Suggestion to help against the unwanted spam.

[Snare]

Figured I would post this here as the thread it was originally in went dead.

Only here to make a suggestion. Is it possible to block a single user from posting a link and/or posting topics of the same name across multiple threads more than once within a certain time period? It would cut down on the spam and would actually be non-invasive towards new and older users. We wouldn't be able to identify spammers as easily but would hinder efforts of a spammer/spam bot. It is only a thought. I really don't know if users post the same link multiple times unless quoting which can be a small issue. Thoughts?

Signed with a
Snare

[SexualChoc]

Even I am getting annoyed with it snare

what I have noticed about the almost daily postings is that they happen around the same time..

I wonder ..
I thought it was possible to block an ISP...
...
other than hitting the !
I don't have the ability to do anything other than report them..

Here is hoping this barrage eventually ends or is stopped.

[Snare]

Who ever set it up is smart enough to have a changing IP and probably MAC address as well, while hiding behind a VPN (gibberish to some I know). My thoughts are there so here is hoping it helps.

Signed with a
Snare

[Banquo]

They will just keep finding ways around it IMO it just needs policing efficiently and people to remain patient and ignore it. It's not something that is a horrendous problem at the end of the day. We just all need to chill about it and wait for the mods to remove it. When you see it, take a deep breath and move on. It's not hard.

If it were some one being malicious and the mods were not dealing with it, then the problem would be different. But this is just a matter of having to wait. It's not the end of the world.

[les]

I reported today's batch as they appeared, from 08:06 GMT this morning,

Perhaps I could given the power to quarantine them instead.

[seraph0x]

The current spam is probably automated, so it's probably fixable, I just haven't had time to look into it yet. Note that this regularly happens, perhaps every 18-24 months or so. So far each time it has happened we changed something in our spam defenses and the problem went away again. And so far we've been able to do that with very unobtrusive measures only.

I just did a quick patch to our registration form. Last time we had a spam problem, the way we fixed it was by adding a second email field, which is then hidden via JavaScript. Spam bots wouldn't run the JavaScript so they'd dutifully fill out the email field, which would cause our server to reject the registration.

Apparently, this new bot isn't fooled by that, so just for kicks I've added another field, a checkbox this time. This one isn't hidden via JavaScript, but rather via CSS. Namely with a combination of box-sizing, padding, height and overflow. The bot might get past that if there is a human involved or if it's smart enough to try both checking the box and not checking it and seeing which works.

So we'll see if it has any effect, if not we'll try something else. Note that this fix only affects registration, so we also have to wait until the spammers have used up their already-registered accounts.

[les]

Well done Seraph0x
                 Looks good today.

Let’s keep fingers, toes and eyes crossed.

[jp]

So we'll see if it has any effect, if not we'll try something else. Note that this fix only affects registration, so we also have to wait until the spammers have used up their already-registered accounts.

Not effective. Banned a spammer (honkie) and before I could finish deleting his posts the account "honkies" was already created and spamming again.

[janmb]

Keep at it - I'm sure you'll find another tweak to stop this current wave

[Banquo]

So we'll see if it has any effect, if not we'll try something else. Note that this fix only affects registration, so we also have to wait until the spammers have used up their already-registered accounts.

Not effective. Banned a spammer (honkie) and before I could finish deleting his posts the account "honkies" was already created and spamming again.

Was it one that had already been created prior to the sign up tweaks or did the spammer create it to replace the banned account?

[les]

Whenever I have checked during the recent surge of Spam.
I have found that the time from joining to the last of up to 20 or more posts is a matter of minutes.

The most recent showed a benign post before a follow up spam link.

[seraph0x]

Alright that didn't work. Next up: I re-enabled some old antispam protection we used to have. Let's see how that does.

[les]

Persistant little bugger isn't he.

[supermokkori]

Already reported this guy:
http://www.milovana.com/forum/memberlis ... le&u=29900

But man... in 11 minutes of activity, he spammed 15 threads just like that.

One suggestion - I'm part of another forum where new members that join HAVE to make an introductory post in a certain area. Once they do, they can only REPLY to threads (not start new threads). Once a mod reviews his introduction post, he can "unlock" the account to become a full account (be able to create new threads).

I know this is somewhat restrictive, as it doesn't allow new users to start new threads right away - but seems like these spammers are not only stubborn in coming back, they're posting more and more threads each time - and it's pretty annoying at this point. Just a thought

[Banquo]

Already reported this guy:
http://www.milovana.com/forum/memberlis ... le&u=29900

But man... in 11 minutes of activity, he spammed 15 threads just like that.

One suggestion - I'm part of another forum where new members that join HAVE to make an introductory post in a certain area. Once they do, they can only REPLY to threads (not start new threads). Once a mod reviews his introduction post, he can "unlock" the account to become a full account (be able to create new threads).

I know this is somewhat restrictive, as it doesn't allow new users to start new threads right away - but seems like these spammers are not only stubborn in coming back, they're posting more and more threads each time - and it's pretty annoying at this point. Just a thought

It's very restrictive though and may put off new users, I have been members of forums like this too. And it's cool if it's something that is very extensively used and has lots and lots of members, but Milo really is quite a quiet forum. I think anything that puts off new users needs to be really thought through before it's implemented.

But right now we are really getting over run by these spammers.