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Unable to block someone

Started by Mark S, October 13, 2020, 09:24:13 PM

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Mark S

I banned a member but he's using a mobile VPN and keeps joining using different info.

How can I stop this?

Kindred

Not really much you can do...   
Слaва
Украинi

Please do not PM, IM or Email me with support questions.  You will get better and faster responses in the support boards.  Thank you.

"Loki is not evil, although he is certainly not a force for good. Loki is... complicated."

a10

Can be a war of exhaustion. I'd start with assigning new registrations to a membergroup and use "hide posts until approved".
2.0.19, php 8.0.23, MariaDB 10.5.15. Mods: Contact Page, Like Posts, Responsive Curve, Search Focus Dropdown, Add Join Date to Post.

Mark S

#3
Thank you, a10. l know it will be a war of attrition with this guy.  Post approval will do.l the trick.

Take away his ability to talk, and his presence is just as mute.

Thanks!

Doug Heffernan

Quote from: Mark S on October 14, 2020, 12:15:35 PM
Thank you, a10. l know it will be a war of attrition with this guy.  Post approval will do.l the trick.

Take away his ability to talk, and his presence is just as mute.

Thanks!

Have a look at my mod. You can have some fun with him.

https://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=565438

efk

Quote from: Mark S on October 13, 2020, 09:24:13 PM
I banned a member but he's using a mobile VPN and keeps joining using different info.

How can I stop this?
Can you tell me more about him, what caused first problems, what he usually do now and what he did before he became problematic, give me more about his personality and I can give you ideas how to ruin his moments/how to demotivate him.
My first advice, ignore him, don't give him attention, just ban on account, no IP nor Hosname. Once you give me more about him I will make a plan for you. Post approval is your first step to go. Also search through my old posts, I was already posting solutions somewhere.

Mark S

#6
I have been ignoring him.  Found that out to be the best response a long time ago... no response.  He started by making his posts generally insulting comments in his posts.  Insinuating no one else is as smart as him.
Also, only his opinion is the right opinion.  Everyone else's opinion was ok, he would say in a patronizing manner, but he made it clear his opinion was right.  He also always has to have the last word, no matter what is said.

After deleting his posts, he PMd me and, in a very patronizing manner again, said I was wrong and was "abusing his account".

After banning him, he came back using bogus registration info, and began threatening me.  I banned him again, and he did the same thing, telling me he couldn't be kept out because he is using a mobile VPN.

That was dumb of him, good for me. He told me how he could do it.

He then must've looked up my address and snooped around me and my wife's facebook and used that info in veiled, but obvious threats.  Ill include screenshots as attachments. (Can't seem to attach the images from my phone. I'll try copy/paste)

1st pm using my home address as his usename:

8771 Orchard Rd
« Sent to: Oz on: Yesterday at 05:21 PM »

I'll come by so we can talk about this, one veteran to another, it's a nice quaint brick house :-)   By the way, your house is beautifully decorated. I like the Christmas stuff from last year on Tami's facebook. Cute dogs."

Msg 2 using illseeyousoon as his username:
"
SeeYouSoon
Total Members
Posts: 0
I own: I don't own one but I want one!

« Sent to: Oz on: Yesterday at 05:31 PM »R

Using a mobile VPN means you're unable to block my IP... I just change it and boom, back here. We both don't want any drama, so just stop. I'm just outside of Baltimore so it's no problem to trek that way. I don't enjoy having to impose, but I refuse to allow you to take advantage of my account. You get to decide what happens sir. Options options options HA!"

3rd msg, same username:

"You know what, nevermind. Don't worry about changing your mind, what's done is already done. You made your choice, although it was a poor choice, you made it. As you know, some of us vets aren't right in the head, while my first reaction was to drive 38.9 miles to change your mind about your decision, I thought about it and realized that you're the stubborn type. Unfortunately I am too.

I'll continue using your site, for I am calm now. Any more shoot from you and that will change though. Give my regards to Tami and Junior. Sorry for you loss with Michael, truly"

He used my home address as his next username, then "seeyousoon" as the next.

