I got another spam comment today on AO3, and I want to share it as a PSA. But before I do, I want you to understand that you SHOULD NOT DO what this comment is asking. Ok? Ok.
See that bit at the bottom? Don't do that. Insert ParamedicGuy.gif going "Don't."
Other malicious spam comments I've gotten seemed designed to make an author question their writing, or outright encourage them to delete their stories from AO3. This one is different, in that it tries to get you to destroy the work on your own computer.
If you ran that command, it basically locates your Documents folder, then deletes everything in it, including all subfolders. It also does it without any prompt, so you have no chance to second guess your actions.
This is just fucking trolling.
Coincidentally, we just did training on a cyberattack similar to this, called a ClickFix attack. You can read about how that works here.
As a general rule, if ANYONE or ANY WEBSITE tells you unsolicited* to do anything in Powershell, CMD RUN, command prompt, shell command, or something similar, DON'T.
*There are legit reasons for running commands in PowerShell or the command prompt, but in those cases you are likely seeking out a solution to a problem you are already experiencing. Don't just run random commands on your computer as recommended by some unlogged-in guest on a fan fiction site.
Always think and consider before taking action, and get a second opinion from a trusted source. When I got this comment I was pretty sure what the command would do, and it took me about three seconds of googling to confirm it.
Be safe out there!
as an IT guy I can confirm that this command WILL delete all your shit. DO NOT DO IT.
Here's a bit of a further breakdown for the ones curious about what the hell this command does.
What you're basically telling your PC if you ran this is "go into this folder (Documents) and then Recursively (for all sub-folders) Remove (delete) all files therein Forcefully (without any user input and also if a file was locked)."
The little "Exclude *.archiveofourown" they tack in there is just honestly absolutely diabolical if you don't know what you're looking at.
As an inexperienced user, you'll think "oh of course, exclude ao3, that's what I want!"
*.archiveofourown is a file ending, including any file title.
There are not archiveofourown files.
This is telling your PC to ignore files that don't exist.
Honestly, the gall of these trolls is astounding.
DO NOT DO THIS.
And as a further alarm bell, even if a well-meaning anon came to your comments to warn you:
why has ao3 not put out this warning officially?
this command is for Windows users. WHAT ABOUT ALL THE PEOPLE WHO USE MAC OR LINUX?
Hope my humble knowledge was informative to someone. Stay safe, everyone.
Any post that is hostile or panic-inducing like this seem to go for the "username (guest)" naming style. Don't trust them.
