I installed this modification yesterday afternoon - vbStopForumSpam - known spammer lookup for new registrations - vBulletin.org Forum - here on AA as well as on a client's forum - and so far, it's blocked 46 registrations from attempted spammers here. I think that's pretty good, if I must say so myself! I'll continue to watch how it performs, and see if the spam here reduces. There are modifications available for vBulletin, phpBB and SMF: Stop Forum Spam - Downloads and Contributions ... as well as CSV lists of the e-mail addresses and IP addresses of the spammers.
I think we may need to check that out, weve had the check4spam mod installed which will stop the spammer there and then but im sure it prevents people from posting normal text now and then which could lose us a member and posts.
I use this hack and I think it works brilliantly. I still get the occasional person registering with a Russian e-mail address and a dodgy username with some sort of penile extension product mentioned in it, but mostly this hack finished the spammers for good.
Sounds great Nick :thumbup: My site is still a little small and easy for me to cross check new members through Stopforumspam my self. But once I grow a little I may consider this hack.
I'm glad you guys took my suggestion. At the one site I admin, we get about 20 blocked registrations a day, and it's still a fairly small site. I should hope AA will see far less spam than we have been seeing recently. Now all you need to do is incorporate ReCaptcha, and you'll be set for quite a long time!
I check every new registrant against Stopforumspam.com. I don't have the mod installed, instead I installed the Botscout.com one. Instead I altered the new user registration phrase to include the StopForumSpam links so I can check manually. Haven't had any spam yet.
I was under the impression that I set this up a long time ago. Either I'm going crazy, or it is already set up.
Sorry, I don't register multiple times, so I didn't know if you did or didn't. I know it wasn't when I signed up.
No probs! I never really felt like installing it, and I didn't think it would work anyways... but a client asked me to do it for him, and I saw its positive effects. So I installed it here too. Up to almost 70 spammer registrations denied.
Unless they're using the username, e-mail address or IP address (within 90 days) of a spammer, then they shouldn't.
The names and email addresses are so obscure, I honestly don't think you should run into that issue that often, if at all.
Exactly. I wouldn't worry about it. If a legitimate member somehow does have an issue, they can use the Contact Us form and it could be dealt with manually.
Hope a guide/writeup how to will come for this hehe. Spammers and trolls are the pain in every forum admin's back side! :mad2: