Lots of users registering with addresses @mail.ru but not posting, I'm suspicious...
 

Hi guys,

I have seen a decent number of users sign up on my forum using a mail.ru email address but never post. I figured they'd be spammers, but they're not spamming, they're not even posting.

I talked to a friend of mine who manages several vB forums who told me to just ban them because ".ru addresses are generally up to no good"

Can they be doing any harm if they don't appear to be doing anything at all? :confused:

Thanks!

They will destroy your site with porn and spam. You should delete them ASAP. I did some work for a site just last week that got hundreds of these freaks (acutally its a robot) registered on his site, within a few hours, his how site was overwhelmed with posts full of porno and viagra spam, hundreds and hundred of posts. I have a script and database table that you can use to check if they are known spammers but if they are .ru email addresses, more likely than not they are spammers, especially if you are running a geographically "local" site.

HTH

It's a huge happening for many of us >> https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=192455

Look through the thread for various spamming tools recommended.

I just banned using the @mail.ru address and their IP range - seems to have worked for now anyways.

Right I saw other .ru issues, but I figured if they're not posting, what's the harm?

Looks like they set up shop then all just spam at once, is that correct?

well they will get all your members emails they can first...tehn send them a PM then make a post something like "Hi and Bye but I have to tell you about....yadda yadda yadda.

Is there a way to hide member email addresses?

I thought they weren't shown, only a "click here to email *Member Name*

I also did this a while ago. There's no sense taking chances with these "guys", even if they haven't spammed you yet, who's to say they won't later?

Not like mail.ru is a world-leader in email :P

It makes sense to ban all disposable email providers. Here is a list:
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=142546

I had the same problem a few weeks ago. 4 days after it started happening, my host (hostgator) shut down my account for "phishing complaints". They scanned the site, found the files they were using, looked like:

public_html/gsarcade/avatars/a5d28f71da.gif: HG-PHPSHELL.Encoded.Fragment.AA.UNOFFICIAL

and removed them. Since then it's been smooth sailing. So do whatever you have to do to prevent them from registering.