Chasing spammers: Using the Internet protocol address fordetection

The proliferation of reviews evaluating different services on social networks andonline platforms and their importance in consumer decision‐making has led someunscrupulous individuals to take advantage of the anonymity offered by the Internetto manipulate these reviews and influence customers'...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Sáez Ortuño, Laura, Forgas Coll, Santiago, Huertas García, Rubén, Puertas i Prats, Eloi
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión aceptada para publicación
Fecha de publicación:2024
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de la UB
OAI Identifier:oai:diposit.ub.edu:2445/221590
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2445/221590
Access Level:acceso embargado
Palabra clave:Investigació operativa
Protocols de xarxes d'ordinadors
Adreces d'Internet
Xarxes socials en línia
Operations research
Computer network protocols
Internet addresses
Online social networks
Descripción
Sumario:The proliferation of reviews evaluating different services on social networks andonline platforms and their importance in consumer decision‐making has led someunscrupulous individuals to take advantage of the anonymity offered by the Internetto manipulate these reviews and influence customers' decisions. The main objectivesof this study are: (1) to test whether spammers usually perform their misdemeanorsfrom the same IP address; (2) to explore whether there are differences betweenstated sexes in this regard; (3) to detect the main motivations for posting fraudulentreviews; and (4) to determine the motivations for doing so from the same IP address.These objectives were achieved by means of a quasi‐experiment with a sample of7,192,487 users, and a qualitative investigation in which 37 users who had falsifiedinformation were interviewed. The results show that spammers who tend to faketheir identity do so from the same IP address and that they tend to be male. Fourtypes of motivation are presented: revenge, entertainment, opportunity for profit,and self‐esteem; as well as a further three to explain the use of the same IP:convenience, limited resources, and complacency.