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[Dez Futak Company: CarbonCopyPRO Contribution Level: 3]

We have another spammer/spambot on the BN forum (Ammy Cindrella).

Here's my best advice on how to deal with them:

1. DON'T reply to the spambot.....this merely increases the liklihood that they'll get clicks to their cr**
(yes- I have made that mistake, so don't feel bad if you've done the same)

2. DO report them as spam by clicking on the exclamation mark in a triangle, which is above every post.

3. Try your hardest to simply IGNORE them: most of the time, they will do one test post by hand to see if it gets through without a CAPTCHA box, and then they'll crank out their spambot software to spray their cr** all over the forum.

Hope this helps!

Dez.

PS: remember, reporting the post as spam (step 2) is the most effective use of your precious time as it's pretty quick....then it's a case of "move along, nothing interesting here...."

[Dave Hayes Company: Magnetic Sponsoring Contribution Level: 7]

Having read the Article, which is interesting, I don't know the person you are reffering to, or have any connection with him or her, so am not really sure if they are a 'spammer' OR a newbie, who is unsure of how to use this forum the best way.

So looking at the bigger picture, why not offer some education through infocation, via PM or here in this forum, remember WE all had to start somewhere & until we learnt the rules, probably did the same thing

Its Just a thought.

Incidentally I am TOTALLY antispam, but believe they CAN be educated!

Dave

[Torian Wallace Contribution Level: 1]

Thanks for the Tip. What a waste of time to continue to spam.

[Dez Futak Company: CarbonCopyPRO Contribution Level: 3]

Having read the Article, which is interesting, I don't know the person you are reffering to, or have any connection with him or her, so am not really sure if they are a 'spammer' OR a newbie, who is unsure of how to use this forum the best way.

So looking at the bigger picture, why not offer some education through infocation, via PM or here in this forum, remember WE all had to start somewhere & until we learnt the rules, probably did the same thing

Its Just a thought.

Incidentally I am TOTALLY antispam, but believe they CAN be educated!

Dave

Hi Dave,

the person I was talking about was almost certainly a spammer/spambot, rather than a genuine newbie who didn't know forum etiquette (I've made that mistake often enough!).

You can always tell the spambots:

- the don't have a bio picture
- their first post is always a link to somethiing like cut-price pharmacueticals, handbags or watches (or maybe good ol' viagra)...and their subsequent posts are either identical or very similar.

We had one spambot post over 350 identical posts the other day in a single 24 hour period. that was almost certainly accomplished by using some automation software to continuously post to all the sub-forums here on BN.

So, yes, completely agree that we can help people re proper use of the forum if they're a newcomer....but spmammers don't have any place here: this is one of the best, most supportive forums I've hung out on in a long time, so I'm keen for us all to help preserve it as-is.

Keep on reporting the spammers & we'll keep the plate clean

Dez.

[Doug Taylor Contribution Level: 1]

So how do you handle what I've always heard called a "intelligent" spammers? It's a real person who passes the CAPTCHA when signing up. Throw 1 anchor text link in the signature with a reply to a post, such as "I have the same problem with PHP as Joe", for example and most of the time you usually never see them again. The post is not relevant and does not add value. There are times when those intelligent spammers come in groups and really make a mess of the forum.

[Dez Futak Company: CarbonCopyPRO Contribution Level: 3]

Thanks for pointing out the exclamation point I was not aware it was used for that.

Funnily enough, I wasn't aware until, in my desparation to report the latest batch, I clicked on it just to see

Dez.

[Dez Futak Company: CarbonCopyPRO Contribution Level: 3]

So how do you handle what I've always heard called a "intelligent" spammers? It's a real person who passes the CAPTCHA when signing up. Throw 1 anchor text link in the signature with a reply to a post, such as "I have the same problem with PHP as Joe", for example and most of the time you usually never see them again. The post is not relevant and does not add value. There are times when those intelligent spammers come in groups and really make a mess of the forum.

I guess they'll alwyas be able to get through....but at least the CAPTCHA code will prevent "machine-gunning" spam all over the forum. I like the way Facebook allows you to post normally up to a point, and then flashes up a CAPTCHA box if you begin to post "too quickly" (no idea how that's done!).

Dez.

[Mario Sanders Company: Life Force International Contribution Level: 6]

I saw an article on saving money. When I looked at it, it had spam all over it. The author was setting up a pyramid. You pay $20 to join and $5 to add a downline. And you get paid forever. Where I'm from, pyramids are illegal. I told him so and clicked on the spam button. He was not selling anything or giving any expert advice.

[Dez Futak Company: CarbonCopyPRO Contribution Level: 3]

2. Remove captcha on register (can not remember if you have it or not but I am sure you do). Add 20 different questions in the database and use the questions to random show up on register instead of captcha. Questions should be like 5 + 16 = "answer".
2a. Bots can not read and thus can not answer the questions and thus gives you double security to make sure real humans register.

3. Edit the field names on posting.php for the exact same reason you change them on register.
3a. If a human registers and then uses the bot to post this will stop the software in it's tracks.

Someone know how to get a hold of Mike show him this thread ....

James

Nice one. It works well on ArticleProductions.com ...and then also, there's that guy with the long hair who has this mega photon torpedo blaster who just fries the spam to carbon vapour the second it appears

That helps too

Cheers James,

Dez.