Is there a way to cleanly delete links from spam?

Question

All is in the title :).

When seeing a spam, it could seem useful to delete the link, make it non-clickable or hide it to ensure that no user will be tempted to click on it.

The obvious solution would be to edit the spam post, but I have the impression that there is a high number of drawbacks, notably:

• The automatic StackExchange spambot will be fed with invalid data,
• The account of the legitimate user having edited the spam may be linked to spamming activity (technically all following flags are made on his own edit, not on the original post),
• The spammer just have to rollback the edit to cancel all spam flags made on the edit,
• Other users may feel less concerned and may not feel necessary to flag the post as spam anymore, the problem being already handled by others.

A few references related to the above statements:

• What are the spam and offensive flags, and how do they work?,
• What should I do when I see spam posts?
• spam attack…is there anything else that the community can do to help the moderators?

So my question: is there any clean way to handle such links, or should we just let go and tough luck if any user clicks on the links while it is available?

Answer 1

The clean way to delete links from spam is to ensure that the spam post gets deleted as soon as possible. To do this, flag as spam. Six spam flags (or a single one from a moderator) delete the post, lock it in this deleted state, and teach the Stack Exchange spam filter to reject posts with similar characteristics¹. Do not downvote in addition² — that can draw reviewers' attention away from the post, and thus delay its removal.

Once a spam post is deleted, it will no longer show up anywhere. Even users who can see deleted posts³ only see an indication that there is a spam flag and need to click through a link to see the post's content.

Never edit links out of a spam post. This makes the spam less recognizable and opens a chance that subsequent reviewers will consider the post ham.

You can't have your cake and eat it. Until the post is officially deemed to be spam, it must be recognized as spam. If you were to turn it into ham, it would no longer be spam and thus no longer on the fast track to deletion with extreme prejudice.

¹ _{The details of how the spam filter works are deliberately kept confidential and change over time.}
² _{The spam flag carries an automatic downvote in itself.}
³ _{Except ♦ moderators, who are considered smart and dexterous enough not to click on spam links.}