Multiple account login detector (AE Detector)

If you are like me and migrated from .threads, a common modification was an "AE detector", a simple mod that saved a cookie of a history of ids logged into on your site. If someone logged into more than one account, you got a PM letting you know that your site was being accessed from multiple accounts.

Over the years this was very helpful in identifying users who were posting under multiple accounts (alter-egos!) and users who would return after being banned.

You might be wondering why I don't use the vbcookie call - well, thats because on logout all vB cookies are cleared, so we need to store a cookie that is not effected by the login/logout process.

New Installation
1. Add New Product with attached XML
2. Go to vBulletin Options -> AE Multiple Login Detection Settings and set your specific settings.

Time to install: Easy - 2 minutes.

Upgrade
If you installed this as a Plug-in manually, you can delete that plugin and install this Product, just make sure to go into the Options and set them accordingly.

I hope you find this useful and will click INSTALL if you use it; should it prove useful to enough people I can look at making this installation more automated without the need for edits and an Admin Options page.

To upgrade you will want to reimport this XML file and edit your options accordingly.

1.0.3
-----
. Added a check to ensure that users weren't deleted when reporting violations
. added htmlspecialchars_uni call to username

Note: I am unable to get the call to construct_phrase with $vbphrase['multiplelogin_alert'] to work reliably, as such the $message variable is still set manually inside the plug-in and not via the phrase. If anyone has an idea of why this might not always work, I'm all ears.

1.0.2
-----
. Updated to include exclusion groups, users
. Changed so PM is sent by ae sender id

1.0.1
-----
. Released as a Product (thank you PHPGeek2k3 for your help)
. Added option to post to a forum versus send a PM (or both)
. All settings moved into Admin Option

1.0.0
-----
Initial release.

[Eagle Creek]

How can I translate the content of the post?
Because translating the phrase DIDNT work??

[bglynn]

Good hack, but only useful ONCE if the user has 1/2 a brain. My main assclown just emailed me - said nice try with the cookie BS...all he had to do was block it, now right back to square one. I knew that limitation and was simply hoping this particualr assclown DIDN'T have 1/2 a brain.

AOL, free email services and assclowns. 3 things to hate the most in life if you are a board admin!

[DementedMindz]

yeah its a easy bypass erase cookies and your back in.. there has to be a way to stop users from doing it...

[almqdad]

hello

after upgrade the plugin does not seem to work it does not post in a private forum it use to before upgrade

any idea

[sandalwood]

so this keeps a table in the database for each session cookie and username, and each time someone logs in it matches to see if anyone else has that cookie? and if so alerts?

how can i dump that table to an xls? i would like to be able to see all my "same users" at a glance, all in one place.

maybe someone can mod this to dump found "duplicate" users to a txt file please? should have ip, cookie string, user1, user2, per line separated by commas.

[Paul M]

Originally Posted by sandalwood

so this keeps a table in the database for each session cookie and username, and each time someone logs in it matches to see if anyone else has that cookie? and if so alerts?

Nope.

[slovin]

I'm having a weird problem. I can see two users online, user A and user B. I see them having two different IP addresses, and yet I get reports that A tripped user B account. How is this possible?

[webmasterii]

Originally Posted by slovin

I'm having a weird problem. I can see two users online, user A and user B. I see them having two different IP addresses, and yet I get reports that A tripped user B account. How is this possible?

maybe ,, same computer, but using different proxies ..

Thanks for the plugin, it's very useful, but translation is not possible without hacking the code. (Phrases are hard coded) please cosider that on next edition .

[MPDev]

I tried to make it work using phrases; but was unsuccessful...

[calorie]

Originally Posted by MPDev

I tried to make it work using phrases; but was unsuccessful...

It looks like a scope issue. Your product is using the login_verify_success hook, which is in a function that only globals the $vbulletin variable. Try adding global $vbphrase; before you call construct_phrase and see if that makes the 'multiplelogin_alert' phrase available.