Spam Problem?

[Bacon Butty]

Despite taking a good amount of prevention methods, I have recently had a surge in the amount of spam accounts registering - although, the majority dont post? - possibly due to having disabled the posting of links until 5 posts have been made.

I know they are spammed accounts because literally 9/10 signups as of late have the date of birth as 1st Jan 1980 and bizarre usernames/emails.

Theyare suspect in that they all seem to have a date of birth as 1st Jan 1980 and bizarre usernames.

To signup they have to answer the question 'are you human', where they have to type yes/ye/yeah etc in the box to verify. I also have the Check4SPAM mod installed.

I am at a loss how to prevent such sign ups.

Could anyone please give me any advice?

[KURTZ]

have you enable recapcha? also have you put the askimet spam key (you can find it onto worldpress site)? maybe these features help you ...

[Dismounted]

If they can bypass Q&A - it indicates that the person signing up is human.

[Bacon Butty]

have you enable recapcha? also have you put the askimet spam key (you can find it onto worldpress site)? maybe these features help you ...

No, I disabled that. Its a personal dislike of mine, it can discriminate against some members who have visual problems. I sometimes struggle with some...

Thanks though, will research the askiment spam key.

If they can bypass Q&A - it indicates that the person signing up is human.

I thought that initially but I am certain its not the case. The last sign up a few minutes ago for example was;

uvwx144
tianxin520520@gmail.com
Again, the date of birth was 1st Jan 1980

A quick google search and the first that comes up is www.stopforumspam.com

These sign ups arent actually posting spam in the forums but they are driving me insane. :(

Thanks for the replies lads, any further feedback appreciated.

[KURTZ]

askimet is a nice feature ... try this a tell us ... ;)

[Bacon Butty]

I am looking now KURTZ but I am not entirely sure what it does, or how to apply it to vBulletin. I am sure i'll get it in the end though.

[Dismounted]

You sign up and get an API key, which you put into vBulletin. The option is under the "Spam Management".

[KURTZ]

I am looking now KURTZ but I am not entirely sure what it does, or how to apply it to vBulletin. I am sure i'll get it in the end though.

it simply scan ALL (also you can change this value) posts over your board ... if this system finds something like a spam thread/post or also a user (i believe) it puts these things into your moderation queue ... i tried this and it works really good ...

[skippybosco]

If you are looking for a way to curb the bogus registration, I would suggest this mod:

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=176481

It uses the stopforumspam.com service and has made a significant difference for me.

[Bacon Butty]

Thanks a lot for the help you lot :)