SPAM

[Daveman]

As you can all see, we've been hit by some very persistent SPAM robots.

We can't remove the spam fast enough!

We mentioned a site before which can be used as backup. I prefer not to post the URL for now. Some of you know it.

But for news and the like it will be used.

I'll see if I can shut down any new membership for the moment or make it read only for a while.

If that doesn't work, I'll have to put it in maintenance mode until we figur eout what to do.

[Daveman]

OK, I've made some restrictive changes, but it should allow most of us to operate normally.

We'll have to clean up the present SPAM, but HOPEFULLY new spam won't get in (for a while at least)

If this doesn't help, I'll have to turn it into an "information only" Forum, at least temporarily. Perhaps I will be able to identify the SPAM ROBOTS and block them

[Stef]

OK, I've made some restrictive changes, but it should allow most of us to operate normally.

We'll have to clean up the present SPAM, but HOPEFULLY new spam won't get in (for a while at least)

If this doesn't help, I'll have to turn it into an "information only" Forum, at least temporarily. Perhaps I will be able to identify the SPAM ROBOTS and block them

Daveman -- thank you for this huge effort and time you've put in toward eradicating the current SPAM and preventing further SPAM.

What a bunch of bottom-feeders!

Stef

[demografx]

OK, I've made some restrictive changes, but it should allow most of us to operate normally.

We'll have to clean up the present SPAM, but HOPEFULLY new spam won't get in (for a while at least)

If this doesn't help, I'll have to turn it into an "information only" Forum, at least temporarily. Perhaps I will be able to identify the SPAM ROBOTS and block them

Daveman -- thank you for this huge effort and time you've put in toward eradicating the current SPAM and preventing further SPAM.

What a bunch of bottom-feeders!

Stef

Yes, Daveman, I agree with Stef:

[Quantum]

OK, I've made some restrictive changes, but it should allow most of us to operate normally.

We'll have to clean up the present SPAM, but HOPEFULLY new spam won't get in (for a while at least)

If this doesn't help, I'll have to turn it into an "information only" Forum, at least temporarily. Perhaps I will be able to identify the SPAM ROBOTS and block them

Thank you Daveman.  I imagine how much work this must have been.  In the last 12 years, I have been managing a much smaller forum than this one, and this kind of spamming is really time-consuming. 

Let me share a suggestion that has been working well for me. I don't know what options you have with simple machines, but I have a feature on my forum options that make all new members 'moderated' until an administrator is removing the moderated status (Once the new member has proven to be a real, valuable, member, often after first post, that moderated status can be lifted).  With this moderated status, any post from the moderated member must be seen and approved - or rejected - by an administrator before reaching the forum.   In case of spam robots, if the first post is a spam, I delete the post and ban the robot or spammer, when the abuse is obvious.  This would save you a lot of time, I hope you have something simililar available.  Since there is a very good presence of the administrators here, the small drawback (new members cannot see their first post instantly published) is not that important, as I saw on my forum, through the years.  Those who are really interested to join the forum for good reasons won't be offensed.   

Thanks again for your dedication, Daveman, for keeping this forum a reality. It is a very precious source of information and support for anybody having POIS or having a near one affected by POIS.

Quantum

[Prancer]

OK, I've made some restrictive changes, but it should allow most of us to operate normally.

We'll have to clean up the present SPAM, but HOPEFULLY new spam won't get in (for a while at least)

If this doesn't help, I'll have to turn it into an "information only" Forum, at least temporarily. Perhaps I will be able to identify the SPAM ROBOTS and block them

Thank you Daveman.  I imagine how much work this must have been.  In the last 12 years, I have been managing a much smaller forum than this one, and this kind of spamming is really time-consuming. 

