Forum Spam Filter

[Drarkan]

I can't remember what framework you use for multiboxing.com forums, but there seems to be a lot of spam. With wordpress theres umpteen filter addons not to mention the embedded security of if a new poster wants to post, they have a limited number per day (or which can be lifted by a mod of the fourms) and anyone who's under newb status (less than 10 posts) can't post more than 1 link in a message.

I see these spammers who post here fill their posts with links. There's gotta be a way to detect that ****.

[RavingNoah]

I was wondering the same thing. It's like deciding to come over to your friend's place but there's ravenous dogs and knee-high weeds in the yard between you and the front door...

[Nghtmr9999]

I delete em as I see them. I make one pass in the morning when I get up, and more throughout the day as I see new posts on my RSS feed.

It's a battle I just cant win unfortunately =/

[Ualaa]

Can you ban the users, as well as delete the posts?

[Nghtmr9999]

Originally Posted by Ualaa

Can you ban the users, as well as delete the posts?

Yup, I have been banning them as I delete the posts.

[Tim]

Hey Nghtmr, are you noticing any trend in the IPs, or do they all seem really random? I could straight up block IP addresses at the firewall the servers are behind.

[Zub]

Instead of the capcha in the registration process, what you need is a human detector for english speakers.
I've added a silly question in one of my forums and the spam dropped 90%.
Simply add a box with a question such as:
"What colour is milk", or "what color is the sky", "what is five plus two"
and an open text box.

english speakers will easily type "white", "blue', "seven" in the box, and all the russian, chinese, nigerian (to name a few) or robots won't.

[Nghtmr9999]

Originally Posted by Tim

Hey Nghtmr, are you noticing any trend in the IPs, or do they all seem really random? I could straight up block IP addresses at the firewall the servers are behind.

I honestly haven't been paying much attention to the IPs, but they seem random to me

[Drarkan]

Keep in mind, IP's can be ghosted so the sites they go to seem like a different one even if it is the same one. What Zub is saying will work against those foreign spammers pushing their crap. But limiting the amount of posts or links will not let them post and force a moderator to view it before its allowed. Not sure if that's true for forums but it is for blog comments.

[Drarkan]

Don't post after the spam cause it makes the mods miss the most recent post of the thread. On a quick glance they'll see who posted last and see its a legit person and not bother to read it if they're making a spam sweep. Just hit the report spam witch is the little ! icon.

Also If I had privileges to ban spammers and delete messages, I'm up most of the night and when I check the forum I see what's been posted. I just wish I could delete them since they're such a nuisance.