Ban Failed

[viper62]

I banned a user yesterday for spamming and I had a full ban enabled on him however this morning he was able to login and post again. I deleted this person however I am just wondering how he was able to bypass being blocked from posting. I was running 2.0.14 but have just now upgraded to 2.0.15. Let me know if you can advise or if you need any additional information to be able to assist. Thanks.

[Kindred]

How did you ban him?

If you banned by IP address, that is basically useless as any spammer can get a new IP in seconds.

If you banned by host name, that is basically useless as the spammer can just connect from a new host

If you banned by username...   Did he actually log into the same (banned) account or did he start a new account with a similar name?
Also, If you deleted the account, then the ban by username is lost, since the username/account ban was linked to that account.

If it's an actual spammer (like a spambot, etc) and not just a user who posts a bunch of crap, then your best bet is to stop them from registering in the first place, not to depend on bans.

https://wiki.simplemachines.org/smf/Spam_-_my_forum_is_flooded_with_spam,_what_can_I_do

[showngo]

If I ban someone I check ALL TRIGGERS   
That does not stop them from a totally new account with a different IP and email but sure makes it more difficult.

[Kindred]

No it does not.

And, as previously stated, banning by ip is a BAD idea.

[showngo]

No it does not.

And, as previously stated, banning by ip is a BAD idea.

for overseas spammers, I block the whole IP range and can see 50-100 hits a night in the error log for them.    (I do verify IPs with an IP search before doing that)

[Kindred]

If your forum is anything more than a local site, banning even "overseas spammers" by IP address is a BAD IDEA.

Given than many of the forums I work with are world-wide fan-bases or businesses - banning any IP address at all could affect a real fan or customer -- and banning by IP really has limited to no effect on actual spammers, since they can quickly shift proxies.

The best way to prevent Spam is to use the questions that are a standard part of SMF security.