India/China and spammers

I have no idea why our forum gets targeted by spammers from India and China.

I mean, reCAPTCHA was hacked - okay. This led to "flood registrations" of spammers (bots) from Russia. I removed reCAPTCHA from the forum registration process and added questions like "Name of the site is ____digit.com", "Write the fourth word of this sentence" et cetera.

Now I have changed questions to, "southern most point of Indian mainland", "capital of Czech republic" et cetera. But still "human" spammers keep on registering from India and China. Note: More 50% of the China is IP nuked by me. The moment I see a spammer has an IP from China, I immediately ban ~65000 IP addresses at once. But still they keep on coming and post things like Warcraft gold, Shopping handbags etc.

Regarding Indian spammers. These are advertisement morons. They post stuff like "MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE", "SEO", "HDFC banking..!" et cetera. Can't these morons understand what forums are for. Most Indian spammers have their email IDs like suyash.pandit11 at gmail.com, vikram.ahuja45, sneha.singh24.

and even after getting banned, they keep on coming again and again. I honestly think that these are some call center guys who are being paid to spam.

95% of spammers use Gmail. If suyash.pandit11 gets banned, they will register again from suyash.pandit11+lol @gmail.com, suyash.pandit+123whatever etc. (Gmail feature. All mails get delivered to suyash.pandit11)

And then desi idiots register on forums with their mobile numbers as their handle IDs. 73589275923791 279275692753. Idiots all of them.

Then you also have newbies who keep on asking the same old question questions again and again. Please use Google.

Recently 5 IDs were registered from the same IP talking crap about 3D. A female ID asked a question, "can 3D glasses be used as sun glasses??" wtf?? and rest were spamming about 3D TVs. No idea why.

Then you have people registering who have no idea about how to ask a query and how to post in a forum. I'll be honest with all of you, these days I have resorted to deleting posts/accounts of new members who behave really "weird." I hope you understand what I mean by "really weird."

Now coming to the reason why have I created this thread. I need suggestions on how to control/end the above nonsense. ^^ All types of suggestions are welcomed.

Maybe a bit extreme,but not allowing the registrations through free email will solve this problem.Use the mail facility provided by your ISP/workplace to register.

redcafe does that: p.

Exactly what I was thinking tbh but it is not realistic. I have seen many forums doing that. But I honestly feel you won't many Indians using non-free mail accounts.

RAWK does it too: p.

RAWK has one more additional mechanism. To view their registration page when their registration is ON, you need to know their passkey. You have to send an e-mail to some ID. You can send anything. That ID replies the passkey back to you instantly. (automated) Only then you can continue your registration.

Even I will get banned if free email not allowed :cry:

Set a automated email where we have to send a email with special code to receive registration details as a autoreply.

why not start manual approval of members.you can involve super mods too.i know it is a burden but even now u are searching/deleting posts/ids, banning IPs etc.

I have a suggestion which is implemented on another popular forum. Moderate the first 5 posts of any new registered member. I know this can be a daunting task but may be efficient. Until a mod approves the post, it does not get reflected. Be it a post or a new thread by a newbie.

gagan007 said:
why not start manual approval of members.you can involve super mods too.i know it is a burden but even now u are searching/deleting posts/ids, banning IPs etc.

Approval of each and every member can be done but there is no way a mod can know if the member is legitimate or a spammer until he or she posts something which is not in interest of the community.

raksrules said:
I have a suggestion which is
implemented on another popular
forum. Moderate the first 5 posts of
any new registered member. I know
this can be a daunting task but may be
efficient. Until a mod approves the post, it does not get reflected. Be it a
post or a new thread by a newbie.

This seems interesting

wonder what will ico say

Hmm...right. I keep banning atleast 2-3 people each day because of this spam.

I think what raksrules said is a nice idea. We can moderate his 10 post.

And we have many mods here and all of them are active, so it would be really daunting task but personally I can look for manual approval of registrations.(Though this point wont work in case of a spammer, we can't identify the spammer by looking at his IP and ID only, I guess so)

Correct me if I'm wrong.

^^Thats the primary reason of moderating the posts rather than registrations. Spammers wont go to the level of making genuine relevant posts just to bypass the "first 5 posts limit" and then start posting spam. But yes random and automated registrations can be curbed my difficult captachas or answering queries etc etc

C

Hmm.. Now I can relate why Team-BHP tests the users creative writing skills for registration. Can that be implemented?

