TMS HELP FORUM seems to be full of spam posts

[Mala]

I just visited the TMS help forum today after a while & someone has been posting so much spam it's unbelievable. I don't know who the admin there is anymore but its a site worth preserving since there is a wealth of information in the many legitimate posts there from the early days of TMS discussion & some great success stories too. It would be a shame to lose all that information. And some posts here have links to the site as well for reference.

Is there anyone here who is admin there? I see that @MatthewNJ posts about the live chats from time to time.
@JanAtheCPA , @Forest, any suggestions?

Thx so much

Mala

 

[Enrique]

That's too bad. That was the first and probably only forum for TMS when I first discovered Dr Sarno. I don't remember who the owner/admin is. It's been years since I visited.

 

[Bonnard]

I just took at look at that site and it seems like it might be a relatively straightforward fix for an admin.
The recent threads are on the same two days from the same account. The ones right before that are listed from a user "n/a."
If those two users were removed and the threads deleted, that would cover it.

 

[Baseball65]

Wow.. I hadn't looked at that in a minute. Before this 'wiki' (which I still don't fully understand) That was the first TMS forum online, I think?
At the beginnings of the interweb when you googled TMS you got Sarno's books and Sarno...maybe a half page of stuff?
But yeah...spamming is so weird. I suppose people must occasionally click on their stupid links or else they wouldn't do it?

If I even need some Viagra or Cialis or bitcoin, I'll be sure to buy it from someone on a twenty year old forum who has filled the whole page, right?

 

[JanAtheCPA]

You bring up a really good question @Mala. I've checked in with the site a few times in the last year and examined it in some detail. Before the pages of spam took over, it's still pretty clear that the site has not had any substantive discussions for well over a year. Sometime in 2022 it seemed to become a marketing tool for a clinic, which may have contributed to its demise, because those are the majority of posts. Page 8 in the general forum is the last one before the spam takes over (the spam is pages 1-7, in reverse chron order), and on page 8 there is only one substantive thread (talking about The Way Out) dated October 2022, with just three responses. Apart from a few other posts with minimal activity, the page is almost all clinic marketing posts from one member.
http://www.tmshelp.com/forum/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=2&sortfield=lastpost&sortorder=desc&whichpage=8 (TMSHelp Forum - TMSHelp General Forum)

There are very few threads started in 2023 (apart from the spam) and there have been no posts in the Success Stories subforum since 2020.

I found a webmaster email address buried in the FAQs - supposedly it's webmaster@tmshelp.com. I sent an email about nine hours ago asking if there was anyone there. It did not bounce back... but no response, either.

Feel free to send your own email queries to webmaster@tmshelp.com

 

[JanAtheCPA]

spamming is so weird. I suppose people must occasionally click on their stupid links or else they wouldn't do it?

Actually, I learned from Forest that the point is to post their links on websites in order to increase some kind of revenue stream just by having a link. They never actually need people to click on the link, only on the page that contains the link!

That's why I try to look at all new posts and why I appreciate it when other members hit "Report" when they see a suspicious post. The latest trick, on our forum, is that the spammer will Quote someone, and then edit the Quoted part and insert a hidden link behind the OP's text. The Quoted part is mostly truncated to save space so we never see it. The spammer will create some kind of short, bland, generic post that doesn't really sound like they know s*** about TMS - and that's the giveaway. It is very often done on old threads - that's also a giveaway, especially if the thread is on a topic that is a high-search topic (like marijuana, dental problems, skin problems, chiropractic, diets, and, weirdly, vague connections to writing college essays).

Just hit Report if you see anything like that. No harm in doing so if it turns out to be legit - I can always mark it as "no action needed".

 

[Mala]

That's too bad. That was the first and probably only forum for TMS when I first discovered Dr Sarno. I don't remember who the owner/admin is. It's been years since I visited.

Enrique I remember the admin there was Dave.

Mala

 

[Mala]

You bring up a really good question @Mala. I've checked in with the site a few times in the last year and examined it in some detail. Before the pages of spam took over, it's still pretty clear that the site has not had any substantive discussions for well over a year. Sometime in 2022 it seemed to become a marketing tool for a clinic, which may have contributed to its demise, because those are the majority of posts. Page 8 in the general forum is the last one before the spam takes over (the spam is pages 1-7, in reverse chron order), and on page 8 there is only one substantive thread (talking about The Way Out) dated October 2022, with just three responses. Apart from a few other posts with minimal activity, the page is almost all clinic marketing posts from one member.
http://www.tmshelp.com/forum/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=2&sortfield=lastpost&sortorder=desc&whichpage=8 (TMSHelp Forum - TMSHelp General Forum)

There are very few threads started in 2023 (apart from the spam) and there have been no posts in the Success Stories subforum since 2020.

