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Title: How do you keep spambots out? Post by: Kitsune on April 21, 2012, 03:31:52 AM I was just looking at the latest piece of stupid in the den when it occurred to me to wonder about how F13 has guest posting enabled but isn't completely awash in spambot ads. I went to some game's forum yesterday to research it after a steam sale and found the place was nothing but spam posts, at least a hundred a day, and every logged in user had a similar generic name followed by three numbers, just like the spam posters. Not a single real person seems to have posted in weeks. And that's far from the only forum I've seen completely overrun, so I'm curious about what's being done differently here that's keeping all but the occasional bot off the forum.
Title: Re: How do you keep spambots out? Post by: Lantyssa on April 21, 2012, 05:04:27 AM We don't have guest posting. If you see a guest, it means a mod has removed their account and flagged it for moving/deletion, they just didn't have the power to do so themselves.
As for their registration restrictions, I can only hazard a guess since it's been six years since I did so. Not allowing certain domains to register is a big one. Once spammers find an easy to acquire address (hotmail, yahoo, etc.), if it's not blocked then they can create endless accounts. Title: Re: How do you keep spambots out? Post by: MuffinMan on April 21, 2012, 06:19:22 AM If you look at our member listing and sort by Date Registered there are a TON of spam accounts. The strange thing is that hardly any of them post and eventually just get deleted in the Great Purge.
Title: Re: How do you keep spambots out? Post by: taolurker on April 21, 2012, 06:26:53 AM Wasn't f13 the forum where you had to write a description of why you weren't a spam bot after you registered to get forum access/approval?
Title: Re: How do you keep spambots out? Post by: MuffinMan on April 21, 2012, 06:35:42 AM Wasn't f13 the forum where you had to write a description of why you weren't a spam bot after you registered to get forum access/approval? Don't remember that but I do recall having to send Joe a message to verify that I was "Acceptable."Title: Re: How do you keep spambots out? Post by: Rendakor on April 21, 2012, 11:48:49 AM Who's Joe?
Title: Re: How do you keep spambots out? Post by: Furiously on April 21, 2012, 02:25:54 PM Title: Re: How do you keep spambots out? Post by: Soln on April 21, 2012, 08:21:03 PM I was the admin for awhile for a small SMF forum (same engine as f13) and after several weeks&months of dealing with bots getting around the latest captcha I finally blacklisted a whole country and I'm afraid to say it worked. Overnight all the ad spam stopped and didn't reoccur. Sad but true.
Title: Re: How do you keep spambots out? Post by: Paelos on April 21, 2012, 09:37:43 PM I was the admin for awhile for a small SMF forum (same engine as f13) and after several weeks&months of dealing with bots getting around the latest captcha I finally blacklisted a whole country and I'm afraid to say it worked. Overnight all the ad spam stopped and didn't reoccur. Sad but true. Russia or China? Title: Re: How do you keep spambots out? Post by: Krakrok on April 21, 2012, 10:41:36 PM Geo IP blacklisting China helps a lot.
Also requiring verified emails stops the profile spam you're talking about. Title: Re: How do you keep spambots out? Post by: Soln on April 21, 2012, 10:53:44 PM honestly guys? I dont want to say. But you can guess.
It worked miracles. Title: Re: How do you keep spambots out? Post by: Lantyssa on April 22, 2012, 05:38:11 AM America? ;D
Title: Re: How do you keep spambots out? Post by: Paelos on April 22, 2012, 07:42:11 AM honestly guys? I dont want to say. But you can guess. It worked miracles. France. Those damn frogs and their fromage spamming. |