Google Docs Spam: Hundreds of Unwanted Documents Showing Up

Feb 2, 2009 - 8:17 am 1 by
Filed Under Misc Google

It seems like spammers finally got around to spamming Google Docs. We have confirmed reports at Google Docs Help discussions where some Google users have reported receiving hundreds of unwanted documents in their Google accounts.

Here is the complaint:

Someone shared a doc (unwanted) with me and a few hundred other people. Now, every day I log in, there are about 20 new copies of it with various new names, also shared with the same people.

I've tried deleting them. This usually fails. If I do it one at a time (VERY time consuming), then I can usually get them deleted in about 30 min. or so. Then I go to remove them from the trash and have the same problem. Trying to do them in bulk just says a server error has occurred. If I do it one at a time, it still says there was an error but I can refresh and it will be gone. Again, takes around half an hour to get them all out of the trash.

The problem is, the next day I login after cleaning it all up and there are about 20-30 new copies waiting for me, cluttering up my list of files. This is maddening and insane, and I can't spend an hour every day trying to restore sanity to my list of files. Any ideas?

This seems like a Google Docs spam issue to me.

Google's Marie confirmed the issue and said only a "small subset of users" are impacted by this spam issue. She adds that no accounts are compromised. Marie said:

We're aware of an issue where a small subset of users are finding multiple copies of unfamiliar documents appearing in their docs list. Some of those users are having trouble deleting these unwanted documents from their docs list. While we know this is a frustrating experience, we'd like to assure you that your docs are secure and that your account has not been compromised.

Google is working on fixing this issue as soon as possible.

Forum discussion at Google Docs Help.

 

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