The best part about PMs? If they have NO post count, of if you think it's suspension in any way, then report them. Super simple. I can then run thru my admin tools and do my best to vet that they are a real member. There are some super obvious ones I can access on the Admin side.I am on a few other forums and see the same scam everywhere and they do indeed infiltrate through PMs. BenzWorld makes you have 10+ moderator verified posts before PM is allowed. Painful yes, but if you are committed to contributing to the community, it's only a minor short-term inconvenience.
I always liked the simplicity here, but maybe we all need to button up. Artificial Intelligence is making this even worse because the content can be automated. I just installed an extension called "fakespot" which scans amazon reviews for AI generated reviews; its insane how many there are. It could easily generate posts and content.
From the FIRST post in this thread:
I get about one Report a month of a suspicious member.If you suspect these types of issues are happening, please REPORT the user/conversation/post and offer a brief description of your suspicions.. Using the forum Reporting system allow better tracking of problem users and can assist in finding patterns that can help block future scammer registrations entirely.