I heard many authors check the option so "only archive users can comment" to mitigate them but I do receive spam comments from new accounts/users with no works.
As far as I know, these scam comments are most common in very popular fandoms (E.G., Harry Potter, Marvel, etc.) and are less common in niche or less popular fandoms (like indie games for example).
I haven't gotten any of those scam comments so far as I mostly post my works almost exclusively in the Poppy Playtime fandom. That might change soon, though.
Yes, I can say I never got any. It's likely they target popular works in popular fandoms. There might also be some specific criteria they use to decide who to spam. Since I understand this scam involves them making AI images, that may preclude them from spamming fandoms they don't have AI models for.
Twilight684:
You could turn on comment moderation, but that would actually be more work than deleting the spam, because now you have to approve all the non-spam and still have to delete the spam. I think that feature is more useful for people getting harassed/hate comments than for spam.
If they're targeting you specifically, you could ignore them and let PAC take care of banning the accounts and (presumably) deleting the comments. If they're phishing more generally, though, it's best to keep deleting to prevent the risk your readers might get scammed.
I write in very, very niche fandoms/rare pairings (like I'm literally the only person writing fanfic about a given movie) and still get them. I expect it's because I've been commenting on these news posts, though. I seem to get them mostly on multi-part fics and fics that are posted under very popular tags (like noncon or BDSM). With multi-part fics they try to break the ice by asking when you will update, and then when you reply, they start saying generic stuff about your fic (which makes it obvious they haven't read it), and then the third comment at the very latest will have them going "hey, can we talk off Ao3 on Discord (or wherever)". I've had that same pattern happen three times in the past two months, now--first generic comments that could apply to any fic, and then they start pestering you to contact them off-site. Sometimes it's the old fanart scam (hilarious, as I illustrate my own fics), sometimes they go on about how they have "ideas" they'd like to share about your fic. Always the same spiel, ending in a plea to contact them off-site, just with a different username.
Guys, make sure you block and mute the spammer accounts, too, as Ao3 doesn't delete them (I was told this was Ao3 policy--to never delete accounts. I'm sure they have their reasons). Otherwise the spammers will spam you again.
If an account is used to violate the Terms of Service repeatedly, then the Policy & Abuse committee can temporarily or permanently suspend them. Suspension means that the account is unable to post any more content, such as works or comments. As such, deletion of accounts isn't necessary. Please note that only the suspended user is notified of their suspension, and not any other users.
I know. In the case of one spammer, however, they left several such comments (i.e. broke the TOS repeatedly) over a period of several months. They spammed me and other users last spring, and I reported them, only for them to spam me again in the autumn--I was surprised to see nothing had been done (and yes, it was a very obvious, typical art scam spammer, not a vague borderline case at all).
However, I choose to maintain good faith, so again, I assume you have your reasons--you're drowning in spam, so I'm assuming that's why it can take months and months for spammers to get suspended.
So, I wanted to give others a heads-up about this, so they know to just block/mute the buggers until you guys get around to dealing with them.
Enable comment moderation! Comments won't post unless you screen them, so any of the scam bots just won't get posted.
I'm not sure if this would be more efficient for you, however
We recommend disabling guest comments on works to prevent spam comments from guests. If you receive a spam comment from a registered account, you can report them to the Policy & Abuse committee by selecting the 'Thread' button on the comment, and then scrolling to the bottom of the page and selecting 'Policy Questions & Abuse Reports'. Please include the name of the account in your report, and do not report the same account more than once. Please file a separate report for each account you're reporting.
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