Got heavily spammed today, need advice!

[ForceHSS]

I use it not just for spam but to put new users into a group and after 10 posts it moves them to registered users

[ozzy47]

True, but could you just not use the promotion system for that?

[ForceHSS]

Yes i could but as i also use it for spammers as well no need to

[matthewd5]

Originally Posted by ozzy47

You should read the post on my site, I have followed it, and so fare no spam. I know a few other sites that have been following the same thing, for quite some time, and no spam. http://ozzmodz.com/showthread.php/50...g-Spam-Is-Over

Hello

I had all 4 mods installed and its been about a week...

It's happening less often but spammers are still getting through, about one or two per day...can I do more, short of licking down all new members to be moderated?

It's a new online community and trying to not repel legitimate users

Matthew

[ozzy47]

Did you use the lists in the mods that were in the thread I pointed you to?

[RichieBoy67]

Spammers can always get through if they want to join your site and verify email manually no matter what spam protection you have.

I would not allow new members to post links and use spam o matic in addition to the other mods to help you create a new usergroup where no linking is allowed just for new members. You can use the promotion system instead if you want as Ozzy mentioned.

## If you see a few ip's spamming the hell out of you go and ban them from your server completely. There are some things you can do with your robots.txt file and your htaccess as well to help.

Not sure if it is listed on Ozzies page but I would also use a mod that is here to block Tor access. I am not sure if spammers use it at all but most hackers do so why not block them too?

--------------- Added 26 Jan 2014 at 20:11 ---------------

Originally Posted by ozzy47

Did you use the lists in the mods that were in the thread I pointed you to?

Great list Ozzy! I use almost everyone of those.

I just joined your site.

[ozzy47]

Yeah they are pretty extensive lists. But I personally would not ban IP's, spammers and hackers can spoof the IP's, so you may actually be blocking potential users. Also IP's can change from time to time, so todays spammer IP, can very well be tomorrows legitimate users IP.

Welcome to the site Rich.

[Max Taxable]

Originally Posted by RichieBoy67

Spammers can always get through if they want to join your site and verify email manually no matter what spam protection you have.

I haven't had even one make it through in almost two years now. Not even one. And that's vs. 1000s of attempts. I've also secured three new boards in the last six months including Ozzy's, and none of those three have ever had a spammer successfully register. Ever.

This idea of "spammers can always get through" is actually, why they do.

Originally Posted by matthewd5

Hello

I had all 4 mods installed and its been about a week...

It's happening less often but spammers are still getting through, about one or two per day...can I do more, short of licking down all new members to be moderated?

It's a new online community and trying to not repel legitimate users

Matthew

Set your registration timer to 25 seconds. I think the default might be 15 or 20, for the timer mod recommended.

Originally Posted by RichieBoy67

Not sure if it is listed on Ozzies page but I would also use a mod that is here to block Tor access. I am not sure if spammers use it at all but most hackers do so why not block them too?

All ToR nodes are blocked, via one of the plugins recommended at OzzModz.

[RichieBoy67]

I haven't had even one make it through in almost two years now. Not even one. And that's vs. 1000s of attempts. I've also secured three new boards in the last six months including Ozzy's, and none of those three have ever had a spammer successfully register. Ever.

This idea of "spammers can always get through" is actually, why they do.

I have blocked spam on many sites as well and am usually successful but it depends on the topic and the permissions on the site.Some niche topics drive spam made by site owners and not really professional spammers. In addition, when able to apply permissions that moderate posts with links or block links they rarely if ever get through but on those sites where links are allowed there is no way to stop someone if they manually create a new account, verify email, etc. Some clients want to keep those permissions open and that is an issue and a motivation.

Hopefully those get taken out by a moderator so they do not last long but can get through.

On my main site we have had spammers join the site and make 10 decent posts just to be able to get permissions to post a link. I'm not sure if these would be concidered spam but my definition is if someone joins a site just to promote something without permission that is spam. The only way to get rid of this type is spam is to wait for it to happen and delete it.

[Max Taxable]

Originally Posted by RichieBoy67

I have blocked spam on many sites as well and am usually successful but it depends on the topic and the permissions on the site.Some niche topics drive spam made by site owners and not really professional spammers. In addition, when able to apply permissions that moderate posts with links or block links they rarely if ever get through but on those sites where links are allowed there is no way to stop someone if they manually create a new account, verify email, etc.

Yep, there is but it is in beta and I am still trying to convince Ozzy to code it and release it as a Mod.

I have all permissions open, use NO human verification that is native, allow links in first posts, no accounts are moderated... No spam.

On my main site we have had spammers join the site and make 10 decent posts just to be able to get permissions to post a link. I'm not sure if these would be concidered spam but my definition is if someone joins a site just to promote something without permission that is spam. The only way to get rid of this type is spam is to wait for it to happen and delete it.

That's a function of the "gotcha" type nature of the post count requirement for posting links. Of course we have all seen this before as well.