Scam~bogus classified ads seem to be happening with more and more frequency here on BHO.
This makes at least 5 threads going on at the exact same time, right now, about various, but related, scams.
In another thread, is was suggested that there be some sort of cooling off period for newbies, or some modest fees to advertise, or minimum # of posts before allowed to advertise.
I think it is time for BHO to take a serious look at raising the threshold a couple of notches on who may place a classified ad. What attracts these crooks to BHO classifieds in part, is they can create a new account, then post ads immediately. If they get shot down, they just do it again, almost within minutes. Kind of like Whack-A-Mole.
(Possibly related to this activity, is that I have also noticed newbies come to BHO then immediately go to the Collector's forum to ask worth of banjos, complete with lots of (usually pretty good) photos. I am not saying these newbies are in any related to these other activities, but for me this has raised an eyebrow. Has anyone else noticed that too? It is possible they are related? Maybe the Mods can look at some of those email addresses and see if there is any correlation? Hopefully it's innocent questions by newbies.)
I believe increasing frequency of these scams calls for some sort of action by BHO, I just don't know what that action could or should be. In another thread started this morning, BHO user's are offering all sorts of great suggestions, lots of good minds hashing it over.
Is it time to take a serious look at least try to stop some of this before it gets started? Would some sort of threshold for posting do the trick? If so, what would that be?
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EDIT: The intent of this thread is to try to move the conversation about possible solutions (if there even are any) here, so good ideas and insights don't get buried in those threads. That's all. I am seeing this growing problem, just no idea what a solution could be.