Xrunner's Spam Xperiment

[xrunner]

Weird, very weird. Maybe they're not used to seeing a forum without defences and don't know what to do?

I dunno. I've had several complete the registration yesterday. Typical dumb spammer names. It's frustrating. When you don't want spammers, they invade like an army, and when you do want them, you can't buy one.

Dumb question: do I actually need to put up the CAPTCHA? 

[Arantor]

I wouldn't. I'd argue it actually would hurt testing to do so.

What I would do is link it on more forums in more signatures - the more backlinks, the more attractive the target.

[dimspace]

I had "How many tour de france has Lance Armstrong won" as a question..

Unfortunately, not only did it block spammers but it managed to prevent several genuine members from registering  :fp

[xrunner]

I had "How many tour de france has Lance Armstrong won" as a question..

Isn't the answer legally Zero now? 

[Arantor]

0 isn't allowed in the answers you can put in the Q&A

[xrunner]

0 isn't allowed in the answers you can put in the Q&A

Really? Hmmm. Learn something new every day. Why not? (or are you teasing me?) 

[Arantor]

Because the test is on empty() which considers blank and 0 to be empty. At least, I know it was in the RCs and it was reported but I can't remember if it was ever fixed or not. I also know that in the interim I've since rewritten questions in my own stuff anyway to be more awesome

[xrunner]

Well crap.

I usually pride myself on breaking software (reference the minor bug I discovered in SMF 2.1  ).

I've dropped the ball on this zero answer thingy. Hopefully I'll pick up my game once again. 

[dimspace]

Because the test is on empty() which considers blank and 0 to be empty. At least, I know it was in the RCs and it was reported but I can't remember if it was ever fixed or not. I also know that in the interim I've since rewritten questions in my own stuff anyway to be more awesome

that would explain a great deal

[Chalky]

Yes I has 0 as an answer to one of my early questions until my members pointed out that they could never get past it.  Even when they typed 0 SMF told them the answer was wrong...

[Kindred]

of course, you  do what I do and ask them to write the answer in words instead of numbers, since 0 != zero

[Chalky]

I thought of that except that it could be ambiguous as the answer could be zero, nought, none,.....

[Arantor]

And this is why Q&A needs to support multiple answers.

[xrunner]

Interesting development this morning at my main forum. I got two spammers registered -

julrockz85
    49.145.109.188
(advert: IRS payment plan)

tyroneman82   
    49.145.109.188
(advert: nissan extended warranty)

The anti-spam I have running was the following three things:

A) Verification question: You can't post ANYTHING or use your account until an Admin approves your account based on spam databases and heuristic screening criteria - if you still wish to apply complete the following phrase - "Atheist Think _______" - and enter the word in the box.

B) Arantor's Misc Anti Spam Mod (Even though the Mod listing indicated it was installed, I verified it was truly active by checking the page source)

C) not CAPTCHA mod

These two spammers got through all three blocks. Disturbing, but apparently real humans? Comments welcome.

[Arantor]

Could be registering humans and then passing it over to a spam bot, that happens.

[xrunner]

Could be registering humans and then passing it over to a spam bot, that happens.

Yea probably.

Getting a few more spammers at the test site.

Love this spammer email LOL -

[email protected]

[dimspace]

im trying an alternate logic..

let guests post subject to approval..

now i just have to delete 50 guest posts a day instead of spammers

[xrunner]

im trying an alternate logic..

let guests post subject to approval..

now i just have to delete 50 guest posts a day instead of spammers

Do your spammers post anything? The ones I encounter just register and set up an ad link in their signature. Some don't even do that. The last ones at Spamhaven just completed the registration and left. I've seen spammers post things here, but I don't seem to get that species.

[mashby]

First of all, thank you xrunner for what you did on your site. I didn't see what happened nor do I think I need/want to. I really appreciate the steps you took to help us here. Cheers!

Now on to the more relevant reason for this post. I just updated to 2.0.4 tonight moving up from 1.1.18. In doing so, the registration settings remained the same (email activation), but the mods I had installed were obviously gone. While I was doing some things post-upgrade, I got two spammers who signed up. One who activated via the email link and one who hadn't the chance. I deleted both members. They hadn't posted yet which is great or irrelevant. This occurred in about a span of ten minutes. What I did next was installed Arantor's mod. It has been crickets since then (which is typical for my site, but that's another story).

Thanks to what you are doing. And thanks to Arantor for a simple and effective spam deterrent. An uphill battle, but one that will make your calves strong.

[dimspace]

im trying an alternate logic..

let guests post subject to approval..

now i just have to delete 50 guest posts a day instead of spammers

Do your spammers post anything? The ones I encounter just register and set up an ad link in their signature. Some don't even do that. The last ones at Spamhaven just completed the registration and left. I've seen spammers post things here, but I don't seem to get that species.

mine dont bother registering now, they just post 500 word peices of total gibberish..