Spam is out of control!

Non-3DO related chat here please.

Moderators: Devin, Bas, 3DOKid

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Trev
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Spam is out of control!

Post by Trev » Thu Jul 12, 2007 7:50 pm

This is turning from a mild annoyance into a full fledged headache! :x There seems to be more bogus posts of late than legitimate ones. I'm just curious what the turn around time is from when a spam posts until it is deleted?

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Devin
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Post by Devin » Thu Jul 12, 2007 8:45 pm

Answer: Whenever I get some free time after working a shift that pays for this forum to operate! :wink:

Problem as before is human SPAM which I can't stop unless I start restricting forum access. Which goes against the reason I set this up in the first place, to have a free and open 3DO Forum. Compared to the barrage of automated SPAM that 3DO Zone successfully prevents this human SPAM is really trivial.

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BryWI
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Post by BryWI » Sat Jul 28, 2007 2:22 pm

the only way to control it on this forum software is to basicly set admin activation. Most of the posting have a pattern or use certain email hosts.

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Lemmi
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Post by Lemmi » Sat Jul 28, 2007 5:44 pm

does this happen on the CDinteractive Forums also?
or are they just comming to this one?
Ex-3DO collector extraordinaire , but i still have my collection
Villagephotos is dead, need to find my old pics and find another host

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Devin
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Post by Devin » Sat Jul 28, 2007 9:26 pm

BryWI wrote:The only way to control it on this forum software is to basically set Admin activation.
That would work but personally if I want to join a forum I can't be arsed to wait for some guy to 'activate' me.

I want to avoid closed membership. Get the same problems on CDinteractive, Bas is just too damn good at keeping that forum in check! :D

If one of you guys wants the responsibility to moderate 3DO Zone we could put it to the vote, see what everybody here makes of it?

Alternatively I could teach the KID how to do it! :roll:

Madroms

Post by Madroms » Sat Jul 28, 2007 10:13 pm

I had the same problem on my tiny forum. So i put one more easy question on the register page and pouf, no more 1 single spam!
Let me know if you are interested in this type of protection.

The question could be something like :
What is our favorite console ? => 3DO
Name this game with dana plato ? hint= Night T***

As easy and powerful, you can be sure :wink:

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Devin
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Post by Devin » Sat Jul 28, 2007 10:16 pm

Madroms wrote:The question could be something like:
What is our favorite console ? => 3DO
That's actually a good idea! It's probably safe to assume genuine registrations would follow this logic. :D

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Trev
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Post by Trev » Sat Jul 28, 2007 11:49 pm

I agree ... I think it would help.

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Devin
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Post by Devin » Sun Jul 29, 2007 3:27 pm

DAY 1 = ZERO SPAM!

Madroms

Post by Madroms » Sun Jul 29, 2007 10:52 pm

hehe, great that it works !
As simple as one word. If spam will go back, just change the question by another simple one :wink:

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BryWI
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Post by BryWI » Mon Jul 30, 2007 8:35 am

the extra question.... Is it an addon or was in a recent update? I dont remember it being on this phpBB2.

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Devin
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Post by Devin » Mon Jul 30, 2007 11:17 am

DAY 2 = ZERO SPAM!

The Textual Confirmation is a MOD. Pretty good for stopping automated and also it appears non genuine human SPAM thanks to Madroms!

Madroms

Post by Madroms » Mon Jul 30, 2007 10:21 pm

yep, pure MOD :D
And human Spams really don't know where they are trying to post so they don't know the essence of the site thus they can't answer to this simple question.

I am not the one who think about this MOD nor make it at first. The guy who made it is the webmaster (iGREKKESS) of our forum at http://www.segakore.fr/forum/ , our french board about Sega. He found a great and simple way to block Spam 8)

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3DOKid
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Post by 3DOKid » Mon Jul 30, 2007 10:23 pm

It's absolutely brilliant. I don't think I can lavish enough credit or thanks on the person responsible for this.

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Devin
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Post by Devin » Tue Jul 31, 2007 5:36 pm

DAY 3 = ZERO SPAM!

Assuming we exclude the KIDS posts?

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3DOKid
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Post by 3DOKid » Tue Jul 31, 2007 9:25 pm

I work for an IDS company. In some ways i've learnt from this. IDS stands for intrusion detection system. Think War Games with the guy from Ferris Bueller in it. Basically, it's a clever way of blocking internet traffic you don't want. Hackers, Spam, phishers etc., It happens realtime on the network, but it's fully automated. No human required.

Now - I know for fact our product cannot block human spammers, so I've been considering and researching how to write a filter to block spammers posting on forums. Largely becuase I have vested interested and secondly because the product my company sells doesn't do this. No product does. I researched and I researched, trying to find a combination of variables that would trigger the IDS but not block a legitimate human being trying to join the forum.

...all I can say is that I was blown out of the water.

it's a "Wood for the trees" problem in my honest opinion. Basically, I couldn't see the wood for all the damn trees.

So - thank your mate for me! I will try harder to think better! It has been a important lesson I will not ignore.

3DO kid.

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Devin
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Post by Devin » Sat Aug 04, 2007 10:45 am

I'm happy to announce 3DO Zone is now SPAM free! :D

Thanks for that suggestion Madroms! Whilst we were all looking for the most complex MOD to deter spam it seems the simplist solution was all that's needed!

Madroms

Post by Madroms » Sat Aug 04, 2007 10:03 pm

:D :mrgreen: 8)

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