New User registrations/problems

Annette · 03-06-2011, 03:12 PM

We have been absolutely inundated with spam user registrations lately. It looks like we're averaging over 100 of them a day, I'd estimate that in the last few weeks I've deleted about 4000 spam user registrations. Unfortunately what this means is that there's a possibility some actual user registrations might have gotten caught in that as well.

If you know someone who has tried to register and hasn't been approved, please let me know.

susanliber · 03-06-2011, 04:29 PM

do you know there has been so much more spam lately?? I noticed all the names at the bottom....crazy....

Loonbeam · 03-06-2011, 06:04 PM

With email spam filters getting better, the new big frontier is spamming bulletin board systems.

We get over 100 per day just on our little gaming guild site.

Quote:

Originally Posted by susanliber

do you know there has been so much more spam lately?? I noticed all the names at the bottom....crazy....

Ned · 03-06-2011, 06:54 PM

On the bulletin boards and forums for which I'm an administrator, we've seen a major upswing in spam everywhere.

Annette, that's why they pay you the big bucks (LOL). Thank you for all your hard work. I assure you we all appreciate the time you put in here. This place would be a disaster without you.

cooldad · 03-06-2011, 07:09 PM

You can adjust the settings in the registration. These are not bots, they are people being paid to gain access. And then likely a bot will spam.

Get rid of CAPTCHA in the registration and then switch to a Q+A and use several questions not just 1 that can be passed around. And make the answer something relatively challenging but not included in the question. BAD-- What is 2+4? Good--Who was the US President before Barack Obama?

stephen_s · 03-06-2011, 07:21 PM

Awesome idea. Unfortunately I haven't been participating that much because I work full time and we don't have full Internet access where I work. We're only limited to our intranet and maybe one or two sites we can access.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cooldad

You can adjust the settings in the registration. These are not bots, they are people being paid to gain access. And then likely a bot will spam.

Get rid of CAPTCHA in the registration and then switch to a Q+A and use several questions not just 1 that can be passed around. And make the answer something relatively challenging but not included in the question. BAD-- What is 2+4? Good--Who was the US President before Barack Obama?

cooldad · 03-06-2011, 08:21 PM

That was not a suggestion for users, it was a suggestion to change the settings in the Admin CP settings

AaronK · 03-06-2011, 09:06 PM

cooldad, Stephen is one of the admins/moderators.

Annette, your hard work is very appreciative.

cooldad · 03-07-2011, 06:46 AM

Well I am familiar with VB and had the same issue. Here is the solution that worked for us.

AdminCP-->VB Options-->Human Verification Manager

Uncheck CAPTCHA or other means. Select Q+A

Then create several questions that will rotate.

Key: make the questions somewhat challenging and do not include the tools for the answer in the question (What is 2+5?) Use something like "Who was the US President before Barack Obama?"

The registrations are being done by people not a bot. Then the people will hand off the registration info to the bot to spam. Hence why CAPTCHA is not working.

They aare getting paid by the registration so they are not likely to keep returning to try again if it is not so easy. And once they get in, they will simply re-register and re-register under different names.

03-06-2011, 03:12 PM	#1
Annette Moderatrix Über Poster Member since: Nov 2005 Location: Winnipeg Age: 43 Posts: 4,290 Rep Power: 170	New User registrations/problems We have been absolutely inundated with spam user registrations lately. It looks like we're averaging over 100 of them a day, I'd estimate that in the last few weeks I've deleted about 4000 spam user registrations. Unfortunately what this means is that there's a possibility some actual user registrations might have gotten caught in that as well. If you know someone who has tried to register and hasn't been approved, please let me know. __________________ Annette - CTC - God put me on earth to accomplish a certain number of things. Right now I am so far behind I will never die. - I'm not in denial, I'm just very selective about the reality I accept. www.eastontours.com

03-06-2011, 04:29 PM	#2
susanliber Senior Member Platinum Poster Member since: Apr 2005 Location: Upstate NY Age: 57 Posts: 1,244 Rep Power: 100	do you know there has been so much more spam lately?? I noticed all the names at the bottom....crazy.... __________________ You've got two options, having fun or freakin' out - that's what it's all about!!.....thank you Jimmy Buffett!!

03-06-2011, 06:54 PM	#4
Ned Kishef macher Super Duper Über Poster Member since: Jul 2005 Location: Philadelphia, PA USA Posts: 16,687 Rep Power: 449	On the bulletin boards and forums for which I'm an administrator, we've seen a major upswing in spam everywhere. Annette, that's why they pay you the big bucks (LOL). Thank you for all your hard work. I assure you we all appreciate the time you put in here. This place would be a disaster without you. __________________ Ned [Visit my Travel Photography Blog, and Photography website NSL Photography]

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03-06-2011, 07:09 PM	#5
cooldad Travel Professional Member since: Nov 2010 Location: USA Posts: 60 Rep Power: 12	You can adjust the settings in the registration. These are not bots, they are people being paid to gain access. And then likely a bot will spam. Get rid of CAPTCHA in the registration and then switch to a Q+A and use several questions not just 1 that can be passed around. And make the answer something relatively challenging but not included in the question. BAD-- What is 2+4? Good--Who was the US President before Barack Obama?

03-06-2011, 08:21 PM	#7
cooldad Travel Professional Member since: Nov 2010 Location: USA Posts: 60 Rep Power: 12	That was not a suggestion for users, it was a suggestion to change the settings in the Admin CP settings

03-06-2011, 09:06 PM	#8
AaronK Senior Member Platinum Poster Member since: May 2005 Location: Currently Massachusetts Posts: 1,586 Rep Power: 95	cooldad, Stephen is one of the admins/moderators. Annette, your hard work is very appreciative.

03-07-2011, 06:46 AM	#9
cooldad Travel Professional Member since: Nov 2010 Location: USA Posts: 60 Rep Power: 12	Well I am familiar with VB and had the same issue. Here is the solution that worked for us. AdminCP-->VB Options-->Human Verification Manager Uncheck CAPTCHA or other means. Select Q+A Then create several questions that will rotate. Key: make the questions somewhat challenging and do not include the tools for the answer in the question (What is 2+5?) Use something like "Who was the US President before Barack Obama?" The registrations are being done by people not a bot. Then the people will hand off the registration info to the bot to spam. Hence why CAPTCHA is not working. They aare getting paid by the registration so they are not likely to keep returning to try again if it is not so easy. And once they get in, they will simply re-register and re-register under different names.