Spam bots issue

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Fraizeraust
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Spam bots issue

Post by Fraizeraust »

I thought this case has been gone for long but looks like it isn't. Every week or so newly registered accounts are used by "bots" to spam with their junk content in other topics in order to derail the main content of a thread. Just recently a rogue bot by the name Monday12333 created a mass sh*t-storm in the forums reaching ~90 spam posts within seconds in the morning of 12 October.

While this situation doesn't seem to happen frequently it is still quite a problem especially if these junk posts aren't deleted from the public as quick as possible. Even worse, if these such content are pornographic related or warez cracks.

I'd invite staff members or the responsible of the forum website discussing and searching for a viable solution about this. We need a better registration system making it tough to impossible for bots to register accounts and destroy the forum content. Any ideas?
a.k.a. GeoB99 -- ReactOS Kernel developer -- My Wiki page
oldman
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Re: Spam bots issue

Post by oldman »

Fraizeraust wrote:I thought this case has been gone for long but looks like it isn't. Every week or so newly registered accounts are used by "bots" to spam with their junk content in other topics in order to derail the main content of a thread. Just recently a rogue bot by the name Monday12333 created a mass sh*t-storm in the forums reaching ~90 spam posts within seconds in the morning of 12 October.
That got removed quickly, I never saw it! But the profile is still there (I followed the link that you posted).
Fraizeraust wrote: While this situation doesn't seem to happen frequently it is still quite a problem especially if these junk posts aren't deleted from the public as quick as possible. Even worse, if these such content are pornographic related or warez cracks.

I'd invite staff members or the responsible of the forum website discussing and searching for a viable solution about this. We need a better registration system making it tough to impossible for bots to register accounts and destroy the forum content. Any ideas?
Colin Finck is the main man memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=1270, but he may not be aware of the problem, EmuandCo memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=64 will be, because is likely the man that deletes the spam.

By the way, this is not the first time that this topic as been brought up.
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ROCKNROLLKID
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Re: Spam bots issue

Post by ROCKNROLLKID »

To prevent the "90 post spam in a few seconds" they could make it so you can only make 1 post every few minutes.

Unfortunately, no solution will be 100%, as sometimes spam is from actual real people trying to promote something, like advertising.
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dizt3mp3r
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Re: Spam bots issue

Post by dizt3mp3r »

Site/forum change proposals always seem to cause some friction. If the bots are being handled promptly I don't see an issue.
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Fraizeraust
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Re: Spam bots issue

Post by Fraizeraust »

What it actually surprises me is how can these bots bypass the reCAPTCHA module, considering that this thing should be enough to prevent bots from registering accounts. Kind of mistery, eh?
ROCKNROLLKID wrote:Unfortunately, no solution will be 100%, as sometimes spam is from actual real people trying to promote something, like advertising.
True. But if it's that the case, their accounts would be totally disclosed (ban) from any forum rights. I am a moderator of a gaming community forum and this is what we do. Assuming the user is "real" and just wants to waste our time with his crappy spam advertising posts, we'll delete them and permanently ban the account. Works like a charm.
oldman wrote:EmuandCo memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=64 will be, because is likely the man that deletes the spam.
I can feel this guy saying silently "Seriously I need help..." with all the mess commited by bots, especially the infamous one from the morning 12 October. These bots are so ruthless.
a.k.a. GeoB99 -- ReactOS Kernel developer -- My Wiki page
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