Spammers

[Comets]

Hi Everyone,

I hope this is in the right section! I was just curious does anyone else have problems with spammers lately? They have been spamming our site for a long time they would also hack into our system to try and slow it down!

The more you ban them and ban the IP they seem like they multiply! LOL It's a loosing battle at times!! Is there an easier way? Is there a good Spam Control out there that works when the spammers are this aggressive??

Thanks

Comet

[Majest]

Hello. years ago my site had this issue, and we installed several methods to stop them wish have been almost 100% successful. First is the question option (can't recall if it's a vB default or a mod), various questions in the registration forum that are related to my site (sci-fi based).

However we found the most successful method is to actually have admin authorize the new users and compare their IP and email off spammer lists. It's a length procedure at times but an effective one.

[Bluemax712]

Though I've never had a post from any countries on these lists - excluding spammers
http://www.wizcrafts.net/htaccess-blocklists.html

after adding to them to the server's .htaccess it's amazing how many entries in the Apache error_log now say "client denied by server configuration"

(about 1 every 5 seconds or less )

[BigAl205]

[bryanb]

I have sort of a gauntlet set up on my site. First off, I require a number questions to be answered by the new member - for instance:

1. Tell us something interesting about yourself. (max 200 words)
2. Location
3. How did you find us?
4. What's your occupation?
5. Favorite movie?
6. Favorite book?
7. Favorite beverage?

etc.

Meanwhile I use "Stop the Registration Bots"
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=244746 and set it to 15 seconds. There is no way a normal person can fill out these questions this fast. But many bots are set to take longer to fill out registration forms. Not a prob.

All new registrations go into a moderation queue where either I or one of the mods quickly reviews the registrations. A quick glance can tell you if it's a bogus registration or not. For instance "location". If the person puts in USA, good chance this is a bogus answer since most people in the states will put in a region like Pittsburg, PA, or San Francisco, or FLA, whatever. If it's USA, nine times out of ten, it's a Chinese, Vietnamese, Philippine, or Indian/Pakastan IP address.

If "occupation" is filled out with "SEO" 9 times out of 10 - it's a spammer from India. In fact we block most Indian and Pakistani IP addresses. Our forum in mostly Europeans, North Americans, and Aussies - so when Vietnamese and Indian IPs are signing up - that's a red flag.

If someone fills in a field with "ghghgg" or some other garbage, the account is deleted (new members are warned not to do this in their sign-up instructions )

Email addresses that.look+.like.+this.12.345.hsjfhdj@gmail.com = spam bot.

All accounts are briefly reviewed, which takes a little bit of time, but our forum is pretty much spam-free. A few slip in through the cracks now and then, but it's really no biggie. We average about 10-20 new legit sign ups per day - traffic is about 500 members signing in daily with about 3000 guests wandering about.

Hope this helps.

[Zantox]

I use the Spam-O-Matic which is absolutely wonderful. Along with a Image capatcha and a few normal member questions and don't see many spam accounts. Before those measures, a lot more
Though.

[Comets]

Sorry for the delay in the response just wanted to say thank you everyone for your suggestions and help we installed the Spam-O-Matic and it works great!! Also is there a way to group the spammers instead of doing them one at a time?

Thanks

Comet

[Lazorbeam]

1. Install Spam O Matic.
2. Install the anti bot registration and set to 10-15 seconds.
3. Question + answer.
4. Captcha doesn't work anymore.

I have the above setup, and I rarely get spammers. I turned off email registration too.