Two ways are do-able:

1. Keep the first 5 posts on moderation. Only moderators will see. After first 5 get approved, they move to normal status.
2. Upon ID creations, the user waits for moderation approval, then only they can append or create threads.

ico, I'm not very much into spam and its working...neither I know what all measures TDF takes to stop it.

I found this site, is it any help?

Stop Forum Spam

First of all to counter idiotic users (there are few with 1000+ posts as well), use the RAWK feature like "No New Topics for LFC". That way the idiots won't be able to create stupid new threads. This can be done by a new group for them I guess.

Spam users are more tricky, I'll second asingh's idea with respect to threads. Posts will be incredibly tough to moderate. It's better to let Report Function handle it all out.
Also don't let anyone below 20-30 posts be able to post links, let their links NOT be rendered. (or maybe any link they post will automatically make their post subject to mod approval, if that's possible).

A

why not increase number of moderators??

+1 to LFC_fan

5 posts moderated
no new threads till 10-15 posts.
no links till 20-30 posts

A

doomgiver said:
+1 to LFC_fan

5 posts moderated
no new threads till 10-15 posts.
no links till 20-30 posts

i don't think that it will be good idea to block creation of new threads till 10-15 post. What if this newuser is genuine and badly wants to post a new question, whose answer he requires urgently.
That will not be good idea.

abhijangda said:
i don't think that it will be good idea to block creation of new threads till 10-15 post. What if this newuser is genuine and badly wants to post a new question, whose answer he requires urgently.
That will not be good idea.

Threads won't be blocked but subject to mod approval. If the mod finds it genuine he/she will approve it and it will show up.

Assign captcha verification to the first 10-15 posts/threads of the new users...complex captcha! And block all Chinese IPs...

abhijangda said:
i don't think that it will be good idea to block creation of new threads till 10-15 post. What if this newuser is genuine and badly wants to post a new question, whose answer he requires urgently.
That will not be good idea.

contact the mods? then we will know for sure that the guy is genuine.

also, he can always hijack a similar thread

Moderating first 5 posts will be a very daunting task considering the fact we get around 50 registrations every day.

Is anyone in favour of only allowing registrations on weekends?

^^ Thats really not a good idea. May be, a strong captcha like re-captcha will reduce the spam? I am using for my site and it's rock solid.

I go with LFC_Fan's suggestion, coz we have plenty of mods at any given time in a day.

furious_gamer said:
May be, a strong captcha like re-captcha will reduce the spam?

reCAPCTHA can be easily by passed. Don't know how, but it isn't *strong*.

^^ But still better than what we are having now.

Nope furious, reCAPCTHA is bad. Having simple questions/answers is better. I have experienced it.

Also, please note that the problem does not lie with registration. Just like us or genuine users spammers can also create account because they are real human beings. The problem is to restrict them from spreading spam.

^^ In that case, post-by-post moderation is required.

I have added questions and really good ones.

QnA enabled for till 10 posts.

Let's see..!! Otherwise mods are always there at the backend to refine it out

You can have a seperate set of mods for the approval.
@ico
can i make another profile so I can chech it

?

Liverpool_fan said:
First of all to counter idiotic users (there are few with 1000+ posts as well), use the RAWK feature like "No New Topics for LFC". That way the idiots won't be able to create stupid new threads. This can be done by a new group for them I guess.

I am in support of this. Is anyone else?

thetechfreak said:
@ico
can i make another profile so I can chech it ?

Just log-out and click the registration button. Keep on refreshing it to change questions. Those type of questions will be asked to new members till they reach a post count of 10.

I am in. But simply doing this by keeping in mind the past clashes with that user is not gonna work. Mods need to be genuine and if they fins he is a spammer, he can do that.

Okay, let us see the traffic quality. Ico is it implemented. First 10x posts+QaA...?

Give'em a calculus problem to solve, only the geeks shall pass.

OK, lemme get out first.

Faun said:
Give'em a calculus problem to solve, only the geeks shall pass.

lol, Liverpool_fan has been saying this every time this discussion pops up on IRC. I don't know why he didn't post in this thread. :lol:

asingh said:
Okay, let us see the traffic quality. Ico is it implemented. First 10x posts+QaA...?

yup, I have implemented it. Increased the number of questions at registration and random questions will be asked till the user reaches a post count of 10.

