How do I report an empty repo that spams via issue notifications?

[Artem-B]

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I've started to get github issue notifications spamming me about some crypto staking.

The repo: https://github.com/kaminofin/kamino-fi
Issues: as of right now there are 499 open issues with spam content:

Github docs at https://docs.github.com/en/communities/maintaining-your-safety-on-github/reporting-abuse-or-spam say :

• On GitHub, navigate to the main page of the repository.
• In the right sidebar, under the "About" section, click Report repository.

However, the repo itself is empty and there's no right-side sidebar, and no way to report it. https://github.com/kaminofin/kamino-fi

Are there any other ways to report this repo?

[Visual-Studio-Coder]

Report their username and account. GitHub takes care of them pretty fast. However, I've been getting these emails non-stop now for 2 days.

[Artem-B]

That's what I did, eventually.

[dpc]

I wanted to report them, there is a "Block or Report" button on every user's profile, but I gave up given how unfriendly and laborious it is.

I see this stupid anti-pattern on so many websites. Bunch of categories, oftentimes many layers deep. I already wasted my time with what I want to report, now I have to spend extra effort to figure out where is the right category hidden, and which github law applies.

Why can't it be just simple "Report User" form with a simple text form and Submit button? For company so focused on AI, categorizing etc. from a text field seems like a low hanging fruit for AI automation.

[marlonbarcarol]

I've just mentioned this very same repository on another discussion, as currently there is no way of preventing bad actors with the intent of phishing/scam/spam from tagging people on issues that they don't care about https://github.com/orgs/community/discussions/75571#discussioncomment-14466344

[MHuiG]

the same: https://github.com/orgs/community/discussions/174228

[MHK-123]

Go to the repo’s main page (the spam one).

On the right side of the page, below the About section, there should be a link:
Report abuse or Report repository

[Artem-B]

See my initial post:

However, the repo itself is empty and there's no right-side sidebar

[shaneholloman]

Now that the repo doesn't exist anymore, it still not removed from my notifications control panel.

[Visual-Studio-Coder]

OH NO!! WHAT WILL I DO 😭😭😭!!

[JIbald]

I have the same problem

[Nakakiyo092]

Me too.

I cannot remove the blue dot while I don't have any unread notifications.
It's so annoying. (>_<)

[Nakakiyo092]

This can be helpful.

https://github.com/orgs/community/discussions/174283#discussioncomment-14482103

[5atoshiNakamoto]

Same, is there a fix?

[Omprakash3104]

Hi there,

Sorry you're dealing with this—getting spammed by fake crypto issues is really annoying, and it's especially frustrating when the report option isn't where it should be.

Since the repo itself is empty, the sidebar with the "Report repository" button won’t show up. But you can still take action:

Here’s what you can do:

Report one of the spam issues
Go to any of the open issues in that repo. On the right side of the issue page, you’ll see a option that says “Report abuse”. Click that, choose “Spam” or “Cryptocurrency spam,” and submit. Even reporting one issue helps flag the whole repo.

Report the user account
Visit the profile of the user who owns the repo (e.g., kaminofin). Click the "…" (three dots) usually near their bio or profile info, and select “Report abuse”. Explain that this account is creating empty repos full of spam issues.

Block notifications temporarily (if it’s still flooding you)
If you’re getting too many notifications, you can mute the repository temporarily:

Go to the repo → click “Watch” (top right) → select “Ignore”.

This should help slow things down while GitHub reviews your report.

Hopefully GitHub’s support team acts quickly on this. No one should have to put up with notification spam.

Let me know if you run into any trouble taking these steps.

[Visual-Studio-Coder]

I'm hoping a feature like this comes out:

If:

• You have not commented on a repo
• You have not committed any code to a repo
• Are not a moderator/admin or some other specific member to the repo (rather than an outside viewer)
• Are not friends with the owner or any of the members who have a role in that repo

Then:

• Don't allow user to @mention you

Basically, if you're not related to whoever is mentioning you in any way, don't allow them to mention you. At best, they should send you some request like "this person would like to mention you: approve/reject" and you can see what username is begging you to approve them first before reading their crap.

