If you’re running a blog, chances are you’re hit by comments spam. Sometimes it’s really more persistent than your regular payday loan crap, and when the spam is crypto-related it’s always fun to dissect it.

Previously a couple of Kucoin affiliates were going bananas shilling their referral links in automated comments, but now spammers promoting Ternio have taken their place:

Ternio is yet another ICO, – “[thing] , but on the blockchain!” – and they have an affiliate program rewarding partners for signups through their referral link. They offer to shorten links through the ternio.me domain they own (smart move, since ternio.me homepage redirects to airdrop.ternio.io without any affiliate links).

Interestingly, the generated affiliate link is just a link with a UTM tag added for Google Analytics! Here’s the one that’s been spraying comments over my blog:

https://airdrop.ternio.io/?utm_source=100k&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=airdrop

Come to think of it, Ternio’s affiliates are pretty gullible. There is no way they can check or verify signups through their own links, because Ternio won’t be letting them in to Google Analytics for ternio.io – and that’s the only place where you can track such links. Basically, the people behind Ternio can “shave” signups all they want and report the numbers they are comfortable with.

Are you OK with ICOs enabling spammer armies for their pumps?

Would you, as an affiliate, promote a UTM tag link you’d never be able to track?

Share your views in the comments!