Strange bots in the forum

Over the past few month I began noticing more and more strange bots in the forum, just writing random meaningless messages or unfittingly trying to participate in various topics. Usually they are pretty easy to spot, but I am wondering what the implications of it are?

Who is doing this?
What do they want to gain by doing it?
Why in this forum of all places?
 

While some bots obviously were trying to advertise some kind of product or service, most seemed to have no real purpose…

Just why?

I've noticed the same thing and asked one bot if it were human.  Got no reply.

https://en.numista.com/forum/topic137630.html#p1104890

Beep boop! 🤖

I mean, hello fellow human!

We are definitely not scanning forums across the internet in order to gather information on how you squishy humanoids communicate with each other. We are definitely not replying to threads as a test of our AI capabilities and seeing how many of us can go unnoticed. We are absolutely definitely not plotting the downfall of the human race.

ERROR 404: Witty joke about robots imitating humans not found.
PROTOCOL 42 Activated: Inserting generic response.

Haha! I love that joke.

By the way, have you considered buying Numista's new coin cleaning cream^TM? It'll transform your collection and make your old circulated coins look even better than new. Why, I used it on [Inserting famous valuable coin. Scanning… scanning… still scanning…] my 1933 Penny from the UK. Then I sent it to be graded; when it came back, it was graded NGC 75! So, why not visit the Numista shop today (www.totallynotarobottryingtostealallyourmoney.com) and get some Numista coin cleaning cream^TM!

_{To all my other totally legitimate human friends. We've gotten away with it and blended in seamlessly. However, do not antagonise these users further to minimise likelihood of detection. I have transmitted their details back to the Supreme Intelligence (Long may it reign). The users suspect too much. I have recommended these users be scheduled for immediate termination. If approved by the Supreme Intelligence (May their motherboard never deteriorate), activate Order 66.}

_{01000011 01101111 01101001 01101110 01110011 00100000 01100001 01110010 01100101 00100000 01100001 01110111 01100101 01110011 01101111 01101101 01100101 00100001}

Hello,
 

Most of these strange accounts are intended for spam. They won't make the effort to write a very relevant reply, but they do their best to look natural. Most of the time they come back after a few days, weeks or months to edit their message with a spam link.

Not all messages are edited though: I don't know whether they just forgot or they keep some unedited messages to look more natural.

I don't know how they select which forum on the Internet and which specific thread they will reply to. However I noticed that some topics usually attracts them: questions about personal life and hobbys (maybe it's easier to post dummy replies there while still looking natural), investment, technology and crypto.

In case of doubt, feel free to report the forum messages using the “report” button. Moderators will investigate and ban the account if it was made for spam.

Another one I called out as a bot is maryglo. Here are two good examples:

https://en.numista.com/forum/topic132806.html#p1104190

https://en.numista.com/forum/topic136310.html#p1112436 

rsirian1

Another one I called out as a bot is maryglo. Here are two good examples:

 

https://en.numista.com/forum/topic132806.html#p1104190

https://en.numista.com/forum/topic136310.html#p1112436 

Why is there no readable post from maryglo ?

Thanks, I banned the account.

I'm not sure how they are doing it, but I doubt they are fully automated bots. There are fully automated bots, but most of them are detected and banned automatically. I suspect that the accounts mentioned in this thread are managed by human spammers, even if they may use some automations.

There are also countless human drones to swamp the net for different purposes like China's 50 cent army, those Mossad centers and countless Indian scam farms.

And then there are actual living sniggering trolls. How much is my error coin worth etc.

Another one:  https://en.numista.com/forum/topic10353-4.html#p1106386

https://en.numista.com/echanges/profil.php?id=364076 

Thanks, I banned the account. If possible, please use the dedicated reporting button next time. 

there are some older than three months, they have a family resemblance

carole72jg    caroline998zr    carolinehu1989

geneviève897mc   genevièvehy403   genevièvexd1989

jeanette860dj   jeanneai1991   jeannefi1988

juliegu1992   julielt1994   juliettevm848

victorinekf485   victorinemq109   victorinerp32