Periodically, new members join this group and immediately post
SCM-specific messages that I find to be very spammy. Normally, I just
delete them as spam and remove the new member from the group (rather
than a full-on ban which is what I do to generic spammers).

As an example, I just deleted a posting by a new member pointing to a
web site as a must read resource on SCM. The link points to a series
of pages that appear to be (very short) snippets of text from "CMMI:
Guidelines for Process Integration and Product Improvement" with lots
of ads (at least as much ad as content on the three pages I checked).

So, the question:

Is this the right response to this sort of behavior?

Other options would include:

- reject the message with an explanation. This exposes my email
address, so I'd probably have to do something funky with my
subscriptions to have my "moderator" account point to a disposable
address. That requires some overhead for me, but gives the poster a
chance if they are misguided, but not as sleazy as my first impression
suggests. I'd need a policy and process for repeat offenders.

- delete the message without further action. This gives the member no
feedback and means they could continue to read (and attempt to post)
to the group. I'd need a policy and process for dealing with repeat
offenders, but what would be appropriate if they aren't warned?

- delete as spam and BAN the new member so they can't rejoin. This is
what I do to non-targeted spam that is likely bots, but the
SCM-specific messages may actually be humans who are misguided about
what is appropriate to post.

- approve the messages (and possibly un-moderate the new user). This
seems just wrong to me. In every instance I've deleted messages, it
has been a first post by a new user pointing to a heavily ad-laden site.

Regards,

Rob