Let me share a suggestion that has been working well for me. I don't know what options you have with simple machines, but I have a feature on my forum options that make all new members 'moderated' until an administrator is removing the moderated status (Once the new member has proven to be a real, valuable, member, often after first post, that moderated status can be lifted).  With this moderated status, any post from the moderated member must be seen and approved - or rejected - by an administrator before reaching the forum.   In case of spam robots, if the first post is a spam, I delete the post and ban the robot or spammer, when the abuse is obvious.  This would save you a lot of time, I hope you have something simililar available.  Since there is a very good presence of the administrators here, the small drawback (new members cannot see their first post instantly published) is not that important, as I saw on my forum, through the years.  Those who are really interested to join the forum for good reasons won't be offensed.   

Thanks again for your dedication, Daveman, for keeping this forum a reality. It is a very precious source of information and support for anybody having POIS or having a near one affected by POIS.

Quantum

Is it possible to implement a captcha challenge here when signing up to help weed out the spambots? Just wondering cuz the spambots seem to have increased in the last few weeks.

Edit: And it does take much more than a single post to determine if someone is a "real, valuable, member" and not a human troll peddling spam sites and products.

[Daveman]

Hi @Quantum and @Prancer.

I've got a complex "Gotcha" and two questions that require "human" answers. When this new forum version started I didn't have any spam for the first couple of months, much less than I had before. But a "new set of "spider bots" has picked up on this version and are somehow getting through even the tough "anti-bot" techniques.

There are things I could do perhaps, but I just don't have the time.

The moderate newbie feature is effective but quite messy. There are about 150 to 250 registration attempts per day. So with moderated newbies, I'd be busy all day just deleting the ones that aren't serious, and my mailbox fills up in no time with garbage.

SPAM is the festering puss of human nature. As long as there are humans and internet there'll be spam.

The only alternative is a dedicated spam maintenance program. There are tools and things that can be done, but it comes with a cost, both in time and money.

[Quantum]

Hi Daveman,

I am amazed to see such a high number of registration attempts per day for this forum  (150 to 250).  Unfortunately, most of those has to be spammers - POIS isn't that common for that much registration attempts each day.  In those conditions, I clearly understand why the moderation of new members isn't a solution....unless the forum would hire a full time employee to do the job!  Or unless a group of dedicated moderators is sharing this task.

Maybe you should select a few old-timers, reliable members to help you managing this ton of daily new registration attempts. But, honestly, you already do an excellent job, considering the high traffic of this forum.  I personally don't mind to see an occasional spam robot post for a random advertisement, considering how much of your time you are already giving for free to this forum community.  And not to mention all the time you have been giving here for years, now.  Those who never had to act has a forum administrator have really no idea how much time consuming that can be on a daily basis, and how much dedication is needed to keep a forum clean and running smoothly, in a relatively good mood, and with appropriate content.

Thanks again, Daveman, for your dedication!

[Nightingale]

Also, can't rule out humans with POIS who don't like this forum... lame.

Daveman, thank you for doing this! This forum is such an asset, and you are the defender of it!

[Stef]

Also, can't rule out humans with POIS who don't like this forum... lame.

Daveman, thank you for doing this! This forum is such an asset, and you are the defender of it!

Nightingale -- you have no idea how correct you are about "humans who don't like this forum" -- who will do what they can to try to mess everything up.

Daveman is definitely the defender of this forum!

FYI -- I've offered my (meager) assistance to Daveman re: helping to rid the forum of spam. So, if suddenly I'm a designated moderator, please know -- it's only an effort to help Daveman with the recent deluge of spam. I won't be a moderator in the true sense of the word.

Stef

[demografx]

This forum is such an asset, and ...[Daveman is]  the defender of it!

Daveman is definitely the defender of this forum!

[Prancer]

(Or filtering anything typed in Cyrillic would probably reduce about 95% of the spam. Just guessing...)

I agree in saying thanks so much to Daveman for defending such a great asset. It (forum) definitely plays a big part in our progress to beat POIS! 2015 is gonna be a great year for POIS progress!

[serotonergic]

I'm a computer science major who is well versed in programming, web-hosting/design and security. If you ever need help with the website, I'll be more than happy to give you a hand.