Spambots

[Nebulous's iconNebulous]

Does your forum get them?

How do you stop them?

How do you deal with a spam bot if it gets in?

 

[Bluezone777]

IF doesn't get spambots anymore so no bots to have to deal with so I am able to remove all the restrictions put on to block them.



ZB don't get them either but everyone else still does. I don't know how he did it as there is nothing for anyone to see but it blocks them all from doing anything anymore.

 

[Discord]

Put up a captcha, if possible? Unless you have one. I don't remember.

 

[Kaczynski]

Captcha doesn't even work that well anymore. And the humans for sure can't read them. Depends on the forum but mostly I've found spambots funny. Permaban, etc, just a matter of having enough staff members.

 

[Nebulous's iconNebulous]

It wont make a difference if you ban a spam bot or not. There is billions of IP's out there and spam bots have them. Just delete their account. Otherwise your ban list will get HUGE in no time.



I need to install some spam bot mods.

 

[Bluezone777]

Funny how I just said I don't get them anymore but I got one last night on my board. I just delete their topic and their account. The funniest thing was that the topic they posted is the same sort of topic an actual person posted on the board not that long ago. XD



The funniest bot I ever came across called itself Marlboro. It joined and spammed the board so I deleted the post and account. It then rejoined and reposted a new topic which I then proceeded to delete both that account and its topic. It then rejoined for a third time all with the same username and posted again so I just gave up and had to ban it instead of deleting it. XD

 

[Nebulous's iconNebulous]

Ok installed a mod.. I took off the captcha and replaced it with a question.

Should keep the spam bots out. A robot couldnt answer the questions asked.... Hopefully.



Screeny:

Now Im curious to see if any get by now.

 

[Kaczynski]

I remember once a Star Wars forum asked 'Is Anakin Skywalker a Sith or a Jedi?' or something along those lines, and someone actually answered wrong. It was a real person. Actually it was my best friend. =.= Thank god for contact admin links in vBulletin.

 

[Nebulous's iconNebulous]

Thank god for contact admin links in vBulletin.

I thought of that too..



At the top of the registration screen it says:



You are only a couple seconds away from being Off Topix's newest member!

If you happen to encounter any problems registering, please contact us here: Off Topix.net/contact.php

 

[ACE]

Well I have installed recaptcha from recaptcha.net and it works like a charm. I haven't gotten any since I started using it.

 

[Nebulous's iconNebulous]

Well the ask a question method is working out so far. No spam bots yet.