13 replies to this topic

[Simon]

Over the past couple of months there has been a growing trend for spammers to target discussion forums in order to ply their pointless trade; our forum is no exception.

Every day we get around 10 spammers registering for an account, the vast majority of which have their account deleted before they have the chance to make a post.

The forums software has a few inbuilt security features to prevent undesirable member registrations.

1. New members must input a code which is embedded in a graphic during the registration process, this prevents robot spammers. Yes believe it or not there are such things.

2. When a new member signs up they receive an email with a link included, which they must click in order to validate they have used a real email address. In addition all new members are queued in the forums back end and I now manually validate each new member.

3. Based on my findings over the past couple of months I have banned the use of @web.de, @mail.ru, @cashette.com email accounts for registrations. Anyone trying to sign up with one of these email addresses will not make it through the registration process. Unfortunately what this means is legitimate members using one of these email accounts will not be able to register.

4. I have banned a number of ip addresses for repeat spam registration attempts.

The above measures will help to keep our forums 'spam free', but can I ask all members to remain vigilant and use the "report this post" feature if you spot anything untoward.

Thanks for your assistance.
Simon

[Simon]

And still they come. I notice in the "active user" list several spammers tried registering during this morning. Most of them were unable to get past the front line of security. In the attached image you can see two who made it through only to be deleted by me.

What get's me is "what's the point?" - if they manage to get through and manage to post a load of rubbish, advertising porn, meds, mortgages or some other rubbish, their post will be deleted within minutes. And do they really think you members would think "wow I need to buy some of this off you" - - right!

There is a theory they sign up to put their website address in their user profile, which then might be spidered by search engines, but I see no evidence of this.

Ah well.
Simon

Attached Files

•  validation.gif   90.88KB   44 downloads

[Charles.C]

Dear Simon,

The entry in the 'members validation queue' of 'show all' seems particularly appropriate.
After just deleting 50 items in my email I have some sympathy. Spam pictures might be a bit more interesting though.
Regards Charles.C

[Simon]

The entry in the "members validation queue" of "show all" seems particularly appropriate. After just deleting 50 items in my email I have some sympathy. Spam pictures might be a bit more interesting though.

Maybe; it would at least be better than the rubbish I'm getting lately; it's not even remotely interesting. I get about 70 spam emails a day all of which are diverted to my spam folder (which I just have to check ). Most of the spam is titled "Julia wrote, Fred wrote, Bill wrote etc, etc. etc. etbloodycetera." I think they advertise stocks or something; I mean really I'm more likely to fall for a you wanna give me how much? Nigerian scam.

Rant over.
Simon

[Simon]

Another four overnight, named and shamed. Maybe the spam spiders will pick up their email addresses and give them a taste of their own medicine.



piefdope IP: 151.188.16.17 tiefdope@ya.ru
SamJonesUS IP: 213.42.2.11durachok2@putoncondoms.com
Uljaljaho IP: 82.131.28.140 adult@iscw.org
JumpforJoy IP: 68.78.135.112 maile@freeideasearch.info

[chen]

Another four overnight, named and shamed. Maybe the spam spiders will pick up their email addresses and give them a taste of their own medicine.

Thanks for the expose! Just check through one of our local forum and Surprise! - Sindysexy is there. alerted the moderator to take necessary action.

Thanks again.

[Simon]

Thanks for the expose! Just check through one of our local forum and Surprise! - Sindysexy is there. alerted the moderator to take necessary action.

Thanks again.

Yeah she get's around, a real friendly sort.

Here is today's bath scum.



RobDougUS IP: 218.28.2.62 durachok3@putoncondoms.com
incazzorg IP: 66.235.184.43 incazzorg@onlymail2007.com
lopushok IP: 200.140.89.68 lopushok_06@bk.ru
goldelotto IP: 72.232.199.234 forum@goldenloto.com

[Simon]

More dopes for the rogues gallery. I mean "viagra" as a username, how very dare you.



