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:
----------------------------
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

[kh99]

Originally Posted by sadiq6210

Is it working with this mod?
I mean can I use it both in same time?
Anti-Spam Options - KeyCAPTCHA - Interactive CAPTCHA with Social Features

I can't say for sure, but I looked at it and I don't see any reason that it wouldn't work. It doesn't use the same hooks or anything like that.

[In Omnibus]

Originally Posted by djbaxter

Increased time to 25 seconds. Getting spambots trying at 21, 22, 23, 24 seconds. No actual humans blocked yet. Total today for 4 forums is 500+ attempts.

May have to go back to 30 seconds which is what I used before but didn't actually test myself.

FWIW I have this set at 30 seconds and haven't had a single bot get through.

[kh99]

Originally Posted by ProSportsForums

FWIW I have this set at 30 seconds and haven't had a single bot get through.

But are you concerned about humans filling out the form in less than 30 seconds?

[Nelson58]

I'm using 20 and it works great for me, love this mod.

[Lionel]

that bot went thru but will be stopped due to last answer

There is a new user, sb4hjgp3fd at vBcover Forums

Email Address : eyterjfgb@hotmail.com
Birthday : November 26, 1980
Referrer: N/A
IP Address: 27.153.186.96

Preferred weather unit : Fahrenheit
How did you hear about us? : opqrs52247
Do you currently have a website? : yes
Which version of vBulletin are you currently using? : none

[Lionel]

I've also successfully tested a nice way to catch thieves trying to buy via my icart with stolen Credit Card. Once I have some time I will implement for registration. You give them a list of country where they are for them to select. Then you create a function to grab country from IP. if they don't match then you stop them. Recently a fraudster with a Canada IP made a purchase with a Credit Card from France. Of course he got caught. 2 days later the legitimate credit card owner filed an unauthorized claim.

[In Omnibus]

Originally Posted by kh99

But are you concerned about humans filling out the form in less than 30 seconds?

No. I have a dozen required fields. No one could possibly fill them all in under 30 seconds.

[djbaxter]

Originally Posted by kh99

Yeah, can see where it's a problem if the bot time is approaching human time. The idea of delaying human registration would work, if I can figure out a way to do that. Or maybe one of the ideas that Lionel suggested would work to differentiate the bots from the humans.

Still monitoring via emails from the 4 forums with now well over 1000 registrations blocked since yesterday morning (I won't be continuing to look at all thse emails for very much longer). I've seen times as long as 27 or 28 seconds since I bumped the setting to 30 seconds and it's obvious from the structure of the usernames and email addresses that they're bots (you can spot most of them after a while - the bots aren't very good at constructing fake names and one even had an "@bypass-captcha.com" email address!). None of the blocked registrations have been actual humans.

[Lionel]

Kevin, if you want I could PM you the function to grab country code from IP then you verify it vs selected country? A bot will never guess from a list of 100 ++ countries

This thing is amazing. I just made a sale and the country Great Britain from IP was verified by PayPal user address.

[Digital Jedi]

I have mine set at about 25. So far no humans blocked that I can see, and I have a very short registration form. No CAPTCHA (since, really, who is this stopping now other than delaying human registrants), but all my verification questions require identifying something in an image. And I often use the same questions for different pictures. So that buys me those few seconds a human would need. So far, so good.