Bad or Undesirable Registrations

[TrevorM]

HI,

I am receiving registrations that leave inappropriate messages, they appear to be automated. They are about where to get drugs, etc. and rubbish like that. So I have made registration to require approval by the Admin. This is now very tedious as I get a lot of registrations with a mixture of what seem authentic email addresses and some that seem to be bogus but the user names requested are always  random  alpha / numeric that seem to be generated on the fly.

Is there anyone who can offer me advice on how to stop or make this type of registration more difficult for the perpetrator(s)?

Our forum is for parents that have children with learning and/or behaviour difficulties and the last thing we need are weirdo's or spammy registrations.

I am only borderline used to admin so some explicit help would be really useful.

[Gary]

Have you tried enabling verification questions? A few custom questions related to your forum's subject matter can go a really long way.

I've not dabbled in 2.1 much yet to fully remember the route to take to enable it, but in 2.0 the route is this (which should be similar in 2.1, though someone else will no doubt correct me if I'm wrong) Admin > Configuration > Security and Moderation > Anti-Spam

[Illori]

Have you tried enabling verification questions? A few custom questions related to your forum's subject matter can go a really long way.

I've not dabbled in 2.1 much yet to fully remember the route to take to enable it, but in 2.0 the route is this (which should be similar in 2.1, though someone else will no doubt correct me if I'm wrong) Admin > Configuration > Security and Moderation > Anti-Spam

i bet the op is not even using 2.1. 2.1 has some built in anti-spam measures beyond what you can normally see, that should help to prevent spam.

[TrevorM]

Thank you for your help,
I have applied anti spam techniques now as suggested and we'll see how it goes. I feel a bit stupid not finding it by myself - I knew something would be built in. I am much appreciative of the speed in which you responded thank you so much.

[Kindred]

are you actually using v2.1 beta?

[TrevorM]

Hi,

No I am not using 2.1 Beta, I felt that as it is a Beta I had better wait until it is given the stamp of approval by pro users.

[TrevorM]

OK I have now had the revised registration running since pm yesterday. The revised registration requires activation, has a CATCHA and a range of questions that have to be answered.

I now have a bucket load of registrations awaiting with the same type of erroneous user names and strange email addresses. Assuming someone does activate, I am going to end up with the same inappropriate posts again aren't I?

[Kindred]

yes... you will. I recommend deleting all of those pending registrations.

(the reason I asked about 2.1 is because you posted in the 2.1 support board, originally)


Also, CAPTCHA is useless. The bots can break it with ease and it actually annoys real users more than the bots.

[Dav999]

The CAPTCHA can be solved by many spambots these days, and the questions have to be good - math questions for example are no protection against bots, rather you should try a couple of questions that have something to do with the subject of your site. If bots can still register, increase the number of questions they have to answer correctly.

[mpetrie]

On SMF 2.0.9 and earlier I used the Stop Spammer mod. While that still doesn't stop spammers creating an account it certainly helps weed out dubious accounts. Does 2.1 include such a feature, or is the Stop Spammer mod working in 2.1?


Thanks

[Kindred]

no and probably not.

Since stop spammer relies on a third party system, it would not be included in the core product.

[mpetrie]

Thanks Kindred