How to block Forum Poster!

[butchs]

Some guy is selling this program Forum Poster.  In the program it has lists of various Simplemachines web sites.  The program automatically logs them in and then they post spam on the web site.

I am using googlebot & Spiders and Who.template.php with SMF 1.1.2.  With these mods I have notice what they want to do and can disable their ability to post to my web site before they spam me.  Is there a mod that can do this automatically?


Here is an example of a Forum Poster user:
Guest
(69.105.67.248, Forum Poster - fp.icontool.com)   12:35:56 AM   Registering for an account on the forum.

[KGIII]

Automatically? Just add a couple of fields to the registration with the Custom Profile Field mod or, search the mod site for "spam" or something. I even allow guests to post and have nary a problem.

[butchs]

I installed the Custom Profile Field mod and now the problem is solved.  Thank you.

[KGIII]

I did it with just adding two fields. I mostly wanted to use something other than CAPTCHA (Visual Verification in SMF language) because that could eventually be bypassed and, it seems, has been so I am glad I made that choice.

Toss in the No SPAM by Guests mod and you're all set to even open up and allow guest posting.

[jnix]

Ah yes, I've come across "Forum Poster", and I see it even gets past Captcha.

I'm trying out custom registration fields but I can't see how thats a long term fix (unless you could have the custom field validated against some value).

I know its unwise to discuss anti-spam measures in public like this, but I was wondering if a better fix would be to rename (for example) Register.php to Anything.php (something completely random) and then change all references to it across the forum. Of course you'd probably have to change it back before upgrading/adding mods but would that work? Would it fool bots who would have been trained to look for 'Register'?

'm no expert by far, so I'd be interested to hear what others think. Am i over-simplifying it?

[KGIII]

They could still pull the link. There is no long term measures. It is a cat-and-mouse game.

[jnix]

A custom field in my registration form had stopped spam completely for a few weeks, but now its back. Spambots have wised up, and are now posting to that field too.

[elfishtroll]

A custom field in my registration form had stopped spam completely for a few weeks, but now its back. Spambots have wised up, and are now posting to that field too.

yeah, they are counting fields and making sure some value is in all of them. You could simply add another field but make sure that it is SUPPOSED to be blank! If you get a value in the field, then you know to discard the registration.

You could also use Javascript to render some fields in the DOM (since they wont be able to parse the Javascript). Again, you'll have to edit some code on the form processing side, but it will be very minor.