Backerkit Follower SpamBots - Heads up

[Slaybalj]

I've had this discussion several places, I am posting it here.  Specifically, there are two threads in the Backerkit discussion for Sanderson's current campaign.

Spammers have discovered that the default settings in Backerkit will send email notifications to users when they get followed.  They create bot accounts in Backerkit and follow thousands of accounts, causing those users to receive an email with a suggestive title and a suspicious website.   Then, the 'followers' page for that user on Backerkit involuntarily hosts a link to that same website.

There is no way to turn off these emails until you get your first follower, after which you can unsubscribe from the email or send the notifications to spam.

There is no way to prevent people from following you or boot followers from your profile.  The only solution is to email support at backerkit and report the user.

If you're pledging secret novel 5 and this concerns you, reach out to Backerkit and let them know. If you're seriously bothered, consider depledging before the campaign completes as you won't be able to delete your account while you have a pledge project unshipped. 

 

 

[Slaybalj]

I want to be clear: as spam goes, this one feels relatively minor.  A spammer was able to send me a single email when they began to follow me.  They could not get my email directly or pursue additional communication (as near as I can tell).   I suspect the primary use was for that initial 'you've been followed' email, and that almost the entire problem is due to the fact that those emails are turned on by default and cannot be turned off until you receive your first subscriber, which you have no control over.  Now that I've been followed, I have sent those messages to spam and no longer see them. 

When I reported it to backerkit, they removed the user within 4 hours or so.  During those 4 hours though, my account involuntarily hosted a link to an adult website and would have been available to anyone who viewed my followers page.  The next successful spambot to follow me will do the same.  And the one after. And the one after.   If this sort of spam takes off, my followers page will simply be a litany of the same stuff that clutters a bad spam folder unless I constantly peruse it and contact Backerkit and ask them to remove the bad actors.  Since I don't use this feature in backerkit, this is someone else's problem.

i have not investigated how well following someone on backerkit could be used to stalk someone.  This could be a serious issue for some people.

Overall, it's given me a very negative view of backerkit, but I also know I am having an extremely high reaction to the level of inconvenience this has actually caused me.