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ALERT: SPAMMERS ABOUND!

Started by DeadBishop, June 05, 2009, 11:58:51 AM

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DeadBishop

To all members,

Recently in the last few days, there has been a large number of spammers hitting the forum.  They all have one thing in common; within the body of their post, at the bottom is a link to random websites for things like vending machines, acne meds, etc.  With this strain of spammers, it actually appears to be a real person posting rather than an automated bot.  This makes it a bit more difficult to detect at first because they are actually responding to the content or questions within the thread they post in.

If you see a new member with a post like this, report it immediately! Do not respond to their posts in any way.  One of the tip offs is that some of them post in really old threads that haven't been posted in for months at a time.  Others have been found in current threads.  The biggest tip off is the LINK that's at the bottom of every post.

If the spammer(s) are reading this....TAKE A HIKE!  We don't want your kind around here and I WILL DELETE YOU when I find you.


~DB
Forum Admin


R/F.com member since 2003

Lady Renee Buchanan

Huzzah, DB, for your constant vigilance in making this forum the great place to be.  And while I'm at it, thanks to John and the other Mods who do their part in the same manner.

Rum all around!   ;D
A real Surf Diva
Landshark who loves water
Chieftesse Surf'n Penny of Clan O'Siodhachain,
Irish Penny Brigade
Giver of Big Hugs 
Member since the beginning of RF
All will be well. St. Julian of Norwich

Betty Munro

Spammers - bah!  Make 'em walk the plank!   >:(
I'll drink to that!

Carpathian

Is there a way to lock them out?  I am not sure if there is or not, but if I see any, I will definately help to report them to you!   :P
If you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much space!  :-)

renfairephotog

Twenty seasons of covering renaissance  festivals. Photos/calendar/blog.
Fairy photographer

DeadBishop

New wave of spammers coming through. In the last two months, there has been a SURGE of spam accounts nearing 10,000!  I deleted around half of them tonight over the course of about 6 hours.  I spend most of what little time I have on the forum currently doing this! 


R/F.com member since 2003

Lady Kett

DB - While I'm sorry you (and other mods of course) have to spend your board time doing that and not visiting, I would like to let you know how appreciated you really are.

Thanks for your efforts.

Anna Iram

My thanks also, DB. I too wish you had more time here to play like the old days, and very much appreciate the time you put into protecting RF from these boobs.

Carpathian

Good Lord!!!  I second the others and say Hazzah to you for doing that and keeping this place a great place for all of us.  Thank you, thank you!   ;D
If you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much space!  :-)

Rani Zemirah

It seems that they follow certain patterns with their forum names.  The last batch sandwiched what appeared to be a first and last name between a random letter at the beginning and ending, such as:

vranizemirahx

This latest batch seems to be inserting numbers between a first and last name, such as:

rani13zemirah

Or at least, I've noticed huge numbers of new members joining lately who follow those patterns.   

I know everyone appreciates the amazing efforts of all of you mods who put in so much time and effort to keep things flowing smoothly around here!  Thanks!!! 
Rani - Fire Goddess

Aut disce... aut discede

Celtic Lady

DB and the other mods I lift my goblet of mead in salute to you for all the hard work you do here. Thank you. I wish you didn't have to spend your time doing that but I'm glad that it gets done.

Lord Dragonspyre

Something to consider, DB...

On my own forums, I have installed a plugin that automatically searches the Stop Forum Spam database (www.stopforumspam.com) for new registrants. I use MyBB as forum software, but a little research turned up this plugin for SMF software.

With this plugin installed, every time someone tries to register, it compares their user name, email address, and IP address to the SFS database, and if there's a match, it automatically denies registration.

Also, should you come across a spammer that is not in their database, it's easy to add the info to their database to prevent others from having to deal with the crap.

It may not handle all of the problems, but it will definitely help.
Corrupting Impressionable Youths Since 1976.

IBRSC#1475, RMG#820, IFRP#1276
Horseman of Debauchery

Tom

Thanks for this, it looks like it's has been updated since the last time I looked at it. I'll check it out again.

Sent from my EVO 4G using Tapatalk.
Thanks,

Tom

A.K.A. - Lady Serenas husband

Merlin the Elder

I use that as well, Lord Dragonspyre.  I've also started blacklisting entire countries from even accessing the site. The site is very specific, low traffic, geographically concentrated, yet still, I fend off thousands of spammers a month using SFS plug-ins.
Living life in the slow lane
ROoL #116; the Jack of Daniels; AARP #7; SS# 000-00-0013
I've upped my standards. Now, up yours.
...and may all your babies be born naked...

Lord Dragonspyre

Still trying to figure out how to do it, but I heard that blocking proxy servers helps out a LOT.
Corrupting Impressionable Youths Since 1976.

IBRSC#1475, RMG#820, IFRP#1276
Horseman of Debauchery