Question To Any Computer/Internet Geeks

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Mike27

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10/1993
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Alberta
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Do any of you, with more knowledge of the 'net and such, have any idea why our forum is being targetted by pedophiles and perverts with their particular form of spam filth?

It seems lately that we are getting more of this crap.

We have such a great forum, I hate seeing these idiots trying to take up residence here.

Bravo to the mods, BTW, for keeping up and getting rid of them.

Just wondering...

Cheers!
 
Zen Archer has sent me some suggestions that I have sent on to David but I think he's away fishing or something. No cell phone service. In the mean time we're trying to delete and ban the creeps and perverts as quick as we can.
AL.
 
We have sort of fallen into a system. I try to check in a couple of times a day, more on weekends since we believe they think our forum is not staffed on weekends. And Al takes the later shift, since I am usually dead alseep by 9pm!:-D

I wonder if we are being targeted more than other forums? Maybe it jsut seems that way to us? Cindy
 
Hi Cindy
You and Al do a fantastic job!

I'm a member at a couple of different forums and I've never seen this before, that's why I wonder if some morons are deliberately targetting us.

Argh! I wish we could catch and charge them with a crime!

Keep up the great work,I know it's tough.

Cheers
 
Humm...maybe the other forums use enhanced security measures like Zenarcher was talking about? The porn sites are the ones that puzzle me. Do they get money for each "click" on their site?

I figure the sites trying to sell us stuff really just want people so hand over their credit card #'s. You order the viagra or vacation and sit and wait but I doubt anything will arrive in the mail. WHile you are waiting for your order to arrive, the thieves are out stealing your identity. :evil: Cindy
 
We're not being targeted by people, we're being targeted by bots. They are scripts that search the Internet for forums and then attempt to register on them and post spam. The latest versions of vBulletin have made improvements in stopping the registration bots. Also there are some fixes which moderate new users under 5 posts. This would also serve to stop the spam but would still result in work for Al and Cindy. I'm trying to find some heuristic filters for vBulletin but haven't yet.
 
Oh! I didn't know! Thanks, Zen. Is there some way to get to the people who but out the bots? Or can we do it by IP address? Many of them appear to originate from the same IP. Cindy
 
I don't know which version of vBulletin is running but if you have "Moderate New Members" and "Verify Email Address in Registration" turn them on. The first means that any posts made by anyone classified as a "New Member" will go to a moderation queue and will have to be allowed by one of the moderators before actually posting. If you do this I would recommend making a new level after say 3 - 5 posts so that you don't have to moderate any longer. The second will send a link to the email address the user used for registration containing a link that the user must visit before being allowed to post. There are other things that can be done but it depends on the version of vBulletin and how comfortable the admin is installing, configuring and tweaking php scripts.

In terms of what you have right now, if you get the same IP again and again and can ban that IP go for it. Having said that realize this, the person that has that computer may not know they're spamming this board. Most bots like these are run from botnets which consist of malware infected computers that are being used by others to post spam or perform DoS or DDoS attacks. You can read more about that here: Botnet - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
Thanks Zen- good thing I am a geek wannabe. I am glad to learn more about this sort of stuff! Cindy
 
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