Okay, that hurt my feelings slightly

[annavere]

I've been hearing about the AO3 art scam comments, and I always figured if I got one it would be for my Teen Wolf saga, because that's a big fandom it would make sense to target.

I did not think it would be for my TINY DEAD FANDOM story, right on the heels of finally fixing the html and posting chapter four.

Registered user with nothing on their page, joined the site today. Kudosed the fic, too.

Can someone with greater fandom knowledge advise me on what I'm supposed to do?

Comments

[argentum_ls]

Report the comment to Abuse.

There is a link at the bottom of AO3 under Contact Us:

https://archiveofourown.org/abuse_reports/new

[annavere]

Thanks.

I got another one. :(

[argentum_ls]

Ugh.

I suggest locking all your works. It'll help cut off the bot-crawlers.

[annavere]

Alas, both of those comments were registered users, which is rather dismaying.

They are reported now.

[argentum_ls]

I'm sorry you had to deal with that.

FWIW, know that the bots are liars.

[annavere]

At least I know how to file a report now.

[argentum_ls]

That is, sadly, an important thing to know these days.

[teratornis]

Oh ugh I'm sorry, that sucks. There are some really mean ones going around right now, too. :c

Looks like LS got you the report form, that's good. Those are still just the worst, though.

[annavere]

Yeah...

[brightknightie]

Yes, Argentum_LS is right. All sympathy to you for the experience! ♥

I got one like that last week on a very, very old -- and very, very long -- Forever Knight story. I initially was going to report it, but I couldn't easily find the report mechanism in the UI where I seemed to remember it. I decided to take a deep breath, delete the comment, and brush it off.

After all, I told myself, it would have been a good try for a bot, but for a human it was a very poor attempt. I barely for a second believed it was sincere.

It's been a while since I've gotten a scam or bot comment -- or, may it never ever happen again, a bigoted comment -- on my fic, but, in recent months, I've had a steady stream of spammers and bots trying to join a Google Group I run for a community club. That may have built up my defense mechanisms. Previous scam and bot and vile comments on my fic upset me very, very much.

(Given FK, I wondered whether the scammer was deliberately targeting old, small, quiet fandoms on the supposition that we might be more desperate for attention and therefore more gullible.)

[annavere]

That's so disheartening and I'm sorry you were targeted. :(

[havocthecat]

Please report! You will give Policy and Abuse more data on the bots if you report them.

If you need info on how to report, please email me. I have reported quite a few TOS-violating comments and non-fics and people who have posted fics-for-cash.

[bleodswean]

AAARGH!!! It's really aggravating and offputting. I'm glad you reported it.

[annavere]

Truly!

At least they were very prompt in removing the comments. I'm sure the volunteer team have a lot on their plates, but I guess my problems were very simple to verify and address. So that's good.

[killabeez]

Poo! I'm sorry they found you. :( Have an OTP icon as consolation.

[annavere]

That does help! Just gotta do like Theo and walk it off (maybe cuss it out first). Do like Erin and get busy.

I do love that icon. They are so completely in their own world. ❤️

[killabeez]

Yes. I love Markus and Kurdy behind them being slightly terrified.

[annavere]

Yes, they definitely have the "when did we stop being the main characters?" vibe as they disappear into the background.

[havocthecat]

Report that fucker! Hit me up on Discord if you want info on which section of the TOS to cite.

If you scroll down to the bottom of the page in your fic and use the report link there, it will even put a link to your fic in the report.

[annavere]

Thanks, I will do so. Might as well be prepared if this happens again.