Spammers!

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03-24-2009, 08:44 AM
WhereRWe?

Spammers!

Wait for it...

So far today we've had 4 "new users" join geocachingmaine.org. All from the same ISP's we've had spammers from before. As usual, I've alerted Rick to them, but we'll probably get spammed before he gets around to deleting them.

Is there anything we can do to prevent these guys from joining? Block a set of IP addresses? They're all coming from the same bunch:

Asia Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC)

PANAMSAT (this one they've just started using)

RIPE Network Coordination Centre

AFRINIC

What can we do? :confused::confused:
03-24-2009, 09:13 AM
attroll

I banned three out of the four. They all had different IP addresses.

I banned those addresses from logging back into the web site.
03-24-2009, 09:38 AM
WhereRWe?

Quote:

Originally Posted by attroll

I banned three out of the four. They all had different IP addresses.

I banned those addresses from logging back into the web site.

I think you ought to dump the 4th one, too! LOL!

(Actually, I think you did get rid of all 4 - I can't find any of them on the membership list: Maw1rik, SIDNEY MORRIS, SELLNOW, and fayk1pSm.)
03-24-2009, 10:12 AM
Ekidokai

A list I run has a feature that new users have to get their posts approved before it shows up in the forums. After a few posts I can switch it off. This has worked out perfectly. Spammers don't have time to post anything worthwhile to circumvent this trick.
03-24-2009, 01:08 PM
fins2right

More today. sigh
03-24-2009, 04:11 PM
attroll

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ekidokai

A list I run has a feature that new users have to get their posts approved before it shows up in the forums. After a few posts I can switch it off. This has worked out perfectly. Spammers don't have time to post anything worthwhile to circumvent this trick.

Yes that can be done here to but I don't have the time to sit here and screen everyone that registers on the web site.
03-24-2009, 05:50 PM
WhereRWe?

Quote:

Originally Posted by attroll

Yes that can be done here to but I don't have the time to sit here and screen everyone that registers on the web site.

I think if you ban the ISP series I notify you about - as I discussed in email to you - we can make some headway against these spammers. But like this guy - by the time I read the notification, check his ISP and notify you, he's already spammed. Since I've got the IP address in front of me when I get the new member notification, and it's easy to check in WHOIS, I'll just keep notifying you about suspicious "members". :D:D
03-24-2009, 05:57 PM
WhereRWe?

And this latest guy - "nonferrousu" - the new member notification was timed at 4:29. By that time he'd posted 6 spam messages.

His ISP is one established by the RIPE Network, and is located in Kiel, Germany, but it's a phony email address, anyway.

If we block all traffic from an IP beginning with 77, sooner or later we'll stop them.
03-24-2009, 06:44 PM
Ekidokai

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ekidokai

A list I run has a feature that new users have to get their posts approved before it shows up in the forums. After a few posts I can switch it off. This has worked out perfectly. Spammers don't have time to post anything worthwhile to circumvent this trick.

Quote:

Originally Posted by attroll

Yes that can be done here to but I don't have the time to sit here and screen everyone that registers on the web site.

I would be willing to do it. The way I do it for the other list is that all the new people are moderated for at least the first couple of posts. After their posts prove not to be spam I let them post free. This has worked real well.
03-24-2009, 07:43 PM
WhereRWe?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ekidokai

I would be willing to do it. The way I do it for the other list is that all the new people are moderated for at least the first couple of posts. After their posts prove not to be spam I let them post free. This has worked real well.

I already screen all "new members", and spammers are pretty easy to identify. We're really just talking about ways to block known spammer IP's. :D:D
03-24-2009, 07:51 PM
Gob-ler

Well, however it has to be dealt with please deal with it. My screen is full of spammers.
03-24-2009, 08:16 PM
Mapachi

There are a lot of us. Can't we turn this on them and flood them somehow? Heh, heh, heh, heh.
03-25-2009, 10:25 AM
Ekidokai

Quote:

Originally Posted by WhereRWe?

I already screen all "new members", and spammers are pretty easy to identify. We're really just talking about ways to block known spammer IP's. :D:D

I don't want to start any kind of a fight here, but if new members are screened, how are they allowed to post the spam? Moderate them, don't allow anything they post to go out without someone looking at it and approving it first, for at least the first post and see what they are going to do. If it is some kind of spam delete them. Problem solved. It is a little extra work, but I haven't had any trouble with the other list.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mapachi

There are a lot of us. Can't we turn this on them and flood them somehow? Heh, heh, heh, heh.

That is just evil. And a wonderful suggestion.
03-25-2009, 12:47 PM
attroll

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ekidokai

I don't want to start any kind of a fight here, but if new members are screened, how are they allowed to post the spam? Moderate them, don't allow anything they post to go out without someone looking at it and approving it first, for at least the first post and see what they are going to do. If it is some kind of spam delete them. Problem solved. It is a little extra work, but I haven't had any trouble with the other list.

They are not screen in the way you are thinking. WhereRWe get notified by email every time a new user registers and it tells him there user info but that is all he gets.

Ekidokai you mentioned that you run a list. Do you run a forum someplace else or is it just a mailing list?
03-25-2009, 02:58 PM
WhereRWe?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ekidokai

I don't want to start any kind of a fight here, but if new members are screened, how are they allowed to post the spam?

New members are not "screened". When someone joins, the geocachingmaine.org system sends me an email with basic information on the new member so I can send a welcome message to the new member. Since we started getting a lot of spammers, I started checking the IP address of the new member and when I see one that's suspicious, like with an obviously phony name or from one of the "known" spam sources, I forward the messgae to the webmaster who makes the decision to delete the new member or let them stay.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ekidokai

Moderate them, don't allow anything they post to go out without someone looking at it and approving it first, for at least the first post and see what they are going to do. If it is some kind of spam delete them. Problem solved. It is a little extra work, but I haven't had any trouble with the other list.

I don't think the system has the capability to "hold" a message for review before it becomes public. Anyway, Rick is pretty cautious about letting "moderators" into the system.

I continue to think that blocking the IP's the spam is coming from will make a difference.
03-25-2009, 03:35 PM
Ekidokai

Yahoo

Quote:

Originally Posted by attroll

They are not screen in the way you are thinking. WhereRWe get notified by email every time a new user registers and it tells him there user info but that is all he gets.

Ekidokai you mentioned that you run a list. Do you run a forum someplace else or is it just a mailing list?

It's the Maine Firefighters mailing list in yahoo. The way it works is anybody can join, but each membership has to be approved by one of the two moderators I have set up. Then when they are approved they can send messages to the list. But all new members are moderated. That means that what the new member posts has to be looked at and approved before it gets posted. After the first post you can tell what the new guy is up to. And that is when I usually let them post freely. Never had any problems with it yet.

Usually spamers don't come back if their membership has to be approved, but a few have, and then we delete them after they submitted some junk. That way nothing gets posted to bother the membership.

It seems like more work than it is. We usually approve most anybody. The post reviews only take a minute once in a great while. In a year I think I have spent about 10 minutes total on the whole review thing. Works great that way.

Now how to set it up? I have no clue. Yahoo does all that. I just know it has never failed. I have been doing it since 2000 I think.