We have had a slew of SPAM Bots. Is there any way we can hide new threads created by new members that have under a certain post count, if they are flagged for being reported?
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We have had a slew of SPAM Bots. Is there any way we can hide new threads created by new members that have under a certain post count, if they are flagged for being reported?
Depending upon the volume of new members, maybe we can start new members on a moderated (approve for release) for the first few posts, to help identify which ones are BOTs.Quote:
Originally Posted by DMCVegas
Certainly do not want to make too much extra work for the Mods, but identifying the BOTs before they start churning out Fake News posts might be helpful to the Mods too.
Looks like most are from a poster named Malaka
We are getting nailed. Looking into the issue. Multiple posts, and I mean a lot of posts have been deleted and users banned. The program automatically reregisters with an added digit to the original name.
I don't know how many new members you get a day but we must approve membership before they can post. I usually just check the IP and run with it if it checks out. Only had one or 2 slip through since we started that.
We used to do manual registration, tamir had someone recode everything and then it was never an issue. Now it is.....
That is one persistent little robot. It's like the T-1000 of bots.
Lol, you're right. This program is annoying. He will be back.Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael
Bumping this. Most of the spambots I see have one post with a brand new thread. The rest made it to 3-4. New threads, each with two slightly different links. Really ought to automatically flag users who post links in their first 5 posts in a moderation queue of some sort. Especially when they register on the day of their first post and that post is a new thread which contains offsite links (hugely specific but will capture all cases thus far).
What's interesting is that they will also edit the posts after submitting them, possibly trying to circumvent the "first post no link" rule by circling back and editing links into a non-link post? Really not sure. Don't have a before and after on this.
This is definitely one single bot algorithm however as far as post formatting goes. Small amount of text, two links, it's a common theme. Find the source, figure out how it gets in, stop more.
Once the little pricks register, they attempt to use a different IP to post their BS. If that works, it spawns 7 more from the same block it registered with. It's easy to nail these before they post, but with them using a dozen allocators, its a PITA manually. All of them through gmail.com
I don't even look at them since the title is something strange. Why they keep at it since it must take some work tor register each time only to get 10 to 20 views.
Doesn't the posting process have checks built in to flag for manual approval? Capture any that try to post links in their first post.
Not even good spam threads. Cancer links. You wont draw me in with sports, don't watch them. Nice try bot!
If the bot was smart it wouldn't post live sports feeds in a DeLorean forum. It would be more like:
Matching tires for autocar DeLorean happy price
Superior electric for night driving parts
You bastard, that second link goes to an audio product :(Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael
...shaddup it worked okay?
awe - "Adult" costume wasn't what I was expecting :umm:Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael
I bought two anyway so the bot will get a bonus
Oooh hey I caught one mid-spam!
Before any edits:
Attachment 54299
After editing a link in:
Attachment 54300
So it seems they're circumventing a few things by posting first, then editing a link in place minutes after. Surely it can't be THAT hard to auto-ban the pricks knowing that?
Why not just restrict new registrants to 30 days membership before being able to make the first post? That will help to discourage them. Legitimate newbees will understand and persevere.
Then, after thirty days, when the Bot finally makes their first post and it's clearly a spam-bot, then ban the SOB (that's Son-Of-a-Bot, of course).
...
Because if someone has trouble with their car today, do we want them to miss out on a third of summer over it? Or give our community a bad rap because we're having a slight bit of trouble controlling spam bots?
Ultimately the best angle is one of least impact. I would rather have a select few spam bots slip through the cracks than lots of legitimate users be exiled due to an oversight. In this case, the behavior is repeatable and one that is incredibly rare to see from a legitimate user. That's what the moderation queue is for, after all -- it's a type of "shadow ban" that lets the moderators review posts before letting them go public, and if they see these are spam bots, it's easy to say "ban" and never return.
That said, I don't know that there's really any forum software that lets you "catch" users on an edit rather than a post, especially conditionally.
They are back. Again.
How many bots per day are you getting?
The anti spam I installed is very effective against programmed bots.
I believe the bots that were able to register recently were real human. They manually register to the forum to post spams..
Its better to temporarily moderate user registration manually and continue the ip ban. Theres no 100% effective way to fight them, but manual user registration approval is best in this situation, since there are active mods who can monitor regularly.
-web tech
Easily getting 5 or 6 users a day posting with multiple spam messages and multiple registrations "sleeping"