4 ms·

Looks like we've got some shills in this thread: vizza, kearneyface, and antonplus all posted with the same, verbatim comment: http://i.imgur.com/P2adbAh.png ht

by vageli 10y ago

Looks like we've got some shills in this thread: vizza, kearneyface, and antonplus all posted with the same, verbatim comment: http://i.imgur.com/P2adbAh.png http://i.imgur.com/P2adbAh.png, http://i.imgur.com/C4DUgTy.png http://i.imgur.com/C4DUgTy.png, http://i.imgur.com/aKY91bN.png http://i.imgur.com/aKY91bN.png

a_small_island 10y ago
It was also #2 on HN before it received any comments, for what it's worth.
fbonetti 10y ago
Only vizza and antonplus posted the same verbatim comment. Could just be the same person, different accounts. The accounts were created a long time ago as well. Doesn't look like shilling.
- AceJohnny2 10y ago
  But then vizza posted the same comment as kearneyface (or vice-versa), as evidenced by the second and third screenshots.
  - fbonetti 10y ago
    Oh wow you're right. How bizarre.
- somedangedname 10y ago
  Old accounts with sparse posting histories are just as suspect as throwaways. People batch-create + age accounts to sell or rent to marketers.
  - chx 10y ago
    Really?? On HN? Who cares? This is a niche site... isn't it? If it's not, my account is 2138 days old, almost six years, how much could I get for it :P ? (I know, about tree fiddy.)
    - goldenkey 10y ago
      Selling account as old as Nessy...any takers? ;-)
DrScump 10y ago
I like how gardenforce replied "Very interesting" to his/her own comment.
dang 10y ago
Yep, you guys were right this time, and we've banned the offending accounts and sites. In the future, though, please email hn@ycombinator.com about stuff like this, as the site guidelines ask. That's the only way to be sure we'll see it. Fortunately someone did send an email; without that, we'd probably never have seen this, and we can't take action about things we don't see.
- chrisbolt 10y ago
  Are there any plans to add a 'report' feature to HN? It would be much more obvious, as I was not aware that I should email hn@ycombinator.com before today.
  - dang 10y ago
    That's pretty much what 'flag' already does, since we review the flagged stories and comments.

by vageli 10y ago

a_small_island 10y ago

It was also #2 on HN before it received any comments, for what it's worth.

fbonetti 10y ago

Only vizza and antonplus posted the same verbatim comment. Could just be the same person, different accounts. The accounts were created a long time ago as well. Doesn't look like shilling.

AceJohnny2 10y ago
But then vizza posted the same comment as kearneyface (or vice-versa), as evidenced by the second and third screenshots.
- fbonetti 10y ago
  Oh wow you're right. How bizarre.
somedangedname 10y ago
Old accounts with sparse posting histories are just as suspect as throwaways. People batch-create + age accounts to sell or rent to marketers.
- chx 10y ago
  Really?? On HN? Who cares? This is a niche site... isn't it? If it's not, my account is 2138 days old, almost six years, how much could I get for it :P ? (I know, about tree fiddy.)
  - goldenkey 10y ago
    Selling account as old as Nessy...any takers? ;-)

DrScump 10y ago

I like how gardenforce replied "Very interesting" to his/her own comment.

dang 10y ago

Yep, you guys were right this time, and we've banned the offending accounts and sites. In the future, though, please email hn@ycombinator.com about stuff like this, as the site guidelines ask. That's the only way to be sure we'll see it. Fortunately someone did send an email; without that, we'd probably never have seen this, and we can't take action about things we don't see.

chrisbolt 10y ago
Are there any plans to add a 'report' feature to HN? It would be much more obvious, as I was not aware that I should email hn@ycombinator.com before today.
- dang 10y ago
  That's pretty much what 'flag' already does, since we review the flagged stories and comments.