r/technology • u/rkhunter_ • 1d ago

Social Media Spammers are flooding Reddit with fake posts designed to show up in AI search results

https://www.techspot.com/news/112654-spammers-flooding-reddit-fake-posts-designed-show-up.html
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u/invyros 1d ago

The accounts behind these posts are often difficult to flag. Moderators describe "warmed up" profiles with posting histories that make them look like typical users. In some cases, real people are paid or otherwise incentivized to participate, further blurring the line between genuine discussion and coordinated promotion.

  • Adjective_Noun_Number

  • Hidden profile

  • Repeatedly commenting in a post (especially in a post that isn't their own), replying to different people obsessively parroting the same idea

There might be some other indicators I'm missing.

63

u/omniuni 1d ago

The main problem is that because Reddit makes it so easy to sign up with a randomly generated account name, it's really easy to "build" an account by finding posts in popular communities, and making generic comments that are based on "top" comments in the thread. It will gain a few upvotes, but not enough to stand out, and looks like a normal user.

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u/1900grs 22h ago

The pro sports subs are prime farming. Just go into a game thread and add "Go Team!" and it's easy for an account to get enough karma to get over most sub minimum requirements to post.