Troublesome user

[Spangle]

I've got a user who continually disrupts the forum, if I ban him he just registers a new account, new email, and new IP address, I have a feeling he is also using an IP mask, is there a MOD out there that can stop him ?

[Max Taxable]

Originally Posted by Spangle

I've got a user who continually disrupts the forum, if I ban him he just registers a new account, new email, and new IP address, I have a feeling he is also using an IP mask, is there a MOD out there that can stop him ?

You can block proxies from registering, you can also block host names.

If he's got something unique and goofy in his user agent string, you can block that.

The mods for the above:

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=264932

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=242357

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=279110

If someone is truly determined and persistent, there's really no stopping them other than moderating all new users, or shutting registration off completely. Those are likely what he wants to see.

You just gotta outlast him, put up some of these roadblocks I've listed, and keep vigilant. he'll get bored finally and go away.

Also - once you've identified him you can put him in Tachy - he will be the only one who can see his posts. Let him waste his time posting away...

[ForceHSS]

<a href="https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=299546" target="_blank">https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=299546</a>

[Spangle]

Originally Posted by ForceHSS

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=299546

I've installed that, but he isn't using known proxies, at the present count he's logged in from 42 ISP addresses

[pityocamptes]

Instead of banning them and playing cat and mouse, how about letting them register, grab their IP address, and redirect them (.htaccess) to a 404 page or some other screen shot you have, etc. that leads them to believe that the site is down, or has been hacked? Maybe they won't bother for a while...

[Max Taxable]

Originally Posted by pityocamptes

Instead of banning them and playing cat and mouse, how about letting them register, grab their IP address, and redirect them (.htaccess) to a 404 page or some other screen shot you have, etc. that leads them to believe that the site is down, or has been hacked? Maybe they won't bother for a while...

Until he just changes IP addresses and sees the site isn't down. Same exact issue with tachy goes to Coventry too, if he logs out he won't be able to see his own posts and will know something is up.

Originally Posted by Spangle

I've installed that, but he isn't using known proxies, at the present count he's logged in from 42 ISP addresses

Give us his User Agent String you get from online.php, set it to show user agents and copy.

[Simon Lloyd]

My advice? let him join, welcome him as a user then add the mod "miserable user" and add him to it, he'll always be able to see and use the forum except it will be painfully slow, if he re-registers simply add his userid/username to miserable user eventually he will get fed up.

[Max Taxable]

Originally Posted by Simon Lloyd

My advice? let him join, welcome him as a user then add the mod "miserable user" and add him to it, he'll always be able to see and use the forum except it will be painfully slow, if he re-registers simply add his userid/username to miserable user eventually he will get fed up.

Again, that one only works when he is logged in. One could also add the IP address as well to MU, but as the OP said he changes them often.

If you make the settings subtle on that however it might be some time before he begins to suspect there's a problem.

[Spangle]

Thanks for these, I've installed the lot !

--------------- Added [DATE]1384972266[/DATE] at [TIME]1384972266[/TIME] ---------------

Originally Posted by Max Taxable

Until he just changes IP addresses and sees the site isn't down. Same exact issue with tachy goes to Coventry too, if he logs out he won't be able to see his own posts and will know something is up.

Give us his User Agent String you get from online.php, set it to show user agents and copy.

Can you explain this bit a bit better ?

[Max Taxable]

Originally Posted by Spangle

Can you explain this bit a bit better ?

When you know he is on and logged in, go to "Who's Online" and find him there, then set your "User Agent" option at the bottom for "Yes" then click "Display" and it will show his IP address, plus his user agent string. This will include his operating system, browser, and other identifiers. Typical one might look like this:

117.26.112.70
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:23.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/23.0