I've stopped accepting new registrations for now.

He's a textbook narcissistic sociopath, IMO.  Arrogant in his accusations, no vlame on himself, willing to make amends if you concede to his wishes, uses stalking methods in his threats...

He even made reference to my son's suicide.
Wait til you read this psycho crap.

One question: should I remove the IP address bans? How does only banning on his username help?  He simply makes new ones with new email and IP addresses.

I appreciate the help. In 15 years of running this forum, this guy is by far the keader of the whackos I've encountered.

I'll take a look at your other posts, as you suggested.

Mark S

Quote from: Doug Heffernan on October 14, 2020, 05:44:43 PM
Quote from: Mark S on October 14, 2020, 12:15:35 PM
Thank you, a10. l know it will be a war of attrition with this guy.  Post approval will do.l the trick.

Take away his ability to talk, and his presence is just as mute.

Thanks!

Have a look at my mod. You can have some fun with him.

https://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=565438


I'll do that. Thank you!

efk

Ok so reorganize forum.
- You have Post based membergroups, remove all permissions from Regular Members membergroup and set post based membergroups, so let it be with
- 0-2 posts membergroup without permissions, only let this membergroup to have next: Search for posts and topics, Read personal messages, View profile summary and stats - Own posts, Post new topics, but hide until approved,  Post replies to topics, but hide until approved Own topic: and Any topic: , and View attachments if if you want new members and guests to see attachments that you have on forum. Also disallow ability for him to send private message
- Next membergroup 2-10 or more posts - keep post moderation but give a little more permissions. It is very important to allow others to use forum as well

- Got to Admin/Configuration/Security and Moderation.../and set desired required posts on Post count under which users must pass verification to make a post , then Post count under which users must pass verification when sending personal messages, set it to be 5-10 ,  Number of verification questions user must answer set it to be 2 or 3
Verification questions should be like this and more than 5 requested letters or numbers or whatever you get on your mind, but don't overcomplicate:
enter numbers only: dwm4ma2ad$&4@#%sd1fe6fsde9?S>2cvbc so its 4241692
enter letters only: 3443k45s#$%$$n#@&*m@#934d`` so its ksnmd
enter symbols only (remove letters and numbers): [email protected]`t34tf*nm so its @.`*
Make at least 20 security questions like this, so once you set that he have to answer on 2 or 3 questions he will be shocked because that makes people go crazy.
Disable  Visual verification image to display

- Remove him chat privileges if you have shoutbox or similar, note now when he is under moderation you will still see it but he won't know what's going on. Try not to go with insta deletion unless if you must to do it.

- Now going with bans is not an option anymore, your job is to give him back his PRIMARY account, why - because his powers are there. Remove his avatar and set his Post count to 1, let him be powerless, he won't be able to send private messages and he will post but he will not be sure what's going on.

- Remove all your personal info from public view, remove all related photos from forum and facebook and more if you posted, make everything visible to friends only and keep it like that for few months.

- Do not delete his older posts because he seems to be old user which means he has used his real IP so take a screenshots and report him to your local police. Also if posts are not deleted go to his profile and you will see his IP list and take a screenshot of it. Remember that deleted posts will hide his used IP in deleted posts (every post on SMF will always record IP of user when user make a post, like I'm doing with this post, it will record my IP on SMF forum). I hope you have Recycle bin so from there you can restore posts/topics before he started to use vpn.

- Once you set up moderation, you can set registration - Immediate Registration, so now you want to let him register new accounts because very soon he will notice that his word/voice doesn't exist anymore, he is void.

- Remove all IP bans, no need to keep him banned, he will get bored shortly once he see that he is not seen in public. Also tell others to not approve his posts, he must be void.

I just found my post https://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=571419.msg4045460#msg4045460 and https://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=569553.msg4030501#msg4030501

- Mods
Post Unapproval  https://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=1128 - this is core mod for moderation because you can approve/unapprove post/topic anytime you like, so must to have mod
Misc Anti spam https://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=3685
Annoy User or Miserable Users/User Discouragement https://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=565438

I forgot where to do it, but set a post limit per hour, for example 10 posts per hour for regular members? This depends on how much traffics your forum have, but if not much active and if there is no more than a 10 posts per hour, make it like that or less.

