Spam

[fos]

A couple of members have noticed the increase in spam. I guess we are gaining increased visibility.

We are very pro-active deleting spam. If you see spam before it is deleted, please note it with the available tools. It will be deleted promptly.

When it seems a new member is doing nothing more than generating spam, they access is terminated.

Thank you for your cooperation,

fos....

[fos]

Due to increased spam activity, I have implemented a set of restrictions for "new" members.

New users will be moderated until the member has been active for 7 days AND posted three posts.

There may be a few existing members that have yet to reach both of the above requirements. I hope it doesn't cause any inconvenience.

Comments?

Thank you, fos....

PS. We are still working on the new House Rules. Hopefully they will be ready for review soon.

[ChuckM]

How does one know spam is generated from an association with this forum?

[fos]

I'm using the term spam to any posts that are patently inappropriate, for example directing members to a site that is "off topic". I'm not a prude but we don't need posts soliciting viagra, phentermine, car insurance, etc. Automated spam is pretty well blocked by the registration process. What we can't block are users that register just to post "spam' and not contribute posts related in some way to open source software.

fos....

PS. I guess I could create a special category for spam and just move all the spam threads there. :smiley15:

[deanlinkous]

How does the registration process kill automated spam?

A forum entitled "Canned Spam" sounds kind of cool....

[fos]

The graphic verification portion of the registration process makes it difficult for robots to make it through the registration process. It is difficult for a computer to recognize the distorted alphanumeric images that humans have no trouble deciphering.

The real human spammers make it through. I now have moderation set for the first few posts that new members leave. They are not promoted to non-moderated status until they have posted content relevant messages. You wouldn't believe some of the stuff that has been posted recently. I guess the spammers have discovered our "quiet" little corner. :)

fos....

[deanlinkous]

Actually image verification is possible for automated spam software. I can likely tell you exactly what has been posted because it is occuring on other boards also. Recent spam includes the booze cruise, hurricane wilma, scam job emails, high yield investments..... :D

Here is a good read!
http://www.botmaster.net/more1/
or should I say a bad read :(

[bluesdog]

Sites like that really make me wish I knew how to hack and crack. I'd like to spam the spammers -- give 'em a taste of their own medicine:smiley7:

[Lavene]

Actually image verification is possible for automated spam software. I can likely tell you exactly what has been posted because it is occuring on other boards also. Recent spam includes the booze cruise, hurricane wilma, scam job emails, high yield investments..... :D

Here is a good read!
http://www.botmaster.net/more1/
or should I say a bad read :(

You got to love their justification (from their FAQ):
2. Isn't it a spam-bot?

In no way XRumer acts like a spam-bot since spam is defined in legislation as 'unsolicited email', whereas XRumer simply posts messages created by users, which cannot be illegal providing the user does not violate the legislation by provoking racial hatred or anything prohibited by the law.


The way these people make their programs bypass captchas is simply by engaging people to solve them manually and then put it in their database. (http://www.getafreelancer.com/projects/Data-Processing-Data-Entry/Data-Entry-Solve-CAPTCHA.html) So one way around it is to make your own so that you don't use the ones provided by whatever system you use. I tested it by just making one and then wrote a simple cgi script to check the input. This aproach probably works best on low traffic sithes though...

Tina

[fos]

Thank goodness XRunner costs $400!

[stafio]

I'd like to spam the spammers -- give 'em a taste of their own medicine

A friend of mine actually does this along with a few other people that he knows. He has created apps that generate completely fake data and repeatedly submit them to known phishing sites, flooding them with false data.

[bluesdog]

:biggrin: YES!!

My virtual hat is off to 'im!

Are those apps FOSS? I'd like one or two..

[fos]

We have gone from ~50 active members to 135 in a weeks time! Ain't spam wonderful?

fos....

[AndreL]

Hiha! :smiley10:

[fos]

Someone mentioned the NoSpam option for vBulletin. I have added the NoSpam product to the initial registration system. It is another layer to help protect us from spambots.

Thanks for the tip. I tried to find the post but I was unable to find it.

fos....

[AndreL]

Here:
http://www.linuxagora.com/vbforum/showthread.php?p=2886#post2886

We appreciate your work, Jeff.
Thanks

[fos]

That's the one. Thanks Andre.

fos...