to show he can.

james is really pesky today, I have flagged him 4 times now !

This guy has spam bombed the group! I found 18 posts!!! They are in every folder! Some of them of hidden - they don't show up on the main page because of the starred priority posts. But he's in the Genre folder and the Group discussion folder and the Challenge folder and more. I flagged them all. Open the threads. He's trying to hide. Looks like we have to be as persistent and wily as this jerk!!

James is not only pesky, but he joined with like six aliases. They're deleted. Keep flagging flagging flagging, and report every one you see to goodreads.

How exactly do you flag someone?

When someone makes a comment, you'll see an option to reply or flag at the bottom of their comment. Just hit flag, in this case -- follow directions from there. And please use the space to tell goodreads why you're flagging the comment -- the more complaints the faster they act.

Hi guys, I'm a reader but now also a writer and what are the things to look out for to avoid spamming readers here... cause that's the LAST thing I want to do! One one hand I'd love more visibility for my book but definitely not in a bad way. Any hints and tips highly appreciated! What I noticed when I joined two groups that offered free honest reviews... I got spammed with emails saying I could get a bunch of reviews for the amount XYZ! That's kind of uncool and I never asked for that.

Nancy wrote: "James is not only pesky, but he joined with like six aliases. They're deleted. Keep flagging flagging flagging, and report every one you see to goodreads."

I flagged one in the Members reporting in thread. Should I now delete it too? Or you can...

Aza wrote: "Hi guys, I'm a reader but now also a writer and what are the things to look out for to avoid spamming readers here... cause that's the LAST thing I want to do! One one hand I'd love more visibility..."

We do have a couple of threads, Aza, for authors to use to discuss their new books or to ask for reviews or such. You have to scroll down the threads a bit but it's below. This is a link for authors looking for reviewers

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Bill wrote: "Nancy wrote: "James is not only pesky, but he joined with like six aliases. They're deleted. Keep flagging flagging flagging, and report every one you see to goodreads."

I flagged one in the Membe..."

Don't delete the comment -- my understanding is that if enough users flag these comments, they get the attention of the powers that be quickly.

Nancy wrote: "Bill wrote: "Nancy wrote: "James is not only pesky, but he joined with like six aliases. They're deleted. Keep flagging flagging flagging, and report every one you see to goodreads."

I flagged one..."

Gotcha.. I've flagged two today... I should pay more attention to the posts..

I flagged eight of them, but it’s taking too much of my time to find and flag them all. I’m not sure, ?Nancy, that I’m persuaded the powers that be are doing anything other than deleting individual posts, which mods can do without them and faster. But maybe I’m tired and cynical today.

Carol wrote: "I flagged eight of them, but it’s taking too much of my time to find and flag them all. I’m not sure, ?Nancy, that I’m persuaded the powers that be are doing anything other than deleting individual..."

Don't worry about trying to find them all. I've also sent yet another message to support giving them the names and links to of all of his aliases. I could certainly delete the posts, but it's better to flag them so it's not just me complaining -- support needs to see that others are bothered as well. Just do what you can. He's deleted from the group for the moment so hopefully we'll have some respite. At least for a while.

Flagged him in about 4 or 5 different groups just now.

You are all amazing.. Don't let looking for him hinder your reading enjoyment.. :)

Well, I'm recharging my kindle just now, anyway.

Susanna - Censored by GoodReads wrote: "Well, I'm recharging my kindle just now, anyway."

I guess that's like me reorganizing my bookshelves.. ;)

Bill wrote: "You are all amazing.. Don't let looking for him hinder your reading enjoyment.. :)"

It’s so annoying that it’s become personal to eradicate his nonsense :)

It's also annoying that I have to keep going in and deleting him from our group. Gah!

All of your efforts are much appreciated.. :)

I received a friend request from Josh [email protected]
He does not have any information on his Goodreads page. How do I know if this is the spammer?

Thomas wrote: "I received a friend request from Josh [email protected]
He does not have any information on his Goodreads page. How do I know if this is the spammer?"

Thomas, what's his goodreads name?

Nancy wrote: "Thomas wrote: "I received a friend request from Josh [email protected]
He does not have any information on his Goodreads page. How do I know if this is the spammer?"

Thomas, what's his goodrea..."
Josh here is the link to his request
https://www.goodreads.com/friend/requ...

Thomas wrote: "Nancy wrote: "Thomas wrote: "I received a friend request from Josh [email protected]
He does not have any information on his Goodreads page. How do I know if this is the spammer?"

Thomas, what..."

That link doesn't take you to his profile, but I'm not sure you should be linking to another member anyway. I usually consider whether someone has more friends than books, whether he belongs to groups and, if so, his recent comments and his response to my challenge question. If the request doesn't pass my sniff test, I reject it.

This is his profile.
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/8...

Thomas wrote: "This is his profile.
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/8..."

Joined last month, zero books, 600 friends = spam.

Thomas wrote: "This is his profile.
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/8..."

Thanks. He's not our spammer, and I did a quick compare books thing (with my library), and he seems to have a lot of crime novels. If you're worried about him spamming, I wouldn't, but of course, who you choose to be friends with on GR is completely up to you. He looks pretty harmless, actually.

Faith wrote: "Thomas wrote: "This is his profile.
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/8..."

Joined last month, zero books, 600 friends = spam."

You don't know that, to be sure Faith. When I joined I added at least 300 - 400 books on my first day and I had no friends.

Nancy wrote: "Faith wrote: "Thomas wrote: "This is his profile.
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/8..."

Joined last month, zero books, 600 friends = spam."

You don't know that, to be sure Faith. Whe..."

I really have no doubts about it, but I'm a cynic. He's following hundreds of people. Probably people who didn't accept his friend request. I wouldn't accept it, but you can always accept and then remove someone after they annoy you.