Stop Spammer

[PopUpSteve]

Duly noted, thanks.

[IMSassafras]

I'm back only cuz I thought I owed you people a great big thanks.  I did the suggestion of adding questions in registration and in over 24 hours we have had no people getting through except real, wholesome, fresh and blood members. 

Thank you very much, everyone!!!   

~Sass

[busterone]

Fanatastic!! 

[AZMazda3]

This is a great mod. It has done so much since installing it. Our forum still gets 1-2 people 'bots' a month that are not in the database but are from either Pakistan, Russia, or China. While I really don't mind that but they do not contribute, they are most likely gaining access so they can get the scrapers to access or something like that.

So am I missing a setting or something to do better with this?

[FemR]

I'm just wondering if following has ever happened to anyone... yesterday I successfully installed this cool mod, left settings on default, played with 'Check these Members' to check on a few pages of existing members.

Little while later I realized about 30 existing forum accounts (out of 2500) got deleted. Not banned, not unapproved, deleted. I thought this mod couldn't do that?

On the Admin>Members page, it currently says '29 Spammers blocked up until today' (this numbers changed up and down overnight but still it's around that digit.
Number of members 'Awaiting Approval' is around 10 currently.

I also installed Honey Pot yesterday, but did not turn that one on yet. So I'm left to wonder, if Stop Spammer is the cause?

Anyone had that happen? Very bizarre. Thanks for your replies/help.

[Kindred]

This mod has no delete function. They is no way that it deleted your users, existing or new...

[FemR]

I've only installed 3 mods on that day:

• httpBL (did not turn it on yet)
• Add Honey Pot to Track IP
• Stop Spammer

I understood neither is made to be able to delete users, yet circa 30 accounts got somehow deleted. I'm the only admin too. Like I said, never had that happen, so bizarre, it has me scratching my head since. Thanks for your reply, Kindred.

[HansR]

Installed on: 2 june 2014
Simple Machine :  2.0.7
Stop Spammer : 2.3.9

-----

There is a severe error in the Dutch translation of Stop Spammer. As a result the installation fails and a PHP-error (unexpected T_STRING) inhibits the forum to run. Inexperienced users will have a problem because it requires some advanced handling to recover and correct.

The invalid codestring is the last string in the Dutch translation (both DUTCH and DUTCH_UTF8) is:

$txt['stopspammer_check_sub2'] = 'Standaard wordt elke keer wanneer leden gecontroleerd worden met de MOD Stop Spammer hun gebruikersnamen, e-mail adressen en IP's gecontroleerd. Indien je teveel valse positieven krijgt vanwege hun gebruikersnamen kun je deze optie uitschakelen. We raden je niet aan de andere twee opties ook uit te schakelen (het controleren van e-mail adressen en IP's) tenzij je weet wat je doet.';

It should read:

$txt['stopspammer_check_sub2'] = 'Standaard wordt elke keer wanneer leden gecontroleerd worden met de MOD Stop Spammer hun gebruikersnamen, e-mail adressen en IP\'s gecontroleerd. Indien je teveel valse positieven krijgt vanwege hun gebruikersnamen kun je deze optie uitschakelen. We raden je niet aan de andere twee opties ook uit te schakelen (het controleren van e-mail adressen en IP\'s) tenzij je weet wat je doet.';

Surprising nobody noticed this before, installation of the Dutch language is not possible!
Could the correction be entered in the distribution?
Thanks.

[metemi]

This looks like a great Mod, thank you very much! I'm a bit confused (and worried) though about the reported number of "Blocked Spammers"; first of all I'm not sure what that means exactly, and secondly, the numbers are extremely high; much higher than the number of registrations we actually get.  Any help? (it was up to 700 on the first day it was used).

[bahgheera]

Hmm... someone beat me to it.

The question above is one I'd like to ask - there is a lot of activity from the mod (we're up to >2000 blocked spammers now), but I'm not sure what exactly it's doing. I installed the mod less than 24 hours ago. We don't normally get that many registrations in a day, so is it blocking people that created accounts before I installed the mod? I thought the mod simply flags accounts and doesn't let them get approved without admin intervention. If someone could shed some light on this I'd appreciate it.

