I have had a 5 spammers sign up today all from a very narrow band of IP addresses. I already had the Miserable User installed and put the first two segments of the IP addresses in to the Miserable User IP field.
This stopped them from becoming a problem even thought they signed up.

I also added 4 required fields that are related to my industry. Only legit users would know the answers. The addition of required fields that dont match the BOT script stops a lot of them. The ones that sign up manually dont know the correct type of answer and make finding the spammers a lot easier.

One other thing... I have unlimited texting on my phone so I have my forum setup to text me when a new user signs up. The text shows me the name of the user and most users in my field use relatively "normal" user names so a spammer user stands out. I can easily check the one that dont look legit and I can catch a trend of new users even when I am not near a computer and decide if I need to get to one.

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btw.

How are the spammers finding our forums?
What is consistant in the forum that they are googling for?
Is there a list on vBulletin.com or .org that they are using to find us?

Just curious if there is something that can be changed. I know that I use /forum with my domain - is this a bad thing?

Use the NoSpam modification for your version of vBulletin. It will randomize questions.


I'm pretty sure it's just random. The idea behind spam is to just cover as much ground as they possible can. There's no rhyme or reason to it.

I added the NoSpam modification and the vbStopForumSpam and both are working great. The vbStopForumSpam has prevented about 6 spammers from registering already (in about an hour).

the bot software has a huge database of forum addresses, they link directly to the registration page, changing the url of that page is effective also, at least short term

I have seen the bot software in action, knowing how it works helps in defending against it

there is a flash demo online but Im not sure if it would be ok to post a link here

If we do just a little $$$ with a Forum what is their earn/motive?

I am being flooded with porn and auto insurance spammers. I am using email confirmation, captcha, as well as NoSpam and some are still getting thru. I believe it is human controlled. I have already banned 5 users today. Also I banned all mail.ru email addresses.

I got hit hard today at 3 of my sites by the spammers. Right now I have all 3 forums set so I have to approve members. Either this is working or they have stopped for some other reason.

how can you ban by e-mails?

I would like to nail all the .cn .ru and GMAIL accounts:D

AdminCP > vBulletin Option > User Banning Options

You will see the section "Banned Email Addresses". Just put in the addresses you want to ban. I put in @mail.ru to ban all addresses from there. It also blocks new registrations from using those email addresses. I'm on the verge of banning all gmail addresses.

I let current users keep using the mail.ru address though. A spammer will get caught.

I actually had to ban another porn spammer since my last post...

Spoke too soon. Getting hit with another wave but I have to approve them but they can still register.

I agree - I am about ready to ban gmail emails also.