Outlook phishing followers are back
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I had several email updates from suspicious outlook followers (saying they were following my blog), but I can’t see them under my followers on the website. This just started again the past few days. Is there anything I need to do to prevent this?
Thanks,
Chelsea
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Please read my last reply directly above yours in this thread:
https://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/outlook-phishing-followers-are-back/page/2/#post-3098054
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It’s April 25th, and I’m still getting these “outlook” notices in my gmail. I guess the fact that they don’t show up in my “followers” means that someone is removing them before I look for them? I certainly don’t want to have to manually check to make sure they’re removed every time, since there are quite a few. Is there any harm in checking, say, once a week or so? One did get through this morning, and I removed it. It would be nice if I could block followers with emails from “outlook.com,” at least temporarily, until this clears up.
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Okay, I think I’ve got the protocol now. Glad to know people are taking care of this. Thanks!!
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Not a problem. Yes, it is affecting many of our users and we’re working hard on getting rid of this spam for good. We’ll definitely keep you all updated as we get more information on the issue.
Thanks for your patience!
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Hi,
Please add my blog to the “cleaning” list: beautifullaila.wordpress.com. Thanks for your help!
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Please add my site, somewherepastthebanda.wordpress.com to the list of sites that need help.
Three known spam email accounts are (email visible only to moderators and staff) and (email visible only to moderators and staff) as well as (email visible only to moderators and staff)
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Hi abethea2013 and lailasahar,
We are still working to remove and block these spam followers. If they aren’t listed in My Sites > People > Email Followers, it means they have already been removed.
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Looks like http://www.devongeography.wordpress.com will need a clean up regarding this Outlook bogus followers scam.
Thanks for trying to,get to grips with this annoying trend! -
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Hi zzsculpt and devongeography,
Thank you for reporting this! We’re continuously working on removing those spam followers from all affected websites. Please let us know if we can help with anything else.
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Right, the problem has been going on for quite a long time according to some well established forums. I’m sure WordPress staff is trying to fix the problem but as it stands, removing the follow button seems like your only option. That is a shame. Since I’ve been using the website functions back in 2013, WordPress has started charging for plugins which, if I can say, is a mistake. Confidence in a product’s security and validity should be guaranteed before paid subscriptions are asked for. Until phishing followers are eliminated and WordPress stats screen for bots, I will not pay for a “better” plan. Please fix these issues or make plugins free again before demanding money for a safe website with reliable visitor data.
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removing the follow button seems like your only option
No, actually there are several options mentioned in this thread. For now I recommend disabling email notifications of new followers.
And, we have worked past these spammers before. It’s just that they keep inventing new ways around what we’re doing to stop them. We’ll keep trying.
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In the past maybe week I guess, I have received over 40 Spam Comments:
https://mykitcheninthemiddleofthedesert.wordpress.com/wp-admin/edit-comments.php?comment_status=spam
above is the most resent.
Could one of the WP Staffers take a look at this for me?Mahalo,
Auntie Doni -
Hi @auntiedoni,
Please start a new topic and add the tag modlook. Since your issue has nothing to do with the spam followers from outlook.com, it’s better to be discussed in another topic.
Here’s how to create a new topic:
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@fstat
Mahalo, thank you for the above information.
I thought that maybe this was all linked with spam outlook email address followers. My blog has again been receiving many of those followers after having stopped and thought that they me related in some way.
I have started a new thread and hope that all of this can be resolved by WP soon.
Aloha,
Auntie Doni -
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I’ve had the same problem with Outlook followers however now that seems to have stopped and I have 4 or 5 WordPress accounts that continue to follow me. I remove them only to have one or the other of them follow again after a few days or perhaps a week. Just when you think they have stopped one of them reappears. It would be great to have to approve unsolicited new followers or to be able to remove the follow option but I’ve had a good look and can’t see any way to do that. This is quite frustrating as I don’t believe that any of these “followers” are legitimate. I tried making my site private but none of my followers seemed to have received my posts during the week or so I maintained that setting. I would be grateful for any suggestions.
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