a VERY random user just advertised by PMing me. it sounded very automated and like a scam. could this be a problem / are you even allowed to advertise?

The message i got was:
Are you new to Sylestia (and/or), perhaps may be interested in expanding your collection of virtual pets sometime in the future through buying new virtual pets or breeding your virtual pets with compatible virtual pets of the same species?

Hi!

That does not seem like a normal message, and I agree it sounds like a bot of some sort. You could check how old the account is of the user that sent the PM, as it could just be a very new user (even so, that kind of spam advertising isn't generally considered acceptable). Probably best to ignore the message and let Krin know :)

The user's account was made in 2016 but they seem to be a scammer or a bot that belongs to a scammer. Their profile page consists of other profile pages leading to people that they suspect are new to the website.
I'll let krin know, thanks!

Yes I know exactly who you are talking about, I've had messages from them before as well. Do not respond and just block, the problem will never arise from them again.
(While I do believe that yes this is a bot, I have no proof and there is nothing wrong with the message really as its just talking about online pets, which is Sylestia)