How do stop spam on a vBulletin Forum

**Sweetnkky** · 10-01-2008, 06:41 AM

How can I tell if new registers are spam bots? I have had a hand full of new users with weird names over night. I think they are spam bots, but how do I know for sure?

**Caddyman** · 10-01-2008, 07:03 AM

run their IP thru IP Whois, if they are from a country that is not normally registering on your site they might be spam, if they have any strange signatures they might be spammers, if they make a spam post, they are a spam bot.

**Sweetnkky** · 10-01-2008, 07:16 AM

I just did a search and they are spambots.

**Caddyman** · 10-01-2008, 07:17 AM

a search on IP Whois?

i would also suggest running the username thru google to see if you can find any "dirt"

**Sweetnkky** · 10-01-2008, 07:24 AM

(Noustioth) This is the only name that pulled anything from google and it had no dirt attached.

**Caddyman** · 10-01-2008, 07:28 AM

Maybe your google is different then mine, but i see that name a few times, all look spammy, and especially this one. the page it links to has changed, but google DID read that name surrounded by spam terms/words.

**Sweetnkky** · 10-01-2008, 07:42 AM

Guess I missed that.
But they will all be deleted from my site.

**2dub** · 10-01-2008, 08:39 AM

I sometimes also google their IP address.

I have NO Spam installed and have not had one spam bot make it through yet. It is a great little tool.

**Sweetnkky** · 10-01-2008, 08:44 AM

I will have to check that out, then have someone help me install it. Thanks!

**ukfg** · 10-02-2008, 02:17 AM

We have recently changed our forum name from UK Forces Girls to Forces Girls...and over the last couple of weeks we have had lots of spammers join...something we NEVER had on UKFG (UKFG was open over 2 years).

They havent got as far as posting cos we moderate our members but just wondering if there are any precautions we can take to stop them joining in the first place?

They are mostly coming from Russia and Latvia

EDIT: they all seem to have gmail accounts...is there anyway we can stop vbulletin accepting people registering with a gmail account?

**Caddyman** · 10-02-2008, 04:14 AM

you dont want to block a popular service like gmail IMO.

I would install nospam! and run maybe a image captcha. that is what i do on m sites and rarely ever, ever, get a spam bot thru.

**ukfg** · 10-02-2008, 04:15 AM

NoSpam! - an alternative to CAPTCHA images - vBulletin.org Forum ??

what if they arent bots tho??

**Yogesh Sarkar** · 10-02-2008, 04:43 AM

check this thread, it is a big and wide spread issue, looks like a spam attack on vbulletin forums, Spammers Getting Around Image Verification - vBulletin Community Forum

**ukfg** · 10-02-2008, 05:01 AM

thank you i will

**Caddyman** · 10-02-2008, 05:10 AM

starting last night i have been slammed with spammers on my WP Blogs...., had 44 emails this morning for registrations...

**Sweetnkky** · 10-02-2008, 05:49 AM

I'm using the human verification and still In the past couple days I have had at least 100 Spammers. And before I wasn't getting them.

**Caddyman** · 10-02-2008, 05:52 AM

using image captcha AND NoSpam! i have not had any spammers....maybe 1 in the last 3 days...

**Sweetnkky** · 10-02-2008, 05:53 AM

Before I had none at all. until Tuesday. And I haven't changed anything I have been doing.

**Caddyman** · 10-02-2008, 06:41 AM

well i had a spammer making a username and blog on my wordpress MU install about 1 every 5 minutes since last night, blowing by the registeration questions (i set up as a password, members have to PM me to get) i changed the pass, still getting by, so even a human, they had to have a actual bypass for it. i just installed recaptcha, just had a new signup, its driving me nuts.

**Sweetnkky** · 10-02-2008, 06:44 AM

I know the feeling! Wonder why they are starting to get by?

**Soliloquy** · 10-02-2008, 07:04 AM

I started getting them on my ice cream forum last night, they seem to be human and not bots as they might start new subjects with appropriate titles but inappropriate content... one even said SPAM FOREVER! inside, it's good to see them taking pride in their work like that

**Caddyman** · 10-02-2008, 07:30 AM

IDK About vB, im not having that problem, but im hoping they found a vulnerability in my WPMU install and exploited it. Just upgraded the install so we will see...

**Caddyman** · 10-02-2008, 07:33 AM

Spammers are joining without moderation - vBulletin Community Forum

spammers??? - vBulletin Community Forum

Spammers Getting Around Image Verification - vBulletin Community Forum

I found a BUG ! - vBulletin Community Forum

[vB 3.6] How to Reduce Spam and Registration Bots - vBulletin Community Forum

**Sweetnkky** · 10-02-2008, 07:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Caddyman

Spammers are joining without moderation - vBulletin Community Forum

spammers??? - vBulletin Community Forum

Spammers Getting Around Image Verification - vBulletin Community Forum

I found a BUG ! - vBulletin Community Forum

[vB 3.6] How to Reduce Spam and Registration Bots - vBulletin Community Forum

I will look into it.
Thanks

**Caddyman** · 10-02-2008, 07:43 AM

more....seems pretty serious actually

Major spam today - vBulletin.org Forum

Spammers - Page 6 - vBulletin.org Forum

NoSpam! for vBulletin 3.7 - Page 7 - vBulletin.org Forum

Ridiculous amount of spam - vBulletin.org Forum

**ukfg** · 10-02-2008, 08:00 AM

so is this a vB issue or a forum owners issue??

**Caddyman** · 10-02-2008, 08:47 AM

i think it's a internet issue....

like i said, i haven't had a issue on my board, but my blogs, wpmu, even after the upgrade, im still getting flooded with spammers....

**ukfg** · 10-02-2008, 10:22 AM

just by adding a question that needs answering to the registration process i SEEM to have rectified the problem

**Brandon Sheley** · 10-02-2008, 04:03 PM

ya I've seen a lot more "spammer" thread popping up all over the place

**ArnyVee** · 10-03-2008, 04:38 AM

I've had about a 25% increase in registration attempts by non-people lately. And, I had my first live-and-in-person spammer actually get through last night at 2:40am ET. Fortunately for us, no one saw the information because I have 24-hour moderation on my boards!

But, looks like there is definitely an increase of spam activity. Maybe it was SPAM-A-PALOOZA this week or some sort of event that got them motivated to work harder