Tell HN: Banned from LinkedIn for Reporting Wickr Drug Spam

#1

Post by silent_speech » Thu, Jun 16, 2022, 6:07 AM UTC

It made the news recently that Wickr (Amazon owned E2EE chat app) is full of illegal imagery.

I read about this on my LinkedIn feed then decided to search for "Wickr" there to see who else was talking about this. The search returned dozens of spam messages offering drugs in Asia and the US with information to contact on Wickr for price.

I reported these drug spam posts to LinkedIn - which is supposedly an anonymous report.

Next day I got a flood of reports on my own comments (nothing to do with that topic), so many I didn't bother to appeal as I had other things to do. Few hours later my account was down.

Seems that for retaliation the drug network decided to find me out and use their accounts to subvert LinkedIn's policy and ensure I can't stop their spam. They have new spam up now while my account is gone.

No good deed goes unpunished I guess.

Re: Tell HN: Banned from LinkedIn for Reporting Wickr Drug Spam

#2

Post by thestepafter » Thu, Jun 16, 2022, 6:18 AM UTC

So you are saying that on LinkedIn if you report something the owner can see the name of who reported it?

Re: Tell HN: Banned from LinkedIn for Reporting Wickr Drug Spam

#3

Post by LewisVerstappen » Thu, Jun 16, 2022, 6:19 AM UTC

Of all the social networks, I never would've guessed that LinkedIn is the one people turn to when they want to sell drugs.

Re: Tell HN: Banned from LinkedIn for Reporting Wickr Drug Spam

#4

Post by moneywoes » Thu, Jun 16, 2022, 6:22 AM UTC

What did you search?

Re: Tell HN: Banned from LinkedIn for Reporting Wickr Drug Spam

#5

Post by moneywoes » Thu, Jun 16, 2022, 6:23 AM UTC

Any screenshots?

Re: Tell HN: Banned from LinkedIn for Reporting Wickr Drug Spam

#6

Post by Nextgrid » Thu, Jun 16, 2022, 6:25 AM UTC

thestepafter wrote: post #2

So you are saying that on LinkedIn if you report something the owner can see the name of who reported it?

They shouldn't, but I wouldn't be surprised if the people that are supposed to review the reports are bribed or compromised. I'd imagine it's outsourced to the lowest bidder, as customer service & moderation typically is in any big/scummy company.

Re: Tell HN: Banned from LinkedIn for Reporting Wickr Drug Spam

#7

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Jun 16, 2022, 6:26 AM UTC

[deleted]

Re: Tell HN: Banned from LinkedIn for Reporting Wickr Drug Spam

#8

Post by thereare5lights » Thu, Jun 16, 2022, 6:28 AM UTC

It's not surprising. LinkedIn has been shady from the start.

People shouldn't forget that they used to scrape your contacts from your email account through some sneaky user flow that got you to give them your email password.

Re: Tell HN: Banned from LinkedIn for Reporting Wickr Drug Spam

#9

Post by izhak » Thu, Jun 16, 2022, 6:33 AM UTC

If that's true then:

1. Either LinkedIn is hacked by drug mafia 2. Or drug mafia has people inside LinkedIn

But first thing - you should share you full report that you've sent to LinkedIn. You don't risk outing yourself - since mafia already knows your account.

Re: Tell HN: Banned from LinkedIn for Reporting Wickr Drug Spam

#10

Post by misja111 » Thu, Jun 16, 2022, 6:36 AM UTC

izhak wrote: post #9

If that's true then: 1. Either LinkedIn is hacked by drug mafia 2. Or drug mafia has people inside LinkedIn But first thing - you should share you full report that you've sent to LinkedIn. You don't risk outing yourself - since mafia already knows your account.

or 3. The reporting was not anonymous after all