Anti porn-spamming measures

jvroig

jvroig

Super Moderator
Hello guys.

I just logged in after posting yesterday, and I deleted seven new porn-spamming posts, deleted 2 members/spammers, and realized that banning IP addresses isn't the best solution. I saw a recurring pattern in the random-looking email addresses of the spammers, so I banned everything that follows the pattern.

I hope this significantly reduces the spamming activity. As always, please feel free to send me feedback either through a private message or posting in this thread.

Best regards to everyone,

-JV
 
Thanks - porn has it's place; but not on the web's Premiere HST site...
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Okay, some updates, you guys have to read this, ESPECIALLY THE LURKERS:

I just spent the last hour going through the member list with a fine-tooth comb, sorted in descending order according to date joined. I finished the month of March (only 8 days yet) and some of Februarry 2007. I deleted about 20+ members, and banned their individual email addresses as well in case it didn't fit the usual email pattern I found. Guys, we just declared WAR against porn spam, we are serious about it. We don't want that filth on our great site.

I may have been overzealous and deleted + banned a legit member. In case that's you, send me an email about it: [email protected] (just remove the "=spam-guard=" part).

This is what will get your account deleted and your email add banned:
1.) You have specified in your home page anything that sells drugs or other illegal stuff and the site doesn't even look legit.
2.) Your homepage is about porno and/or selling porno.
3.) Your homepage is redundantly found in other weird looking members as well.
4.) Your username is a seeming random collection of consonants, and your profile doesn't make sense.

If I go through your profile and notice two or more of those factors I mentioned above, you can bet that you will be deleted and your email banned (if it isn't already), so please clean up if you are a valid user.

For your information and guidance,

-JV
 
Batman, you're my hero!!!
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Seriously, thank you for taking on this task. I think 100% of the legit members here appreciate it!
 
Porn is corrosive enough and has no place...here it's just useless and aggravating. Great thinking J - sounds like a good plan.

I hope my profile makes sense tho...
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Cheers JV! Unfortunately, that solution does not prevent OTHER future spammers. Hopefully I am wrong though.
 
Just in case, "RUSS" as well as being my real name is a common and venerated anglosaxon monicker from the norman invasion of briton postbattle of hastings it is short for "RUSSELL" (little red one) and is NOT a random porn pirate mix of computer generated letters!
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That "Brian Haycock" fellow seems mighty suspicious to me though!!!(joke)
 
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(RUSS @ Mar. 08 2007,10:41)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">
That "Brian Haycock" fellow seems mighty suspicious to me though!!!(joke)</div>
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Thanks JV.  Your efforts are very much appreciated!
 
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(RUSS @ Mar. 08 2007,15:41)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">That "Brian Haycock" fellow seems mighty suspicious to me though!!!(joke)</div>
Is he related to Bryan?
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(colby2152 @ Mar. 08 2007,10:34)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Cheers JV! Unfortunately, that solution does not prevent OTHER future spammers. Hopefully I am wrong though.</div>
Yes, simply deleting members certainly won't prevent them from coming back. I just saw that myself yesterday... I deleted a member and in a few hours he was back again, exactly the same. That's why I started banning not just email addresses, but email address patterns also. This will prevent about 50-60% of the spammers from ever returning after getting deleted. I also started banning individual addresses that don't match the pattern (they are too legit looking) but are used by spammers as well. They also won't be coming back.

The real problem is ikonboard doesn't allow me to stop registrations from activating instantly. I even enabled the human readable image to stop spam bots from registering, but that doesn't work either - I tried to register a new account and it just let me through, without even notifying an admin (either Bryan or me). I'll have to go to the ikonboard forum and ask them what's up with that gaping hole.
 
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(colby2152 @ Mar. 08 2007,13:23)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">I assume deleted members posts still stick around, see Damenbunlo60?</div>
Thanks for that. I just deleted his very last post remaining then deleted his account.

When a member is deleted, his posts remain, but his name won't be attaced to it anymore. Instead, the post will be owned by "Guest". If you see any spam posts under the name "Guest", please report it to me or any of the moderators so that we can get rid of those posts; that's all that is left to do since the account and email has been deleted and banned already.
 
It's a shame you're having to use so much time to deal with these creeping degenerates, but I speak for us all with a big basket of kudos.
Have you backtracked him yet so we can kill him?
 
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(jvroig @ Mar. 08 2007,21:45)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE"><div>
(colby2152 @ Mar. 08 2007,10:34)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Cheers JV! Unfortunately, that solution does not prevent OTHER future spammers. Hopefully I am wrong though.</div>
Yes, simply deleting members certainly won't prevent them from coming back. I just saw that myself yesterday... I deleted a member and in a few hours he was back again, exactly the same. That's why I started banning not just email addresses, but email address patterns also. This will prevent about 50-60% of the spammers from ever returning after getting deleted. I also started banning individual addresses that don't match the pattern (they are too legit looking) but are used by spammers as well. They also won't be coming back.

The real problem is ikonboard doesn't allow me to stop registrations from activating instantly. I even enabled the human readable image to stop spam bots from registering, but that doesn't work either - I tried to register a new account and it just let me through, without even notifying an admin (either Bryan or me). I'll have to go to the ikonboard forum and ask them what's up with that gaping hole.</div>
UPDATE: Although ikonboard still doesn't allow me to personally validate registrations before they are activated, users now need to verify their account through their email, so this makes spambots less effective. Human Readable Images (also known as CAPTCHAs) are currently out of the question, because our hosting (1&1) doesn't have the necessary Perl module installed (we need Image::Magick, but I just triple-checked and they really don't have it). I will see if Bryan can request 1&1 to install this very common module since he's the account holder.

I would like to repeat my request: If you see any spam posted, please do PM me the page link (copy the URL in the address bar and send it to me so I can check the spam post). This goes for the mods as well like Dan and Aaron... I know this would be extra work to have to PM me the link instead of just deleting it, but I need to see if there are new spam registrants and if they are using a new kind of forged email address. Please do accept my apology in advance for the inconvenience. ^__^

Hopefully though, most of them are already blocked and banned, and will be prevented from coming back, so the remaining spam posts to come will be from the stragglers still left. We'll zap them in due time.

Regards,
-JV
 
Better idea: instead of sending me the page link, just PM me the member name, then if you are a mod, go ahead and delete the post.

All I need is the member name so I can do the inspection from the admin control panel. And ban his @ss, of course ^__^
 
Maybe this is another reason to convert the forum to a more capable product?

Thanks again for all your hard work JV!
 
Another UPDATE:

Things SHOULD be a lot safer now.

For one thing, aside from all the deleting and banning that I've done, new members now need to pass through two extra steps:
1.) Confirm/Activate their registration through the email address they submitted (bots with fake emails are out), as I mentioned in a previous update.
2.) Every new member, after activating their membership, either has to wait for me or Bryan to give them posting rights. I can see it now: someone named "axghjtyea" or "girlnudefreebj" has just confirmed his/her/its membership... should I grant him/her/it posting rights? Hahaha, yeah, right after I stick my heavy-duty combat boots up his/her/its @ss
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Here's to hoping for far less spam starting today ^__^

Regards,

-JV
 
<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">2.) Every new member, after activating their membership, either has to wait for me or Bryan to give them posting rights. I can see it now: someone named "axghjtyea" or "girlnudefreebj" has just confirmed his/her/its membership... should I grant him/her/it posting rights? Hahaha, yeah, right after I stick my heavy-duty combat boots up his/her/its @ss
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This is how Dan runs his Max Stim board, isn't it? Good stuff!
 
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