Re: [UCLUG] Re: Neighbors! Group Deal on Air Duct Cleaning

[shay walters]

I've seen a lot of this spam on the "ColaLUG" group. Typical
scenario: someone joins as a new member, then after a day or two sends
a message much like this. The names and prices change from message to
message, but it's usually offering a "duct cleaning" service.

I've started setting up new members as "Moderated", so that we have to
approve any new message before it goes public. So far, six for six
new members have done this. I'm pretty sure this is a scam to
harvest phone numbers or email addresses (or worse). Even if it's
not a scam, it's certainly off-topic.

-Shay

On Thu, Nov 13, 2025 at 7:52 AM Jess F <jess...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Anyone Interested?
>
> On Thursday, 13 November 2025 at 17:52:00 UTC+5 Jess F wrote:
>>
>> Hey neighbors! I just booked a local tech for duct cleaning (regular price is $300) but he offered me a group deal for $199 if a few more households join in. One of my neighbors already signed up, so there are only two spots left. It’s a super easy way to save $100 and get fresh, clean air before winter hits . If you’d like to join, please send me a private message with your name, address, and phone number, and I’ll coordinate everything with the provider. or Contact him directly at 321-780-3267 and paulma...@gmail.com
>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Upstate Carolina Linux Users Group" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to uclug+un...@googlegroups.com.
> To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/uclug/09eebefd-90ae-4ed8-9a7f-84a19d6269e5n%40googlegroups.com.

[Dan Stoner]

Thank you for doing this admin work!

> To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/uclug/CAKdjT5LF%2BScE9-bUeHf61jnXLBniaK%3DX87UJ7ZGxfX9gfCqMTg%40mail.gmail.com.

[Jas Eckard]

I removed these messages from the forum-interface and reported them as spam.

--Jas Eckard
.
..:

> To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/uclug/CADKwgJd-o32VJpNNK9ntUJ0FpkncfjCaiGsp40rGCzCR_oTVpQ%40mail.gmail.com.

[george]

looks like they're back with a new thread. 

any thoughts on going to  moderated like Shay did for cola lug?

[Lee Bo]

Smack the ban hammer on them!

Just my $0.02.

_______________________

~Lee Bo

ora et labora

N4CRV

WSDT603

On Nov 25, 2025, at 8:04 AM, george <geo...@geolaw.com> wrote:



To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/uclug/db9de200-15ff-4799-a83b-eb72d38082bbn%40googlegroups.com.

[Rick Smith]

I'll second that 

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/uclug/7246CC64-F3AF-4AD7-902E-A4AF279F7AA6%40gmail.com.

[shay walters]

I'm virtually certain that this is a bot that has been trained to
infiltrate Google Groups. It won't stop until you do something to
stop it. I'll be glad to go over the measures I took.

-Shay

> To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/uclug/db9de200-15ff-4799-a83b-eb72d38082bbn%40googlegroups.com.

[Datapioneer]

Hi Shay,

I moderated new members when I was with the WNCLUG-Asheville Group as owner/moderator of the Google Group. I did exactly what you have done which is to force moderation of newly-assigned members until you are confident they aren't scammers. In the case of the Air Duct Cleaning scammer, it was a no-brainer to ban them.

Dan Calloway