A solution vs annoying spambots...

Given the annoying spamming epidemic, I suggest a relatively simple solution to prevent bots from spamming. If we assume they are just bots, and not human.



This. Make the dearest users of flopturnriver to type in a appropriate word each time they want to submit a new topic/post. Seen some forums have it. Didn't see bots on them. Must be working.

The problem with this solution is that it introduces something more annoying than the problem you're trying to solve.

I think if we had captchas on registration (if we don't already), and then limit new users to a certain # of posts in a certain window it would mitigate the issue, though not completely eliminate it.

I'm a member of several other fitness forums that don't allow anyone to even answer a post until their first response is approved by a moderator. Let alone start one until they have posted several times.

Funny that all the spammers are only ever posting in certain forums, like every which poker and the BC. SHNL and FRNL as well as the commune don't get hit nearly as much so they must be searching particular words. They also seem to post in the same threads a lot.

Not sure of the answer. There is one, obviously 2P2 doesn't seem to have a problem, nor do other non poker forums I am on.

What I don't understand is that they keep coming back to the same threads. If I ban one, the next one does the same thing in the same order, sometimes in a matter of minutes. I'm going to start deleting the threads they post in too if they are older.

Originally Posted by jyms

What I don't understand is that they keep coming back to the same threads. If I ban one, the next one does the same thing in the same order, sometimes in a matter of minutes. I'm going to start deleting the threads they post in too if they are older.

they're most likely going to be clones of the same bot code that have some logic to determine which is the best thread to post in, which is why they all post in the same threads.

If you delete the thread, their "which thread to post in" logic will just find another one, and hey -- maybe they'll accidentally do us a service in bumping some old awesome thread!

i am not using a capcatcha every time i make a post. thats absurd.

is there currently one of those anti-bot tests required to make an account on FTR? i can't remember.

Originally Posted by bikes

i am not using a capcatcha every time i make a post. thats absurd.

Typing an extra 4 characters at the end of a post is hardly absurd and it's pretty much your only solution if you actually wish to stop spam bots, assuming those are your greatest source of spam.

Originally Posted by Galapogos

Typing an extra 4 characters at the end of a post is hardly absurd and it's pretty much your only solution if you actually wish to stop spam bots, assuming those are your greatest source of spam.

There's a few other methods:

Forum spam - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Varying degrees of efficacy admittedly, but if the bulk of it all comes from the same style of bot, it might be specifically targeted with one or more methods less invasive to users.

captcha for threads/replies is waaaaaaaaaay too inconvenient. so would be putting posts in a queue for moderation.

we have captcha installed for creating new accounts.

maybe an idea we could take from this would be requiring captcha until you have say 10 posts, like images/links. not sure if that would suck too much for our new legit members though.

That's not a bad idea gmml. Alternatively, prevent new members from posting more than once every 5-10 minutes. Spam would still get in of course, but at least it would give mods more time to delete accounts before the spam got everywhere.

I locked the threads yesterday instead of deleting so not sure what will happen yet.

What about little check-sum questions , for new posters.
5+3=?

Pfft, newbs can't add.

any updates on this, guys?

the BC, she is drowning

Originally Posted by givememyleg

we have captcha installed for creating new accounts.

maybe an idea we could take from this would be requiring captcha until you have say 10 posts, like images/links. not sure if that would suck too much for our new legit members though.

I think if they really want to learn they won't mind putting in a bit extra effort for the first 10 posts, someone can always convert or link a hand for them. Limiting time between posts (say 1hr) for the first 10 posts would help as well.

Are Ip bans not possible ?
What about a competition for whoever comes up with the solution. Some ftr gear or something.
what about changing around the signup page.
put input boxes in different places ,change the format.
the bot might screw up.

Just get some google pay per click ads and make the spam bots click those to create an account. We still get spammed, but at least it's profitable!

Passport and utility bills.

Just an update:
Our programmer is working on a more viable solution for spam at the moment.

IP bans are possible and we do use them.

nice 1.

thx

have you looked at http://www.spambotsecurity.com/zbblock.php

stops known spammers email addresses and bad ip addresses from even seeing the forum.

Thanks for the tip Keith. We just implemented something similar to this and hopefully it'll do the trick.

Can you guys let us know if you notice the spam improving or getting worse?

If the spam improves or gets worse, I would take a closer look at your programmer.