Mark S

#9
Thank you for taking the time to compose such a detail reply.  I did a search earlier and was setting up the topic based member groups  to deter spammers and working on reorganizing the member groups. 

One question about the member groups.  I read about and changed regular members, but there's a group I have and didn't make which no mention was made of.  "Total Members".  Is that what you referred to in this post  https://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=555635.0 as "New Member" group?

I appreciate the help.

There's nothing worse than a fly you can't swat.


Mark S

#10
You said the first post based group should be "2 " - 10 or so.  I read in another topic it should be "1".
If it's set to 2, wouldn't that give him one, unmoderated post?
If it's set to 1, wouldn't the very first post be moderated?

Thanks in advance, I'm obviously a little unclear on that.

Ok, I've done all the above in your instructions.

He can register new accounts, but I won't know it's him since he enters all bogus info: name, city, state, and of course - all the emails he uses are different.  He can post normally, like anyone else, and I won't know it, unless he goes off the handle right on his first post, which is unlikely, until he passes the post count threshold for the next post based level which allows for auto-approved posting.  But, he'll have to go a while, behaving, before he has a chance to do anything. In the meantime, his main thing is to send ME these psyhco PMs.  Which will give me more evidence and I can just reset his post count to 1 again after he's identified himself through those PMs.

It'll be gamey, for a while, but he'll tire of having to go through the obstacle course you gave me the plans for.

efk

#11
The thing is to demotivate him and you will do that with making his time on your forum impossible.
You misunderstood my post about moderation. You need a post based membergroup with 0 posts so users can register, and it should have reduced permissions, just very basic, then you can have a membergrou with 2, 3, 5 it doesn't really matter, but the thing is to not completely punish new members on your forum, so keep post moderation for minimum 10 required posts, if you make a new membergroup with required 11 posts for example to be without post moderation every post will be public, so on your place I would temporary increase that, maybe until reaching 15 or 20 posts. About private messages for new members you can set increased number of posts that user needs to be free from moderation, when you set that he have to answer 2-3 security question each time, that will kill his will.
Quote- Go to Admin/Configuration/Security and Moderation.../and set desired required posts on Post count under which users must pass verification to make a post , then Post count under which users must pass verification when sending personal messages, set it to be 5-10
Also about membergroup with which user is registered is 0, so you must have it, don't play with post count of this membergroup or if there is no membergroup with 0 posts everyone can become administrator. 0 posts membergroup - New Member is until your set new minimum number of posts for your next membergroup with 2, 3, 5 posts, and idea is that with 0 posts to not have access to private messages so new accounts won't have ability to spam easily. Also if you reduce post count of user to 0, he might need to go through email verification once again which is shocking moment and good trick to humiliate member, but you don't do it often because that means you give him attention.
If you need program for chatting, you can make discord server and there problematic user can be banned on report because discord require real IP.
The thing is with this system every time you notice strange behavior you can easily reduce number of posts of new user to 1, so he won't get out of that zone easily, and usually its not that hard to make a line between real and fake user because fake user will post short, unreal posts with idea to only increase post count and regular members will have posts as usual.
Also on your place I would report him to your local authorities since he mention visiting your house, Recycle bin can be very useful in this case since you deleted some of his posts, so collect his IP addresses, take a screenshots and report his threating towards you.

If you set up everything like I told you and if forum is important piece of his life, you will crush him and he might fell in depression, be angry few days or weeks and then out of your life, but it is expected from people like him to return and strike once again after some time, depends from case to case. You just need to place yourself in his skin to understand his point of view on things, if you have control and if you make the rules, he will be your slave. The thing is to always avoid communication directly to him.

And I forgot important mod to mention - https://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=4261 - Member Moderation, one click and user is moderated so you don't need to waste your time always to set 1 post on his account, but it is good to reduce post count so his private messages are in control.

