Where does all that spam come from?

michaelkpate · 2011-06-21 13:09:58

The forum I installed for my WoW Guild has 1,308 members, which is pretty amazing because only 2-3 of the 15-20 active members post regularly.

We don’t have a problem with posts so much as stuffing links in the profiles. I am rather disappointed in the forum software.

Bloke · 2011-06-21 13:14:03

michaelkpate wrote:

I am rather disappointed in the forum software.

Ditto for all forum software I’ve ever encountered. There has to be a better way…

Destry · 2011-06-23 13:12:36

wet wrote:

We will probably have to live with [spammers], as this is the world Google gave us.

Spammers will always exist, sure. But we don’t have to tolerate the software. Or more to the point, do everything through this forum.

In just the threads that I follow, spam post frequency already outnumbers that of regular posts. That’s bad.

I did offer two cents on a sensible course of action (moving content out). Fighting spam in fewer threads is certainly a step in the right direction (not to mention it’s the smart thing to do anyway). Granted that means troops need to rally on several fronts — .com, .org, .net… — but it would pay off in more ways than one.

I think holding off on TXP 5 to get the mothership and platforms in order is a wise move, frankly.

colak · 2011-06-23 14:54:35

I think that most of the spam comes from bots. All we need is a script to block them.

Destry · 2011-06-24 16:06:01

colak wrote:

All we need is a script to block them.

I’m relieved to know the solution is apparently just 10 minutes work away. So who’s got the magic script, already?

colak · 2011-06-24 16:27:31

Destry wrote:

I’m relieved to know the solution is apparently just 10 minutes work away. So who’s got the magic script, already?

I’m an idiot with this kind of things but as I mentioned earlier there is a new script for the latest punBB release. If someone can adapt it for this one, we are close to solving the current problem.

Gocom · 2011-06-24 20:43:06

colak wrote:

If someone can adapt it for this one, we are close to solving the current problem.

It helps to some degree, blocks the totally mindless bots. It has the same feature set as my rah_comment_spam plugin for Textpattern. But as with rah_comment_spam, it will also potentially effect us, the real users.

Altho, for the time being the forum doesn’t get that much new real users, so if there were that sort of anti-spam plugin — link count, duplicate post block feature (that’s what that plugin is too) — and it was limited to users with low rank (time/post count), we could be pretty okay in minimizing the side effects.

hcgtv · 2011-06-28 00:48:08

Bloke wrote:

Ditto for all forum software I’ve ever encountered. There has to be a better way…

There is better forum software.

The only saving grace is that spammers haven’t quite gotten the hang of Textile ;)

uli · 2011-07-04 14:16:30

We had a new topic some hours ago in the development section of the forums, titled “How to open the New Tab”, with the following content:

Hi…

Am using asp.net.

How to open the new tab at the time of button click?

Can any one tell me the solution.

Thanks in advance.

This post and its author have been deleted from the forum. There was no immediate index for spam present in the post: no link neither in the post nor in the signature neither had the user put a link to a website in his personal forum data.

Well, I can’t tell whether asp.net makes using TXP impossible, and so can’t judge whether the post’s content was a proof for spam. (I personally thought he could have meant the new Home tab, see capitalized letters in “the New Tab”, or he could have asked for help writing a plugin.)

The fact that this post/user has been deleted alarms me in a region of my brain quite near to where my want for human rights is stored. And I have to confess I belong among those forum members who are using the reporting functionality quite often because more definite spammy posts do alarm other regions in my brain quite near to where my want for my own human rights is stored.

Don’t misunderstand me, I don’t want to complain about the admin who removed the user. He’s surely checked the facts, and better than I can as a normal forum member. I just want to demonstrate what a multitude of facts admins have to mind in order to shelter us from spammers, and what a tightropewalk that can be.

If we had a simple tiny script running in the forums, admins wouldn’t have to judge that many spam posts as they have to right now, and some TXP/internet newbies wouldn’t be alienated by seeing their posts or accounts deleted.
And: We’d be a step further towards the friendly forum we want to be.

If new members’ messages were tested against link code (HTML, BBcode, Textile, …) they’d have to post at least 10 times (until they’re normal members), which should alienate spammers sufficiently and offer enough instances to test normal users’ intentions. New members still had the possibility of posting plain text URLs so they could get help for online problems.
Plus: if new members weren’t granted access to profile.php?section=personality there’d be no problem with links in signatures. There’s already a similar function in place that doesn’t reveal email links to new members. That one could possibly be extended to remove the personality link in the user profiles section.

colak · 2011-07-04 14:45:54

The fact that this post/user has been deleted alarms me in a region of my brain quite near to where my want for human rights is stored.

Hi Uli

For dubious cases I check their details on stopforumspam and botscout before banning/deleting.

Alternatively emails with buyviagra@domain.com, bestsexsites@domain.com, whatever… are also tell tell signs.

No one was deleted who was not cross checked to my knowledge.

Bloke · 2011-07-04 14:49:59

Thanks for the links colak, I didn’t know about those. Will check in future.

I felt the post in question was borderline (sp|h)am. And since I couldn’t make up my mind I simply ignored it and left it for someone else to deal with :-D

EDIT: and those API scripts on both sites might be worth investigating if we can find a forum administrator who has the necessary rights to implement them. A simple automatic check to one or both of those sites might be prudent. Anyone know if the APIs work at reducing actual spam posts? and / or accounts?

Last edited by Bloke (2011-07-04 15:01:40)

ruud · 2011-07-04 15:04:59

Guilty! I deleted (no ban) the post and the user.
Definitely spam: http://www.google.com/search?q=How+to+open+the+new+tab+at+the+time+of+button+click

botscout.com is limited to 300 queries per day (may not be enough).
stopforumspam.com is limited to 20000 queries per day.

Last edited by ruud (2011-07-04 15:38:31)

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#13 2011-06-21 13:09:58

Re: Where does all that spam come from?

#14 2011-06-21 13:14:03

Re: Where does all that spam come from?

#15 2011-06-23 13:12:36

Re: Where does all that spam come from?

#16 2011-06-23 14:54:35

Re: Where does all that spam come from?

#17 2011-06-24 16:06:01

Re: Where does all that spam come from?

#18 2011-06-24 16:27:31

Re: Where does all that spam come from?

#19 2011-06-24 20:43:06

Re: Where does all that spam come from?

#20 2011-06-28 00:48:08

Re: Where does all that spam come from?

#21 2011-07-04 14:16:30

Re: Where does all that spam come from?

#22 2011-07-04 14:45:54

Re: Where does all that spam come from?

#23 2011-07-04 14:49:59

Re: Where does all that spam come from?

#24 2011-07-04 15:04:59

Re: Where does all that spam come from?

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