[metemi]

This looks like a great Mod, thank you very much! I'm a bit confused (and worried) though about the reported number of "Blocked Spammers"; first of all I'm not sure what that means exactly, and secondly, the numbers are extremely high; much higher than the number of registrations we actually get.  Any help? (it was up to 700 on the first day it was used).

I'm beginning to think that nobody (including the developers) knows the answer to this question... ??

[busterone]

The mod author for this mod has not been active for almost a year.  Only he can accurately answer the question. 
I have also noted the blocked spammers number, but honestly, it is not really a big deal to me whether it is low or high. All I care about is that spammers do not get into my forum. With the help of this mod, another mod, and ever rotating registration questions, that is accomplished for me.

the mod author Snoopy's profile -  http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?action=profile;u=68708
last active July 31, 2013, 08:03:11 AM

[HDB]

The blocked spammer count is high for me as well but this Mod works. It keeps the spammers on the outside looking in. 

[metemi]

The mod author for this mod has not been active for almost a year.  Only he can accurately answer the question. 
I have also noted the blocked spammers number, but honestly, it is not really a big deal to me whether it is low or high. All I care about is that spammers do not get into my forum. With the help of this mod, another mod, and ever rotating registration questions, that is accomplished for me.

the mod author Snoopy's profile -  http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?action=profile;u=68708
last active July 31, 2013, 08:03:11 AM

Oh ok.  Yeah it's a great mod, I guess those numbers are not really important.  What is the other mod you are using?
Thanks for the reply.

[busterone]

The mod author for this mod has not been active for almost a year.  Only he can accurately answer the question. 
I have also noted the blocked spammers number, but honestly, it is not really a big deal to me whether it is low or high. All I care about is that spammers do not get into my forum. With the help of this mod, another mod, and ever rotating registration questions, that is accomplished for me.

the mod author Snoopy's profile -  http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?action=profile;u=68708
last active July 31, 2013, 08:03:11 AM

Oh ok.  Yeah it's a great mod, I guess those numbers are not really important.  What is the other mod you are using?
Thanks for the reply.

httpBL

[bahgheera]

My question is are we keeping regular members or non-spammers out? That's all I'm really concerned with. But you are right, it does seem to work exceptionally well at keeping the spammers out.

[Burke ♞ Knight]

This mod has no delete function. They is no way that it deleted your users, existing or new...

That is where you are wrong.
This mod, WILL delete the members if you check them, and they appear to be on Stop Forum Spam's spammer list.
I know this for a fact, because a while back, we had it happen at Crip's site.

However, I have been told of a bug, where Check Member is visible to the member in their profile's Actions menu.


Here is the fix: Sources > Profile.php

Code Select Expand

'checkmember' => array(
'label' => $txt['stopspammer_profilecheck'],
'custom_url' => $scripturl . '?action=admin;area=viewmembers;sa=query;params=' . base64_encode(serialize(array('mem_id' => $memID, 'types' => array('mem_id' => '=')))),
'enabled' => $cur_profile['id_group'] != 1 && !in_array(1, explode(',', $cur_profile['additional_groups'])),
'sc' => 'get',
'permission' => array(
'own' => array('profile_remove_any', 'profile_remove_own'),
'any' => array('profile_remove_any', 'moderate_forum'),
),
),

Should be:

Code Select Expand

'checkmember' => array(
'label' => $txt['stopspammer_profilecheck'],
'custom_url' => $scripturl . '?action=admin;area=viewmembers;sa=query;params=' . base64_encode(serialize(array('mem_id' => $memID, 'types' => array('mem_id' => '=')))),
'enabled' => $cur_profile['id_group'] != 1 && !in_array(1, explode(',', $cur_profile['additional_groups'])),
'sc' => 'get',
'permission' => array(
'own' => array('profile_remove_any),
'any' => array('profile_remove_any', 'moderate_forum'),
),
),

[busterone]

Interesting. I just checked it using a couple of non admin test accounts and it is visible.  If clicked the user is told that they are not allowed access to that area.
I am surprised that this has gone so long unnoticed. As curious as several of my members are about stuff, I am really surprised that at least one of them never noticed it and commented about it. 

Thanks for the fix.

[Burke ♞ Knight]

ROFL...
I know what you mean.
I've used this mod for a long time, and only recently had someone bring it to my attention.

[butchs]

Nice catch.