Clever spam bots

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I also like the idea of accounts being frozen, but preferably maybe only Newbie like accounts. Not sure if there is a way to set a threshold of something like accounts with < N messages are automatically frozen, but ones that have a few more are not.

For example I don't think that Spammer @defragster ;) should get frozen if someone does not like a message :lol;... Or that someone could use the report as spam as a way to lock out someone they disagree with.
 
Reporting the post (clicking the black triangle and submitting the report) only puts the message into a moderation queue. That effectively removes it from sight. Actually deleting the message, banning the user, and (sometimes) blocking IP numbers is a manual process Robin does every day or two.
 
I have killed about 20 of these posts - and the BOT is running wild - it would be easier if there was a way to 'PAUSE' a spammer for review by PJRC? Is that something that can be done by a 'mortal'?

It is hitting OLD posts causing an email storm from PJRC . . . .

Today, 11:27 PM
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Very crazy and it is just one user account. Apparently auto ban is manual? It got quiet a while and I thought perhaps he got blocked . . . but no I have 19 more in my inbox from that account. Glad I'm not the only one killing the posts. I'll have to mark applockapk as ignore.
 
Why does it not reply to this thread ? ;-)

A auto block feature would be good.. i wonder how many mails pjrc sent the last hours? Hopefully, pjrc will not be auto-added to a spam blacklist because of this.. and the mails contain the links, too. One should inform the devs of theses apps..
 
I've banned user applockapk (217 spam posts) and added two netblocks from actcorp.in and one netblock from airtelbroadband.in to the permanent IP number block list.

I have killed about 20 of these posts - and the BOT is running wild - it would be easier if there was a way to 'PAUSE' a spammer for review by PJRC? Is that something that can be done by a 'mortal'?

Unfortunately, no. :(
 
im surprised it didnt trigger an auto ban!

Yes, it would be good, if there would be an auto-suspend after say 3 consecutive spam reports.

If someone of the 'good' users get suspended by a 'mistake', Paul/Robin will resolve the issue the next morning.
 
They mentioned they dont like any modifikations to the software because there are plans to switch to an other forum software.
Anyway, i guess it would be doable withhout any modification - just with some SQLs, or stored procedures running in short intervals with a cronjob. One could add a whitelist with users with >5 posts, too , to prevent false positives.
 
If we keep get more spam attacks like this one, I probably will pour time into forum changes, which could look like sql+cronjob or perhaps other forms. But that's not the plan. I'm currently working with the new IMXRT chip, and doing the usual work of answering questions, fixing bugs, and sometimes putting a little work into libs.
 
Just know that you have many users here who want to help and some might even write the SQLs for you (including me).
 
The next step would be volunteers to have moderator access, which would give you the power to ban accounts.

Messing with the SQL is much, much farther away. Very risky...
 
Ok, anyone who uses this forum daily and wants to become a forum moderator, please directly email me & Robin on Tuesday, between 6am to 2pm, pacific time. Please do not email before or after that 8 hour window next week. I'm going to look at this Tuesday afternoon (assuming anyone emails), which is after Hackaday's conference (which I'll be attending this weekend) and after Monday when we always have a ton of urgent business stuff that accumulates over the weekend.

While I said "anyone", realistically we're going to give moderator access only to people we've seen participating regularly. Everyone who's replied on this thread since November 1st is a regular! :)

Moderator access will let you ban the spammer accounts. When an account like "applockapk" is spewing messages, you'll be able to stop it. Blocking IP numbers is still going to be a slow, manual process. When/if rapidly repeating registrations become an issue, we'll look at ways to deal with the problem.

Please do not bump this thread Monday night or Tuesday. I want to hear from anyone who remembered this spam attack and still cared days after the problem was visible.
 
I'm not familiar with specifics of Vbulletin, but having a phpBB board for awhile, I've found that having a signup question that is specific to the type of people who visit and requiring first posts to be approved cut spam 100%. In fact, no spammer has even made it past the question, let alone had their first post approved. I used a question that requires looking at a map (not just typing into a search engine) but is easy enough for most people to do. A schematic diagram that requires using ohm's law or identifying a resistor would be an example for here. Anybody who can't read a schematic could learn the answer in 5-10 minutes of research.
 
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