VIAGRA IP: 66.98.212.79 viagra-viagra@ua.fm
CUSCO IP: 196.45.32.170 ekimasha@yahoo.com
JumpforJoe IP: 71.140.126.242 mailg@freeideasearch.info

[Franco]

The above measures will help to keep our forums 'spam free', but can I ask all members to remain vigilant and use the "report this post" feature if you spot anything untoward.

Hi Simon,

is this a "verification" of the abovementioned spam-free plan ?

[Simon]

is this a "verification" of the abovementioned spam-free plan ?

I suppose so. It has improved, today there was only one muppet. It won't be long before they are using a different set of email accounts and trying again. Nothing is foolproof on the net, but I think we're about as good as it get's. This software has pretty tight security and I'm led to believe it will get even better when the next release comes out in February.

Regards,
Simon

[yorkshire]

I like the name and shame part, I hope they get the same stocks and shares tips as I do! How do they get your email address?

There is one note of caution, our company email system is so tight that our IFS auditor gets her emails with attachments rejected as spam, she has to email me at home in order to get through to me. If things get as bad as this do you think we will go back to snailmail more, especially for important information?

[yorkshire]

By the way my father-in-law has been notified that he has won at least two lotteries by spam emails. In both cases he has entered into correspondence with the people who sent him this email and has given all his personal details (except his bank details, luckily). He is not a stupid person (1st class degree from Cambridge ) but he still gets very excited about the idea he has one something . When I ask him when he bought the ticket he goes rather quiet . The idea is that you send them money for solicitors, couriers, etc and they send you the money. Fortunately he is too tight to give any money away and so far has emailed them asking them to take the money out of his winnings! The reason we get all these emails are because people are stupid and fall for these scams / adds.

I have just updated his PC and it is now like Fort Knox plus I can control his PC from my home to block any emails I feel could be a problem.

Has anyone else had similar problems with the older (or same / younger) generation?

[Simon]

I like the name and shame part, I hope they get the same stocks and shares tips as I do! How do they get your email address?

It's not the email address they are trying to register at the forums to propogate their filth. Discussion forums are just another vehicle spammers are trying to exploit; to be honest I think it just wastes everyones time. But still they try.

There is one note of caution, our company email system is so tight that our IFS auditor gets her emails with attachments rejected as spam, she has to email me at home in order to get through to me. If things get as bad as this do you think we will go back to snailmail more, especially for important information?

How did we ever get on without email? I had an interesting conversation the other day on the +/- of email. If in doubt CC everyone and absolve your responsibility, who's action is it?, information overload, spam coming out of our ears, impersonal, the loss of face to face communication, and long friendly telephone calls. More productive???

By the way my father-in-law has been notified that he has won at least two lotteries by spam emails. In both cases he has entered into correspondence with the people who sent him this email and has given all his personal details (except his bank details, luckily). He is not a stupid person (1st class degree from Cambridge ) but he still gets very excited about the idea he has one something . When I ask him when he bought the ticket he goes rather quiet . The idea is that you send them money for solicitors, couriers, etc and they send you the money. Fortunately he is too tight to give any money away and so far has emailed them asking them to take the money out of his winnings! The reason we get all these emails are because people are stupid and fall for these scams / adds.

I have just updated his PC and it is now like Fort Knox plus I can control his PC from my home to block any emails I feel could be a problem.

Has anyone else had similar problems with the older (or same / younger) generation?

Thankfully my Dad hasn't got a PC. He went playing snooker with his retiree mates the oher day and turned up wearing odd training shoes. When one of his pals challenged him, he said "I know I've got aother pair exactly the same at home." LOL

Regards,
Simon

[Simon]

Spam registrations have fallen away, there hasn't been a single one in the past few days. What's more there has been an increase in 'real' registrations, which is very welcome. The internet sure is a strange old world.

Regards,
Simon