Anti-Spam Options - Spambot Stopper - Prevent Spambots from Registering

What is it?
----------------------------
This mod rejects registrations where the form is filled out in less than a minimum time. You can configure one of the following actions to be taken when an automated registration is detected:

- Show a "No Permissions" page
- Display the "Successful Registration" message but without creating an account
- Redirect the user to any URL you choose
- Reload the registration page with an error message of your choosing

You can also provide a list of email addresses to be notified each time a registration is blocked.

Added for version 1.1.1: Time delay enforcer, maximum time option, time limits to cut down on email notifications, posting to a thread.

In the future, I'd like to add some simple logging and statistics, and a summary type of email notification (because people seem to quickly get tired of the single emails).

Note: I coded this myself from scratch, but I would like to acknowledge a couple of previous mods that used this same idea, by users Calorie and noppid, and maybe others. In any case, I believe this one adds some features that the others don't have.

Other advantages: no ads or links, no abuse of update notifications, no disappearing features, no threats to delete the mod (it will never be deleted, at least by me). Also, translations are allowed.

Installation:
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1) If you have "Is Bot", "Stop the Registration Bots", "Spammers Suck!", or another mod that works on registration time, note any admincp settings for that mod then uninstall it.

2) Import the product XML file from the Product Manager.

3) Go to Settings > Options > Spambot Stopper Options and configure the desired settings.

4) IMPORTANT: try to register a new user to make sure that there are no problems with humans registering. If you want, you can also temporarily set the minimum time to a higher value (like 60 seconds) and test to see if the spammer rejection is working.



History:
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1.1.1 (Feb 16, 2013)

• Added timer for enforcing minimum time
• Added maximum registration time limit
• Added time limits for email notifications
• Added posting notificatiosn to a thread

1.0.1 (Feb 01, 2013)

• Fixed bug
• Added check for fake timestamps

1.0 (Jan 31, 2013)

• Initial Release

[rhody401]

I have them going to a thread on our forum, and find that to be the best way. It's a thread within a private sub forum, which only moderators can see. It works fine that way.

[motorhaven]

Originally Posted by apsrfvb4

One bad thing about having the notices sent via email vs. a thread

This Mod stopped so many over the weekend that my server was listed by google
as a suspected bulk-email-spammer so I've had to disable them

I hope this is part of the upcoming Spam-O-Matic bugfix update
so I can get back to posting the notices in a thread.

Why aren't you using you're server to send mail directly to you, instead of having it relay them through a third party?

[Bluemax712]

Originally Posted by motorhaven

Why aren't you using you're server to send mail directly to you, instead of having it relay them through a third party?

yes - I think you mean have them sent to an email account on the server itself?
That would work fine - but accessing the server's webmail system is horribly slow.
So was having them sent to a gmail account which worked great - up until this weekend.

[Bluemax712]

Originally Posted by rhody401

I have them going to a thread on our forum, and find that to be the best way. It's a thread within a private sub forum, which only moderators can see. It works fine that way.

Posting to a thread worked fine for me too but then some weird bug popped up where RSS posts were being sent to moderation. Kevin found out what the bug was (something to do with SOM) talked with their authors who supposedly will be putting out a fix for it.

Just wondering though - do you also have RSS feeds being posted to a thread yourself
(without them being sent to moderation)?

[motorhaven]

Originally Posted by apsrfvb4

yes - I think you mean have them sent to an email account on the server itself?
That would work fine - but accessing the server's webmail system is horribly slow.
So was having them sent to a gmail account which worked great - up until this weekend.

I'm referring to using a POP3 or imap account on the server, and fetching it via Thunderbird, Outlook or whatever email client you choose.

[Bluemax712]

Originally Posted by motorhaven

I'm referring to using a POP3 or imap account on the server, and fetching it via Thunderbird, Outlook or whatever email client you choose.

the google webmail was just more convenient - access from anymachine with a browser

[kh99]

Unfortunately the way it stands right now the notifications are useful for making sure you've got it set up right, but it's probably a better idea to have them turned off most of the time (no matter if your using email or thread posting), because there's nothing limiting them. What is really needed is an option to log the attempts and send notifications in batches, and/or to limit the attempts from a given ip.

My current situation is such that I'm not planning on any vb modification work in the near future, but I'm kind of tempted now to make some time for this.

[Bluemax712]

Originally Posted by kh99

Unfortunately the way it stands right now the notifications are useful for making sure you've got it set up right, but it's probably a better idea to have them turned off most of the time (no matter if your using email or thread posting), because there's nothing limiting them. What is really needed is an option to log the attempts and send notifications in batches, and/or to limit the attempts from a given ip.

My current situation is such that I'm not planning on any vb modification work in the near future, but I'm kind of tempted now to make some time for this.

Or maybe you can send them to a log file like spam-o-matic does where you can view it in the ACP ?

[kh99]

Originally Posted by apsrfvb4

Or maybe you can send them to a log file like spam-o-matic does where you can view it in the ACP ?

Oh...yeah, that's a great idea. I don't know why I didn't think of that. I guess it's because I'm not too familiar with the vb logging stuff. Anyway, I actually already have a version that does logging, it just needs to be finished up and tested. If I can change it to use the vb logging, that might speed things up.

[Bluemax712]

cool - thanks for your time adding even more to this mod!
I'll be able to do some Beta testing too if you want