Spam fighting strategies

[Conservationist]

Long-time but probably not expert SMF user here (sadly, that's true of most software I use). I enjoy SMF because it seems intuitive and generally to have really good judgment about how features are applied. I find it more pleasant as a user experience, and a functional one, than phpBB or vBulletin.

However, others have discovered that our board is fun, and they're spamming the heck out of it. I was able to control this for a couple of years by vigorous IP bans, but at this point, we're awash in spambots trying to post exciting messages about Versace, medical insurance and Nike shoes.

I have installed:

* Akismet spam protection
* reCAPTCHA for SMF

However, they are still able to register new accounts:

* Of the type "keyword+firstname+two digit number+lastname"
* Mostly from .cn and .in
* Bots register, wait a couple days, then unleash spam
* Registering 50-1000 accounts a day

Anyone else dealt with this? What was your coping strategy -- I mean for the SMF forum, not whisky for yourself (which is warranted).

Also, for those who are looking toward the future... our site has a tendency to be "cutting edge" in what spam attacks. It's not our fault, content-wise, but we're a pre-1996 site with a decent amount of inbound links.

[Thrilling]

Post count under which users must pass verification to make a post. - enable this setting. Possibly add some Anti-Spam questions such as 3+7 = 10.

Admin > Security & Moderation.

[Antes]

* Akismet spam protection (proxy bypass)
* reCAPTCHA for SMF (cracked)

Try "Are you Human" mod ... enchant your forum with more than one spam fighter mod ...

[trebul]

My forum has been getting an increase in spam lately. I believe that it is human not bot related. I tried doing 10 posts before they can alter their sig. But then they just link to their crappy sites in the post.

So now I enabled post moderation. Every new member needs to have their first post approved before it shows up. I hope this will work out better.

It's just such a waste of time dealing with spam. I rather work on improving my site. But if you don't tend to the spam it doesn't look good to potential new members.

[Paracelsus]

The Recaptcha method must have been cracked because in the last days I've been having dozens of registered spambots. They do no harm because every register must go through an approval process, but it's really annoying to clean them everyday and to try to distinguish from the non-bots. 

[Conservationist]

Thanks to all for your help with this frustrating problem.

Post count under which users must pass verification to make a post. - enable this setting. Possibly add some Anti-Spam questions such as 3+7 = 10.

Admin > Security & Moderation.

Not sure I have this option; I'm not running 2.0. I'll probably wait until it's out of beta (I think).

* Akismet spam protection (proxy bypass)
* reCAPTCHA for SMF (cracked)

Try "Are you Human" mod ... enchant your forum with more than one spam fighter mod ...

Akismet catches most of the spam, and unfortunately, some legit posts. But your suggestion is good and I have applied it.

It's a good point that if we all run the exact same spam traps, the bots will evolve to work around them. So variety is the spice of life and all that.

However, the spammers are still able to register new accounts. See below:

My forum has been getting an increase in spam lately. I believe that it is human not bot related.

On ours, there's some evidence to suggest the accounts are registered with the help of humans.

We've got the CAPTCHA, Akismet and Are-You-Human mods installed, but the spammers are still registering accounts. Fewer of them, however

The Recaptcha method must have been cracked because in the last days I've been having dozens of registered spambots.

Looks like it's fully official now:

http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=11/01/11/1411254 [nofollow]

This could explain the sudden influx of spam (starting mid-December).

[Illori]

there are other anti-spam mods on the mod site which do a good job at keep spam bots from even registering on your forum, you should take a look for some that compare new registers to a database before allowing them.