Matrix occasionally has spam waves. Sometimes these spammers target specific communities like the Ubuntu community. While the Ubuntu Matrix Operators are working hard to block the spam before you even see it, they cannot (yet) catch everything. However, there are a few things you can do yourself to protect yourself.
Don’t engage!
The most important rule is to never engage directly with the spammers! Spammers are trying to get your attention. They want you to get upset and want you to respond to them. Ignoring them is the best response.
Disable image previews
Many Matrix clients like element allow you to disable image previews. Since some spammers send disturbing images, it’s best to turn image previews off. This way, you won’t see these images before our moderator bot removes them.
To turn image previews off in Element Desktop, click on your profile pic in the top left corner of the app, click “All Settings”, “Preferences”, and turn the following settings off:
- “Autoplay GIFs”
- “Autoplay videos”
- “Show previews/thumbnails for images”
Blocking invites of banned users
Sometimes, spam comes in the form of rogue invites to problematic rooms. By default, banned users can still send you invites, but Element has an experimental feature that allows you to block invites of everyone we ban.
- In Element Desktop, click on your profile pic in the top left corner of the app, click “All Settings”, “Labs”, and turn on 'New ways to ignore people".
- Then, go to “Ignored users” to the section “Subscribed lists” and add
!fTjMjIzNKEsFlUIiru:neko.dev. This is a community maintained list of spammers.
Ignore invites and users
Sometimes, spam comes in the form of rogue invites to problematic rooms. To combat this, you can ignore the user. By doing this, that user will not be able to send you another invite. The method to ignore the user is different depending on which app you’re using.
- On Element Desktop and Element Web, you click on the invite (but don’t accept it), and click “Reject & Ignore user”.
- If you’re using Element Android, or another client, you need to type
/ignore @user:example.comin the message box in a room and press “send”. Make sure to change the username in this command to the user inviting you.
You can also ignore users that you are already in a room with you by clicking on the profile pic of the user and clicking “
Ignore”.
Contact the Ubuntu Matrix Operators
If you’re targeted by spam, please let the Ubuntu Matrix Operators know in the Ubuntu Matrix Ops room. We’re constantly trying to improve our tooling to block the spam before you even see it. We’re also working with other communities on Matrix to defend against spam together. However, if something slips through the cracks, please let us know.
If you receive spam invites, it can help the Operators if you let us know in that room what the full username and the room ID is of the users. Certain Matrix clients such as Neochat allow you to get a room ID without entering it. You can do that by right-clicking, choosing “Room Settings”, and copying the “Room ID”.
Contact your homeserver admins
If you’re using a matrix.org account, you can report spam invites by sending an email to abuse@matrix.org