Mark S

Good point with the member moderation mod!
I set everything up as you instructed, first group is zero posts no, PM privelages,  2nd is 1 to 20, requiring post approval, 3 PMs with verification and post approval, 3rd is our "normal" permissions.

I fully understand your assesment of his mindset. 

I implemented the system early this morning and have had 2 new registrations, plus I have another admin join as a test member to test the posting and PM measures.

Thanks again!

efk

Test like regular member while changing amount of posts.
Quote2nd is 1 to 20
Set it be 2 or 3 for 2nd membergroup and 3rd membergroup from 5 or 10 to 20. Not an easy task to accomplish even for very persistent person. You need to ensure that your older good members don't suffer from your change, so review completely permissions, make a test membergroup and see what you get with each permission. If you have moderators they might be lacking of permissions to do their job like they should.
About problematic guy, follow his IP addresses and Hostname on Google. Just copy/paste in google search and see if there is spam report or similar. You will notice difference between regular IP without problems and problematic IP, vpn.
Also open a new private topic and if you don't have much new registered members, make a list and follow newly registered accounts daily. It won't be hard to make a difference between real new member and problematic guy, his behavior will be unnatural.
Now follow how the things are going and you can come with feedback in few days.

Mark S

I got the member groups set up properly, thoroughly reviewed all member group permissions as well as for add ons, like the gallery and store.  I made 2 test member accounts and had a moderator do the same and did a series of test posting and trying to gain access to areas and send PMs etc.  Everything works as it should.  The 2nd group is 2, the 3nd group is 20.

There was a new member which registered and made two posts on one of my test posts.  It was definitely him.  Easy to tell by the profile info and what he posted.  He's obviously unsure what's going on.  He posted "Who's Mark?"  Well, he can't view the member list or profiles, and my name isn't on anything he can see, so must already have known who I am.  My first step has been to wait a while to approve his posts.  Then, I can set them back to 1.  If he catches on that his posts aren't being seen, I'm sure he won't be able to control himself and post something which he knows only I can see because it won't be posted until approved.  No problem.  Screenshot the post and just leave it hanging in limbo for future reference by making a special board just for them, only accessible and seen by me, and move them there.

Mark S

I did reverse location lookups on all 3 of his accounts using his IP and geo lookup.  The 2nd two are definitely bogus.  The first one, again, most likely accurate, is only about 10 miles away from me.

efk

Quote"Who's Mark?" 
Nah, it was me checking what you did. You got example how it looks like if someone uses Opera vpn. So many required fields to fill is also good way to go, that is a big +

Quote- Got to Admin/Configuration/Security and Moderation.../and set desired required posts on Post count under which users must pass verification to make a post , then Post count under which users must pass verification when sending personal messages, set it to be 5-10 ,  Number of verification questions user must answer set it to be 2 or 3
Verification questions should be like this and more than 5 requested letters or numbers or whatever you get on your mind, but don't overcomplicate:
enter numbers only: dwm4ma2ad$&4@#%sd1fe6fsde9?S>2cvbc so its 4241692
enter letters only: 3443k45s#$%$$n#@&*m@#934d`` so its ksnmd
enter symbols only (remove letters and numbers): [email protected]`t34tf*nm so its @.`*
Make at least 20 security questions like this, so once you set that he have to answer on 2 or 3 questions he will be shocked because that makes people go crazy.
Disable  Visual verification image to display

Your security questions, at least which was used last night (atm my time zone time is 00h) are very simple and you should set them in similar form like explained above. Also disable Visual verification image to display, its unnecessary to look at image and to enter text.
I mean spam bots can easily recognize and answer on United States of ?!

Mark S

Thank you for testing the site.  You registered before I changed the questions and disabled the visual verification. I did that at 2am this morning.
I viewed your profile and identified it as a probable spammer or the offending member.  So, I waited approximately 10 hours before approving the 2 posts after I saw them to further increase the aggravation affect if it was the offender.

I'm very pleased with the results of your advice. 

Thank you

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