I need to enlist you all in the war against SPAM!!!!

[Pakrat 1,043]

Loyal 69Stang members, as the title states I need your help in this endless battle. Have a look at the below screenshot I took just a moment before starting this thread.

 

 

This is a slow day with currently 19 people trying and succeeding at opening fake accounts on our forum despite our security measures. It's not uncommon for me to come across 3 dozen or more of these slimebags a day and it's becoming a full time job for me to either Ban them on sight (takes at least 5 clicks of the mouse each thru various sub menus and drop downs) or just delete their account entirely (1 click).

 

Honestly these guys are easy to spot, the account names are obviously bogus even at a glance and truth be told are mostly harmless except for tainting our member count. I believe them all to be bot programs of some kind since they all have hotmail email addys and they all fill their signatures with poorly written descriptions of their business and a link to their website. Almost none of them ever post which means their spam info doesn't get seen by anyone unless you look them up and view their profile so my action against these accounts each day varies on my mood and available amount of time. Some days I just can't be bothered and others I strike down with great vengeance and furious anger.

 

What I do need your help on though are the ones brash and bold enough to post in a thread, usually either new with a totally off topic title or a random resurection of an old thread with an unrelated comment. Whatever you do PLEASE DO NOT RELPY TO THESE. When you do it makes it harder for me to spot them, I know it's hard not to but please resist. I can't read every new post every day so seeing an unfamilliar user name as the last reply is my easiest way to weed them out quickly. What you can do is take a moment to send me a PM alerting me and please include a link as well to the thread so I don't have to hunt for it. The seconds you spend helping will add up to days for me in the long run.

 

Thanks in advance!

[buening 63]

A few thoughts to possibly minimize the spam new users:

 

I'm not sure of the capabilities of the website software, but can you make it to where someone has to have an email address other than hotmail to join?

 

Is there an account verification email that the user has to click on in an email to verify the account prior to posting?

 

Roughly how many real new users do you get in a day? Maybe make a requirement to send an email to an email that you create with a particular word in the title in order to authorize the account (can't post without authorization), which would likely eliminate the bots. This is what the Corner Carvers forum requires you to do. I'm not sure how many you get in a day that are real though, but an extra step for real new users is worth the effort of not having constant spam posts. This may or may not add more work for you though.

[Pakrat 1,043]

I'm not sure of any of the options or limitations of the software, Ben is the only one who can access, upgarade or alter this. I recall hearing a while back that hotmail was supposed to be coming to an end and shortly after that the amount with an account there seemed to increase.

 

I do know a while back he updated it when we were overrun by bots and adding the secure hard to read password was added which ended it for a long time, we have always had email validation though. Maybe these aren't bots or maybe they just keep getting smarter, I don't know but if they are people they have a lot of time to waste and since most of them don't post their effort seems for no real purpose or end game.

 

Like I said I am not as concerned with these guys since they are harmless for the most part, it was more for an example of just how many we get breaching security a day. It's the few ones that actually post that I need help watchdogging.

[LindenBruce 27]

Deal dude. Are any of the other moderators helping out with this? Hotmail is now Microsoft Outlook. But I think Hotmail is still active as my hotmail address still works. I think the end game of these bots is to find an open source to store viruses, malware and trojans in waiting to be activated at a set time per the inventor's desire. Can you image what would happen to the net if thousands of viruses were sitting in waiting on various servers/websites and all of then being activated at once? Bad news Charlie Brown.

 

I know I have had a couple of hassels at opening a new user account on a website because I use my free hotmail account. A lot of legit people use Hotmail, so I think banning that would penalize those legit persons. Adding an extra step or two to verify a account would be good. Maybe a cross check type function with similar themes would be a good idea. Like seeing if a new account also has an established account at say VMF or AFM with a post history? B.

[Crazyhorse 21]

Is it easier for you if we PM you a link, or simply report the post? In the past I've reported the posts with a description of why I suspect it's a spammer, but if a PM is easier for you I'll do that instead.

[69RavenConv 286]

I always thought clicking the icon notified the admins of spam? Is that true?

 

(I also use a hotmail account legitimately so I'd prefer hotmail wasn't banned)

[Pakrat 1,043]

So here's the deal, I've tested the button before and though I am an Admin it does not report to me, it must only report to Ben. He along with the couple other moderators we have do not visit frequently much less daily anymore so for the most part I'm kind of a one man show most of the time which is fine since this place needs little moderation anyway except for this spam problem.