I found a webmaster email address buried in the FAQs - supposedly it's webmaster@tmshelp.com. I sent an email about nine hours ago asking if there was anyone there. It did not bounce back... but no response, either.

Feel free to send your own email queries to webmaster@tmshelp.com

Hi Jan I found that email too & I've sent a message.

The admin there was a guy called Dave so I went to his profile & sent an email to him from there as well. Will keep you informed but I don't think he's posted in a long while. I did a quick search I think his last post was around 2019.

Yes the posts regarding the clinic you mentioned seem to have been all posted by Tennis Tom.

Thx

Mala

 

[Mala]

Actually, I learned from Forest that the point is to post their links on websites in order to increase some kind of revenue stream just by having a link. They never actually need people to click on the link, only on the page that contains the link!

That's why I try to look at all new posts and why I appreciate it when other members hit "Report" when they see a suspicious post. The latest trick, on our forum, is that the spammer will Quote someone, and then edit the Quoted part and insert a hidden link behind the OP's text. The Quoted part is mostly truncated to save space so we never see it. The spammer will create some kind of short, bland, generic post that doesn't really sound like they know s*** about TMS - and that's the giveaway. It is very often done on old threads - that's also a giveaway, especially if the thread is on a topic that is a high-search topic (like marijuana, dental problems, skin problems, chiropractice, diets, and, weirdly, extremely vague connections to writing college essays).

Just hit Report if you see anything like that. No harm in doing so if it turns out to be legit - I can always mark it as "no action needed".

Thanks for the warning Jan, its good to know. And thanks for all your help here on our site & for monitoring it.

Mala

 

[Indiana]

I just visited the TMS help forum today after a while & someone has been posting so much spam it's unbelievable. I don't know who the admin there is anymore but its a site worth preserving since there is a wealth of information in the many legitimate posts there from the early days of TMS discussion & some great success stories too. It would be a shame to lose all that information. And some posts here have links to the site as well for reference.

Is there anyone here who is admin there? I see that @MatthewNJ posts about the live chats from time to time.
@JanAtheCPA , @Forest, any suggestions?

Thx so much

Mala

Very valuable information on that Forum. I still go there from time to time
F.eks Hillbilli’s recovery story is a great read. But the Forum has gone dead and the administrator (Dave) has disappeared….

 

[JanAtheCPA]

Dave emailed me this morning. He's aware of the issues and is hoping to have the time to address them soon. I gave him this link so he can see that people still care! I told him we can help promote the site once it's cleaned up. IMHO that includes deleting all of the clinic marketing posts, which are a big turnoff - which may be easier said than done, however - that's a tricky one.

 

[JanAtheCPA]

PS, thanks again to @Mala for posting this and prompting contact

 

[Mala]

Dave emailed me this morning. He's aware of the issues and is hoping to have the time to address them soon. I gave him this link so he can see that people still care! I told him we can help promote the site once it's cleaned up. IMHO that includes deleting all of the clinic marketing posts, which are a big turnoff - which may be easier said than done, however - that's a tricky one.

Hi Jan I got a similar reply from him. Thanks for reaching out to him & for offering help.

Mala

 

[Mala]

Very valuable information on that Forum. I still go there from time to time
F.eks Hillbilli’s recovery story is a great read. But the Forum has gone dead and the administrator (Dave) has disappeared….

Yes HillBilly's recovery post is a great read.

Mala

 

[Cactusflower]

Dave emailed me this morning. He's aware of the issues and is hoping to have the time to address them soon. I gave him this link so he can see that people still care! I told him we can help promote the site once it's cleaned up. IMHO that includes deleting all of the clinic marketing posts, which are a big turnoff - which may be easier said than done, however - that's a tricky one.

That’s several years of posts.

 

[MatthewNJ]

I stopped posting the chat there due to all the Spam. :-(

 

[JanAtheCPA]

I stopped posting the chat there due to all the Spam. :-(

I figured as much, @MatthewNJ - not much point to it! Fingers crossed...

 

[Mala]

That’s several years of posts.

Spam posts are only around 7 to 8 pages. Easy for Dave to sort out. Some of the info there is very useful & this wiki provides links to some of there stories there too but not always successful when clicked on.

Having a connection & relationship is a good idea.

Mala