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spam update
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admin



Joined: 07 Apr 2005
Posts: 925

PostPosted: Tue Dec 19, 2006 6:19 pm    Post subject: spam update Reply with quote

well since setting all new registrations to require activation by me before being able to post, I've not seen any spam posts at all from rogue new ids.

I must have had 10-12 activation requests so far today, and they all looked dodgy, so I binned them.

I guess thats an improvement.

mods, if you see any newly registered user posting junk on here, ie slipping thru the net like the stuff we were getting on here before, can you post their userid on this thread pls before deleting their post(s)

ta, Rick
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Uncle Joe
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 20, 2006 8:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Rick, I have noted the names of some of the ones that I have previously deleted. Do you want me to post them, or does mod rights extend to deleting them? It would be a pleasure!

UJ
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admin



Joined: 07 Apr 2005
Posts: 925

PostPosted: Wed Dec 20, 2006 9:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi UJ, problem is there are 2000+ duff users in the system so it'd take a lifetime to remove their userids for good, one by one, chances are they won't be re-used so its not a problem if they stay in the system. From now on I want to catch any new userids that slip through or bypass the new activation process

cheers
RJ

PS since setting up this activation requirement 20 hours ago, I've had 29 userids apply to sign up and post, all of which looked very spammy and were not activated Shocked
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buzzy bee
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 20, 2006 11:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi

Seen a really good mprovement even just this morning! spammers will rarely use the same sign in name twice like rick says!

Cheers

Dave
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admin



Joined: 07 Apr 2005
Posts: 925

PostPosted: Wed Dec 20, 2006 7:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yup it seems to work, I get quite a lot of sign-up requests (!) but most are obviously dodgy, but I did activate one today, for birdy, so hopefully they aren't a spammer (his profile info looks ok Very Happy )

cheers
Rick
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Uncle Joe
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 20, 2006 8:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I agree, it does seem to work. I wouldn't like to see anything happen to the forum due to these (fill in as appropriate) people!
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Scotty
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 27, 2006 5:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Admin,

Could I add a little to this discussion and please forgive me if you had realised this already - however I've noticed on your Members List that if you hover the cursor over what caught my eye as a very lengthy list of "member web sites" many of them are spammer sites for Viagra and the like. It could be this fact is the reason you've been getting so many spammers joining as they have noticed their web sites are staying up?
From previous experience on another web site and of more concern to me is some of them have addresses that smack of dangerous sites to visit for the unwarey i.e. the Russian sites - what will down-load in the background as they are looking at what's up front. On the other site I participate in we advise all members never to open a web address that looks like it could be a spammers, be it on the main forums or in the member lists.

Even though you're deleting their account's, it appears to me that their fingerprint is still there - is it an easy, and more importantly safe task for you being the web master to check these sites and remove the dodgy ones?
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admin



Joined: 07 Apr 2005
Posts: 925

PostPosted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 11:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Scotty

First off, thanks for joining in, your posts have been fascinating.

The problem of spamming is a big one. These posts are placed automatically, with spammers trying to get links placed to their sites (usually dodgy sites) to try and get an improvement with their rankings in the search engines.

Automated processes scan the web, looking for forums, then after that they are targetted automatically by 'bots' (aka robots) that post everywhere and anywhere they can. I have put a piece of code onto each page of the forum, basically stopping the search engines from indexing these pages, which is a shame as it lessens the chances of genuinely interested people finding the stuff that gets talked about here.

At the moment all I can do is require activation of accounts before they post, at least that way it cuts out the chances of dodgy links appearing in easily-accessible posts, that anyone could find.

Next step I agree will have to be removing the links from the member list area. It pi**es me off that I have to spend ages looking into ways of minimising the effects of all the spam that gets dumped into a forum like this. It'll have to be a blanket block of all websites in user's signatures and profiles I think, but I'll need to have a look into it properly in the new year Rolling Eyes

Rick
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admin



Joined: 07 Apr 2005
Posts: 925

PostPosted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 11:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Following on from Scotty's points, I've now removed the link to private email and websites from the memberlist page, and also from the view profile page for each registered user. That should go a long way in helping pukka users avoid dodgy links placed by spammers

Rick
Rolling Eyes
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Scotty
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 30, 2006 8:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi again Rick,

I agree with you 100% about the spammers, their c**p seems to be infecting every aspect of the web and for the life of me I wonder why sometimes. I have lost count the number of times I've asked people if they would buy something via a spammers advert and everybody to date said they wouldn't - but somebody must be!
I think it's a bit like the girlie magazine that turns up in the locker room - everybody would look through it, but nobody ever owns up to having bought one! Rolling Eyes
What concerns me more is the way they use every opportunity to clog up the system - I notice that many of your "Spam" members have ICQ, YM, etc links included to.

I just wonder how much money web security businesses make off us by selling us spam and virus filters - a vested interest woudn't surprise me one little bit. Mr Gates could do more if he wanted, but how many people wold be put out of a job on both sides of the divide.

Rant over! Very Happy
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admin



Joined: 07 Apr 2005
Posts: 925

PostPosted: Sun Jan 14, 2007 7:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Been doing a bit more admin'ing (scary thought I know)

I found a tool that let me mass delete userids, so I went through the 3300+ userids (mostly spammers) and deleted any (3180ish) that had never posted - 99% of which are spammers I bet. Apologies to anyone who registered recently, and who hasn't yet posted, as you may have been deleted. Otherwise, the only way I could get the silly-big list of users down would be to delete the duffers, one at a time, and that would have taken days!!!

From now on I'll try to keep on top of all the junk ids, and delete them sooner. Those that remain may still include a few spammers that have posted in the dim and distant past, but at least the numbers are a bit more manageable now

Rick
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Stuchamp
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 14, 2007 10:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If the spammers post, we'll get them! Twisted Evil

Very Happy
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