 

I've got some requests in to Ben for upgrades and if need be we can always deputize some new mods from the regulars but until then I thought I would make this request for a PM and see if it helps me to lay the hammer down faster.

[MAD IN NC 21]

European Roulette ist eine Version von Roulette. Spieler können nun diese Unterhaltung auf hohem Niveau, indem Sie einfach einige Tasten dh online

 

 

Now thats funny!

[69SlowResto 19]

European Roulette ist eine Version von Roulette. Spieler können nun diese Unterhaltung auf hohem Niveau, indem Sie einfach einige Tasten dh online

 

 

Hahahaha

[Pakrat 1,043]

Ya see what I'm talkin about. :asshole::clown:

 

:hang:

[69SlowResto 19]

Hi Pak,

 

Let me know if you need any additional help? I'm on here quite a bit (mainly researching) but if there is anything I can do please let me know.

 

Cheers

 

Lee

[BigDuke6 17]

So here's the deal, I've tested the button before and though I am an Admin it does not report to me, it must only report to Ben. He along with the couple other moderators we have do not visit frequently much less daily anymore so for the most part I'm kind of a one man show most of the time which is fine since this place needs little moderation anyway except for this spam problem.

 

I've got some requests in to Ben for upgrades and if need be we can always deputize some new mods from the regulars but until then I thought I would make this request for a PM and see if it helps me to lay the hammer down faster.

 

so get some new mods with authoratay to ban bots and spammers. If Ben isn't interested in this site any more and doesn't want to share the keys to the kingdom, then why is he still bothering with it? If he's not that interested anymore, why don't we start up our own site somewhere else where we can ban spammers and bots and leave this place behind? It isn't that expensive.

[Mike65 475]

Pak,

If you would be interested in giving me a promotion here to help control the problem I could help especially since I am on here 2-3 times daily.

Mike.

[Pakrat 1,043]

Thanks Guys. Things seem to have settled down for now but I'll keep some promotions in mind if things start go sideways again.

 

I'm definitley not a fan of leaving this place behind, lots of history and info on these boards, I'd hate to loose my email account as well.

[prayers1 153]

Here's some more form claireloe on How to's

[RogerC 136]

Posts by Jgrieve in Mike65's 69 Coupe build thread questionable. Bottom page 23 and into page 24.

[Mike65 475]

Pakrat,

Here are a bunch of new ones that just showed up in the tech forum this morning. http://www.1969stang.com/mustang/forum/showthread.php?t=15029

http://www.1969stang.com/mustang/forum/showthread.php?t=15027

http://www.1969stang.com/mustang/forum/showthread.php?t=15026

http://www.1969stang.com/mustang/forum/showthread.php?t=15026

http://www.1969stang.com/mustang/forum/showthread.php?t=15025

http://www.1969stang.com/mustang/forum/showthread.php?t=15024

http://www.1969stang.com/mustang/forum/showthread.php?t=15031

http://www.1969stang.com/mustang/forum/showthread.php?t=15030

[waketek516 10]

This screename is blasting on several threads and quoting stuff from mine that is 9+ months old. Can we delete him?

 

djjsc

 

http://www.1969stang.com/mustang/forum/showthread.php?t=13296&page=4

 

http://www.1969stang.com/mustang/forum/showthread.php?t=14685&page=2

 

http://www.1969stang.com/mustang/forum/showthread.php?t=13382&page=5

[ashleesmach1 28]

matterxing is spamming

[70769 18]

ft4btghuw0

 

exSrS4sa103

skiu4m2x9o

 

spamming

Edited June 26, 2014 by 70769

[Chris'69Mach 23]

OMFeakingG!!

 

The spammers are getting bad on this site. Pakrat... please squish them!

[70769 18]

they are being rather relentless today...

 

 

skiu4m2x9o

Bdw33ilf

skiuw34m2j

[70769 18]

lsi8q6m1o

[miketyler 15]

Its bad enough they share their meaningless drivel in new posts but now it would appear they are dropping these bombs in existing threads. That just adds insult to injury

[70769 18]

Yea, i know right? Unfortunately im UE at the moment, so im on a lot right now. Haha