I'll be trying it out with a dummy account soon.

Wow... the kind of Questions been put up... makes me feel, how low my GK is

Calculus is not fair. I do not know it.

^^ Me too. Very bad for forum as guys like me will not register.

Calculus?

Better ask questions on Chemistry//

Many people will run away.

A

or why not asks questions related to Computer?? I think it will be better option!!

I checked the security but it seems a lock.

I answered a lot but it still keep asking :-D

lol anybody tell me that how many QnA are there:-q

Arsenal_Gunners said:
Maybe a bit extreme,but not allowing the registrations through free email will solve this problem.Use the mail facility provided by your ISP/workplace to register.

redcafe does that: p.

Most of us here are students, and we don't have that.

krishnandu.sarkar said:
Hmm...right. I keep banning atleast 2-3 people each day because of this spam.

I think what raksrules said is a nice idea. We can moderate his 10 post.

And we have many mods here and all of them are active, so it would be really daunting task but personally I can look for manual approval of registrations.(Though this point wont work in case of a spammer, we can't identify the spammer by looking at his IP and ID only, I guess so)

Correct me if I'm wrong.

Be sure that mods will keep upto such a daunting task, I had seen this method before, in one forum it took my 6 days to get approved, I stopped checking on third day.

Here's a good idea, new member with less than 25 posts and 5 days stay do not get to post links, or has it been implemented already?

cyclops said:
Hmm.. Now I can relate why Team-BHP tests the users creative writing skills for registration. Can that be implemented?

That is a total cr@p method, spam monitoring is one thing, writing essay is another.

Plus, people come here to get knowledge, if I could write an essay about computers I wouldn't even come here in the first place, so scratch that.

One more reason I never registered there, if I could write an essay about cars I would not go there(actually I could, but I'd rather not).

ico said:
Moderating first 5 posts will be a very daunting task considering the fact we get around 50 registrations every day.

Is anyone in favour of only allowing registrations on weekends?

It'll reduce the traffic, I'd say if you go this way(I'd suggest not to), you need a dozen more mods.

ico said:
reCAPCTHA can be easily by passed. Don't know how, but it isn't *strong*.

Any other similar method? One that cannot be bypassed yet?

Faun said:
Give'em a calculus problem to solve, only the geeks shall pass.

Maybe permutation/combination or probability sums, those are .....interesting... :-D

soumo27 said:
Calculus?

Better ask questions on Chemistry// Many people will run away.

I'll be the first to get kicked :lol:

Kola2842 said:
I checked the security but it seems a lock.

I answered a lot but it still keep asking lol anybody tell me that how many QnA are there:-q

Ico, is this still happening. We do not want to kill all new comers..?

^^

these crap, mad Spamers are really too "faltu".

For all call centre etc noobs block the IPs for 2 violations since they'll be using the same IP again and again(or is this already being implemented?). If you manage to find the link they are refering to PM or email them that they're companies will be sued and they will be sent to jail

(most of the guys who spam will get scared). Also ban certain keywords from first few posts such as gold, world of warcraft, wow, runescape etc etc common keywords. You can also send a registration codes to a registered mobile no. (spammers will run out of mobile no.s) and they can be found out about by using the no.s too.

D

Just tried it out. Anyone with google can bypass this security within five seconds. Sending the registration code to mobiles would be more effective that sending it to email IDs. Moderators are free to delete this post. *tinyurl.com/44hlr. Links work.

I saw this registration approval method on some site where there's a picture cut across 2 blocks and you have to slide the lower back so as the picture matches as a whole. Why not use that method? Unless the spammers are bots, this should work.

But first, ban the whole of china from registering on this site.

ok.. now what was that spammy looking provided by DK Spam test!!

I accidently clicked it, and now I am worried!! :Fingerx:

well, for SMSing you need two things:

1) SMS exchange service
2) vBulletin modding for integration.

verdict? totally totally unrealistic to implement.

vineet369 said:
ok.. now what was that spammy looking provided by DK Spam test!!
I accidently clicked it, and now I am worried!!

Its montage a google. I thought if I was trying a link why not provide something useful.

^^

Oh.. that was useful!! Thanks!! :-D

Guess, I didn't read the context!