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[voxprincipalis]

Hi mods,

I woke up this morning and the last post on every unread thread on my "show unread posts" screen was written by a spammer.

Can we please have better spam protection? I don't mean to get in your IT folks' business, but there are several SMF mods for helping to reduce spamming, some of which work with StopForumSpam or Project Honeypot. This will mean less work for you as well as less annoyance for us, since there will be fewer piles of emails reporting spammers.

Link to one particular one:

http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=1547

Link to a list of several:

http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?action=search;basic_search=spam

Uh, in almost all cases this requires an SMF software update to at least 1.1.11, but all sources indicate that such an upgrade is called for anyway for security reasons.

(Untenured's request that spammer accounts be deleted, not just blocked, is also an important part of reducing spam.)

Thanks for considering --

VP

[untenured]

Nice work, VP.  This problem is only going to get worse as time passes and word of our vulnerability spreads.

[crowie]

To be fair, I think the uptick was likely connected to a lower level of of scrutiny over Thanksgiving.   

[untenured]

To be fair, I think the uptick was likely connected to a lower level of of scrutiny over Thanksgiving.   

Maybe so, but there is been a longer trend of increasing spam over time.

If the moderators don't have the time to do this, they could appoint a sub-moderator user and give them post deletion power solely for the purpose of removing spam.  This practice is quite common on other commercial forums, and works quite nicely.  I'm sure there must be a long-standing, high-post, reliable member that would be willing to take on the task.

[mountainguy]

Another possibility (although I'm not sure if it's possible with the current fora software) is to require new users to wait something like 48-72 hours after registration before they can post. In addition to slowing the spam down, it might also cut down on the number of malicious socks or trolls who create new handles just to be obnoxious. 

[polly_mer]

Another possibility (although I'm not sure if it's possible with the current fora software) is to require new users to wait something like 48-72 hours after registration before they can post. In addition to slowing the spam down, it might also cut down on the number of malicious socks or trolls who create new handles just to be obnoxious. 

We've had at least one discussion on this.  That kind of wait may be a high barrier for legitimate newbies as well.  I probably would still be a lurker kicking around the idea of joining someday, maybe, if I hadn't seen that one post to which I had to respond, registered, done a couple throwaway posts on garbage threads to make sure I had the process down, and jumped into the fray.

Now, while I'm sure some people would say that delay is  a good thing and wonder why we didn't have it because the fora would be a better place without me, I can't in good conscience go along with a huge waiting time as a viable solution to the spam problem without mentioning the bad side.

[moderator]

Thanks for the suggestions, folks. Our tech experts are working on reducing the spam in the forums. Unfortunately, because of the holiday weekend, we're a bit short staffed, hence the spamorama. I think we've gotten it all, for now, but please let us know if we've missed any. Thanks for your patience and enjoy the holiday.

Best wishes,

the moderators

[duchess_of_malfi]

On the "I hate spammers" thread, there are forty new members with one post each and ten links per post, and counting.  We are being taunted. 

Do spammers get paid per posted link or per clicked link?  The site seems to be in the spam business.

[marigolds]

Yes, he's messing with us.

[voxprincipalis]

On the "I hate spammers" thread, there are forty new members with one post each and ten links per post, and counting.  We are being taunted. 

What an excellent argument they are making for improving our defenses.

VP

[polly_mer]

On the "I hate spammers" thread, there are forty new members with one post each and ten links per post, and counting.  We are being taunted. 

What an excellent argument they are making for improving our defenses.

I don't know.  I quite like the quarantine effect of putting all the spammers on one easily ignored thread.

[larryc]

At seemingly any time, if you go to Forum Home and scroll down to the bottom where currently logged-in members are listed you will find 2-5 newly registered spammers getting ready to pee in our pool. One of them right now has a tag line that promises to show us how to "look better in fishnet."

[littlefred]

Hey Larryc, maybe we should start sending them many messages through the message feature.... since they have to have an email address to register...

[polly_mer]

Hey Larryc, maybe we should start sending them many messages through the message feature.... since they have to have an email address to register...

The downside of this is two-fold.  First, each forumite is limited to sending 20 PM's in an hour with multiple recipients counting against that 20 (e.g., I can send 20 messages to single recipients, five messages to four recipients each, or one message to 20 people and then I'm done until the fora counter indicates that I have fallen below twenty sends in the past rolling hour).  Second, any activity on your account counts against the 30-seconds-between-next-activity rule.  Thus, after you have sent a PM to these spammers, you then have to wait at least 30 seconds to do anything again.

Oh, and a third consideration is that none of my PM's to first post spammers or spammers just waiting in the wings has appeared to have any effect at any time that I have tried it in the past 3 years.  You may be more convincing than I am, but even with real people on the other side, the deterrent value of PM's seems minimal.  The best I have managed is an apology from someone who "didn't realize" that the link to a self-promotion site was spam with a removal of the link and a ceasing to post.

[marigolds]

At seemingly any time, if you go to Forum Home and scroll down to the bottom where currently logged-in members are listed you will find 2-5 newly registered spammers getting ready to pee in our pool. One of them right now has a tag line that promises to show us how to "look better in fishnet."

Well, let's not make any hasty moves. Who doesn't want to look better in fishnets? (Larry, I don't mean to imply that you don't look spectacular in fishnets, of course.)