Spam Issues

[4colourprogress]

I've noticed you guys are having a lot of problems with spam recently.

Could I recommend you look at installing some plug-ins on your phpbb setup to help with the problem, there are a number of different options on this page

http://www.phpbb.com/customise/db/modifications/anti-spam-9/

[ALwin]

Definitely need to do something these spam bots.

[ALwin]

Ok it's not just spam that DP needs to watch out for, but also posts by users whose only reason for joining the forums is to advertise something without contributing to any discussions at all. Most of them just post a simple one liner saying for example, these two posts in the same thread:

I think you must hire a professional wedding photographer for this wedding.

I think you must hire a professional wedding photographer, who can capture all the memorable moments of your life.

To me, it looks like they are trying to mask their actual intention of advertising something with seemingly relevant posts to a topic of discussion.

Or this one for example:

You can also go for canon the most widely used and successful best digital camera.

...

I have a feeling that some of them are just employees of websites/webstores or some other service hired to find popular forums and advertise their services or products. Either that or they are Eliza bots programed to analyze previous posts of the topic in question and produce a seemingly appropriate reply containing their ad.

[Chris Humphreys]

Aung, if I see these types of post I hit the '!' mark on the post and report to DP. I think DP try and moderate the forum as best they can, but it's always good if us 'frequent flyers' help them out a little.

[ALwin]

Aung, if I see these types of post I hit the '!' mark on the post and report to DP. I think DP try and moderate the forum as best they can, but it's always good if us 'frequent flyers' help them out a little.

Thanks Chris, I do report posts that seem to look like spam or just simple adverts.

[ravens-eye]

Things are getting out of hand on here with Spam at the moment.

I am getting fed up of hitting the '!' button.

Would it be possible to put something in place so that new users have to verify their email address & get admin approval before being able to start posting & even then, restrict them from adding any links in posts/sigs for say their first week?

It may put them off a bit more if they had a few hoops to jump through before they can commence posting gobbledegook and useless links.

It's frustrating going to look at new posts and finding garbage and repeatedly having to report is, as I'm sure you guys are also getting fed up with deleting them.

[ALwin]

1) DP is not deleting the accounts of Spammers/Spam bots. They just delete the posts. I think they need to delete the accounts too, sure it may reduce the number of forum members count by a few.

2) Some of these spams are very clever, they read a particular keyword and write a few words to entire paragraphs that look seemingly relevant. Sometimes it's just funny reading them.

3) Putting in a few more hoops to jump through can also deter potential new members from joining. I think what they need to do is implement more filters.

[Debbi]

Hi there - we do ban all accounts of anyone who's post is deleted as spam. This weekend seems to have been particularly bad for spam and we're looking into it

[ravens-eye]

Members Haiden & Ryder above are both spammers. Look into their profile... Age very close (26 & 28), both like music and both are in business also their posts I could swear are written by the same person. Look at the !!!!! & ????? at the end of what they are writing in their other posts in other threads.

Their posts pretend to be interested in the subject but their post is just so the links in their sigs get online visibility.

I don't think small hoops would deter new genuine users as much as this spamming may. I have had restrictions in many a forum when first joining before. It keeps order and if you really want to be a productive member of the forum you will accept the terms and the small hoops you have to jump through to gain access.

[Medley]

Would it be possible to put something in place so that new users have to verify their email address & get admin approval before being able to start posting & even then, restrict them from adding any links in posts/sigs for say their first week?

There are open-source scripts out there to deal with email-verification, and I'm not sure what admin would be looking for in an account that hadn't created any posts yet. Restricting the links seems like a good idea, but it isn't. A forum I moderate recently went that route, requiring 100 posts before any links could be included.

So a few dedicated souls created posts that were within guidelines, if not entirely helpful. When they got to 100 posts, the simply created a link in their sig. Viola! Link spam X 100! Mind you, the posts weren't off topic. "Never thought of that, thanks for the advice." and such. And yes, there were fewer spammers, albeit with exponentially more posts.

So what do you do? Do you disallow ALL signature links, because the spammers got it figured out? Do you try to become clairvoyant as to who's planning on spamming, and who's just new to forums?

It's a measure/ countermeasure game. They can create new accounts as fast as we delete them. Onion routing makes banning IP's impractical. So we learn how to block Tor clients. And then last July, Tor comes out with a block-resistant revision (it's still in beta). Life goes on.

In the end, for our forum, it's half a dozen mod-enabled regulars deleting a dozen or so spam posts per day that keep a tidy appearance. And believe me, it's no less aggravating for us than it is for you. Keep the suggestions coming though. I'm always open to new ideas.

- Joe U.

[ALwin]

LOL, spam seems to be getting worse...we're now even getting advertisements for escort agencies?

[ravens-eye]

Tell me about it. I saw one, reported it, refreshed the screen and 5 more threads have been attacked. Tooooo easy for them me thinks

[Troy]

2) Some of these spams are very clever, they read a particular keyword and write a few words to entire paragraphs that look seemingly relevant. Sometimes it's just funny reading them.

It's also rather amusing when one or two members reply before realising it is actually spam

Sorry, not a productive response, but this is the most intelligent spam i have ever seen.

[ALwin]

2) Some of these spams are very clever, they read a particular keyword and write a few words to entire paragraphs that look seemingly relevant. Sometimes it's just funny reading them.

It's also rather amusing when one or two members reply before realising it is actually spam

Sorry, not a productive response, but this is the most intelligent spam i have ever seen.

And don't forget to mention the spam posts which look like they were originally written in one language and went through various passes in yahoo translator or are more likely just posts of Vogon poetry.




PS: Anyone care to guess which sci-fi series I just referenced?

[Medley]

PS: Anyone care to guess which sci-fi series I just referenced?

Hitchhiker's.