The temu spammers lately

[TLS Guy]

For some reason, we are getting slammed with spammers recently. I don't know why.

It is AI bots in China. They will ruin this site. Unfortunately the first step is Captcha on login. I know that is a pain, but it will be the only way to stop or at least slow down this Temu problem. The whole of China is a huge Pita, and I think I am now in favor of 1000% tariffs on anything from China. I understand they actually hier, and pay people, in third world countries to solve the Captcha. This really slows them down though. This Temu spamming must not be allowed to continue.

We buy very little Chinese goods and I think we can boycott them completely. I have very little of my equipment made in China now. Only 6 of my 48 speaker drivers in use, and I think only my two older 7701 AVPS are made in China. Almost none of my equipment is made in China. Actually I think only the two small computers in the great room and office. Nearly all of it is USA, or European made. So 6 speaker drivers were made in China, six in Israel, and the rest in the UK, Denmark or Germany. All my power amps, analog preamps and FM tuners were made in the UK. Three turntables were made in England and all the PU arms. Two turntables were made in Switzerland. Four of the tape machines were made in Switzerland and one in the UK. The cartridges are US or UK made. My RME DAC Germany. The mixer board USA and the active crossovers with three being modified by me.

I bet I own less Chinese gear then any member here and that is the way it will stay.

 

[shadyJ]

It is AI bots in China. They will ruin this site. Unfortunately the first step is Captcha on login. I know that is a pain, but it will be the only way to stop or at least slow down this Temu problem. The whole of China is a huge Pita, and I think I am now in favor of 1000% tariffs on anything from China. I understand they actually hier, and pay people, in third world countries to solve the Captcha. This really slows them down though. This Temu spamming must not be allowed to continue.

We buy very little Chinese goods and I think we can boycott them completely. I have very little of my equipment made in China now. Only 6 of my 48 speaker drivers in use, and I think only my two older 7701 AVPS are made in China. Almost none of my equipment is made in China. Actually I think only the two small computers in the great room and office. Nearly all of it is USA, or European made. So 6 speaker drivers were made in China, six in Israel, and the rest in the UK, Denmark or Germany. All my power amps, analog preamps and FM tuners were made in the UK. Three turntables were made in England and all the PU arms. Two turntables were made in Switzerland. Four of the tape machines were made in Switzerland and one in the UK. The cartridges are US or UK made. My RME DAC Germany. The mixer board USA and the active crossovers with three being modified by me.

I bet I own less Chinese gear then any member here and that is the way it will stay.

China is a large, complex, and diverse country. I don't think it is fair to judge it all for the problems of some of it (by that logic, no one should buy American either). China was determined to become the world's factory, and they did so. They are the destination for affordable consumer electronics along with many other commodities. The manufacturing quality can range widely, and, in general, you get what you pay for. I wouldn't necessarily assume any European or American good is made better.

 

[Bobby Bass]

China is a large, complex, and diverse country. I don't think it is fair to judge it all for the problems of some of it (by that logic, no one should buy American either). China was determined to become the world's factory, and they did so. They are the destination for affordable consumer electronics along with many other commodities. The manufacturing quality can range widely, and, in general, you get what you pay for. I wouldn't necessarily assume any European or American good is made better.

As the Jackson 5 used to sing, one bad apple don’t spoil the whole bunch

 

[ryanosaur]

As the Jackson 5 used to sing, one bad apple don’t spoil the whole bunch

You mean there are good spammers out there?

 

[NINaudio]

I'd be fine with adding a captcha system to cut down on this BS.

What I don't understand is why they do it. Does anyone actually believe and click those links? Who is stupid enough to fall for that?

 

[ryanosaur]

This is all moot.

Captcha does not prevent bots from gaining access, and some suggest it is becoming less of a block (or even deterrent) than before.

Also, earlier this year it was revealed that there are now fake Captcha windows that will install malware. They show up differently than the standard "are you human?" Captchas, but still...

Bot and AI technology is outpacing Captcha and what it was meant to do.

And then there's this:

reCAPTCHA: 819 Million Hours of Wasted Human Time and Billions of Dollars in Google Profits

Andrew Searles earned his Ph.D. in computer science from UC Irvine in August 2024. A paper he coauthored with Renascence Prapty and Professor Gene Tsudik,

ics.uci.edu

Much like Tom Waits singing "I wish I had all the money I used to spend on dope...," we can safely now all wish we had the time back from proving to the internet we are human!