What's new
By:
Filters

Spam bots strike back


Re: Spam bots strike back

I ran a wee experiment by putting up an unanswerable question for human verification and the bots still bypassed it.

Not all the bots by a long shot but some. This means they either break the human verification system and know the answer or they are let in. Either way the only thing i can do is move this up the chain.
 
Re: Spam bots strike back

I'm sitting here, looking at the bots going, "Well, we could always ban new members" but that's just the PMS talking...
 
Re: Spam bots strike back

Copper said:
I'm sitting here, looking at the bots going, "Well, we could always ban new members"
Click to expand...

I second this even though it won't happen.
 
Re: Spam bots strike back

what we may as well do is justl ink the profiles of spambots here and be done with their silliness
 
Re: Spam bots strike back

I don't agree with bumping the thread every time there's an adbot. Unless they're in an obscure section that nobody touches, adbots tend to get spotted out really quickly, either by mods or members, and reported.

My suggestion is to put a restriction to all new members' posts to a single section specifically made for introductions. Then once they make that introductory post, they're free to post wherever. My other idea (that I don't think is the best solution) is to restrict them to that section until a mod or admin grants approval to allow them to post anywhere. Of course, the influx of work may be way too great so it might not be plausible.

The pros of this is that not only can we immediately spot what's spam and what's not, but it'll also let us learn a little about new posters, even if the only thing they're going to post is "Just posting here so I can go and give somebody a tip on how to do something in an h-game."

The problem is that this is going to require more staff work that'll potentially get flooded with dozens of new posts everyday, as well as deterring new members from posting (Either because they're shy, or they think it's dumb to have to introduce themselves just to say, "Thanks for the link!")

If this was already suggested and I just kinda subconsciously thought of it while thinking of a way to solve this problem, then just ignore me. I haven't been keeping up with recent posts lately and will scurry back to my hiding spot.
 
Re: Spam bots strike back

I'd recommend what Darkfire says, if only as a stand-in solution until we find something that actually works.
 
 
Last edited:
Re: Spam bots strike back

Most of these spam bots posts tend to be... well, spammy. They're walls of text. The credit card scammers weren't much shorter. I wonder if there's a way to detect the length of a person's first post, and if it's over a certain length, automatically flag them as spam with a message saying something to the effect of "Your post has been flagged as spam. If you think this is in error, shoot Nunu a message."

Obviously, posting in the introduction thread would be exempt because the template for those are pretty lengthy.

Though I would also support suspending registration for the time being and/or Darkfire's suggestion.
 
Re: Spam bots strike back

I agree with suspending the influx of new members for a couple of days at the very least, as well as Dark's idea, so we don't have to look in the Shoutbox every 5 minutes and see another damn bot spamming shit up. Perhaps we could even simply restrict it to people have to fill out the introduction sheet for their first post no matter what, and if they don't, or they fill it out wrong or something, then they are auto flagged as spam perhaps and unable to post elsewhere until they do it correctly. Is that doable maybe?
 
Re: Spam bots strike back

Dark's idea of approving new members was something I was juggling around with today, too. The pro would be, yes, we can immediately spot a spammer. The con is the increased workload on the admins and mods. If there's a way to give mods/longstanding/trusted members the power to help out with that, then maybe it might not be so bad, but otherwise, might just induce more headaches than the bots.
 
Re: Spam bots strike back

I have a question and maybe an idea/partial solution. Do we have an automatic confirmation e-mail like thing for ULMF?

If not then we could always get one set up where you must follow the link in the e-mail before you can post anywhere. That might stop most of the ones using the made e-mail addresses at least a little bit.
 
Re: Spam bots strike back

Three words. More Complicated CAPTCHAs.
 
Re: Spam bots strike back

Thanks for all your suggestions. I will do what i can. i would like to try manual confirmation even if its not the best for the newbies.
 
Re: Spam bots strike back

To be honest, I think what's needed right now is someone with the time, and ability, to be able to sort through the entire RP section, Signups and Archives included, and remove the spam posts. Most of the sections have been hit, and I think some just aren't being monitored anymore.
 
Re: Spam bots strike back

Are you voulenteering for title of chief spam hunter?
 
Re: Spam bots strike back

I suppose.

I *do* see a lot of strikes while I'm on.
 
Re: Spam bots strike back

Ill do your title when i get home then and not posting from my phone at work. but you can start imediately.
 
Re: Spam bots strike back

Attack Shadow! Go! I'd offer as well, but lets face it, my life is currently barely organized chaos. I shall simply continue to bring any I find to the appropriate people and harass them.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top