[PRO-2684]

You can report it via support page. In the mean time, you can block the user and unsubscribe from the issue to avoid further disturbances. I've got the same spam notification at notify-chain/gitcoin.com#277 and reported it. Hope GitHub will take it down soon.

[5atoshiNakamoto]

how to unsubscribe if the repo is gone and gives a 404 error but notification dot remains?

[austinjp]

Yep, this is what is frustrating me at the moment. Spam repo mentioned me (I presume) but now the repo doesn't exist, it's 404:

https://github.com/git-coin-com/gitcoincom

I can't find a message in my inbox, but apparently there's an unread message for me. Somewhere.

So, there's a permanent blue mark: "You have unread notifications". But I can't see them or mark them as unread or unsubscribe or... anything :(

[austinjp]

Okay, for anyone else who finds themselves here, this just worked for me:

https://github.com/orgs/community/discussions/174310#discussioncomment-14474599

[erikd]

I have reported it too. They probably timed it so it would be after the end of the business day in San Francisco (GH headquarters is there).

[corysimmons]

ADD A FUCKING BUTTON ON OUR NOTIFICATIONS PAGE TO EASILY REPORT THEM

[JIbald]

this

[corysimmons]

Also seems like notifications are broken since I blocked this most recent shitcoin repo. I really wish GitHub went back to being a meritocracy...

[bamjun]

https://github.com/orgs/community/discussions/174283#discussioncomment-14527039

you can use this

uvx fown auth login

uvx fown noti delete -r

[tcharding]

I'm being spammed in my notifications by fake repos, the repo doesn't exist and the notification is empty. They all have the same 'gitcoin' in them. I cannot clear the notification since its not there but shows up in the menu on the left. As of today I have three

• gitcoinfund-dao/gitcoin-foundation
• update-mail/gitcoin.com
• giitcoinda/o

Yesterday there were only two.

[samir20-23]

if some empty repo keeps spamming you just block it or mute it so it stops bothering you then maybe hit report abuse on GitHub say it’s spam blocking usually stops the headache but reporting helps if it’s really trash

[tcharding]

Thanks for the response. There is no associated repo, I'm guessing the repo has been banned and removed already. But I still have the notification and its marked with a number which I'm unable to clear so I figured they will just sit there indefinitely.

[Lamby777]

@tcharding it worked for me, use this https://stackoverflow.com/a/78145748/8149876

To get a token quickly if you have gh cli installed, you can first run TOKEN=$(gh auth token) before that.

[B-3000]

@johncf Unfortunately, this is a known bug in GitHub notifications and hopefully they'll solve it soon.

But in the meantime, here are some of the solutions found in other thread discussions regarding this -

1. https://github.com/orgs/community/discussions/6874#discussioncomment-1775744
2. https://github.com/orgs/community/discussions/6874#discussioncomment-14507162
3. https://gist.github.com/Nriver/42feddd2a369a8f1519b47adb81ebef8
4. https://github.com/emmanuel-ferdman/gh-gonest
5. https://gist.github.com/jeremystretch/2c09f76837fc5af787fe9ff7747ecf3f
6. https://github.com/orgs/community/discussions/174310#discussioncomment-14474599
7. https://github.com/orgs/community/discussions/6874#discussioncomment-14481926
8. https://gist.github.com/eseiler/d3a6f978ceea1853f0c558879cf859c1

[tcharding]

Thanks, removes the dot as stated. That is definitely better than nothing. Thanks again.

[corysimmons]

This has been going on for years. GitHub will never address it.

[johncf]

Same. I've been getting multiple spam emails as well. Can we get an option to disable notifications when someone mentions me from a repository that I have no connection to? (not in orgs I'm part of, not from repos that I've interacted with etc.)

[Kuberwastaken]

report them and block them :)

[JIbald]

valid suggestion, yet often times not a solution:
https://github.com/orgs/community/discussions/174246
Github does suffer from spam and issues resulting out of it.