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by BWilliams
on Fri Aug 03, 2007 1:35 pm |
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In an effort to stop the spamming, since yesterday I have made it a requirement to email me first to get a password to register as a new user on the website. We were getting about 10 spammers a day auto-registering, and in the past 24 hours, none! But, we also haven't gotten any real people to email me  Hopefully the new system won't stop new people from registering, or I will have to find another way to combat these spammers! |
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BWilliams
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Joined: Jun 05, 2003
Posts: 1104
Location: New York City
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by Lynda F
on Fri Aug 03, 2007 3:17 pm |
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I don't remember the registration process here, but I know a lot of forums now make you also copy some alph/numeric code when applying, or even when just logging in.
In fact, one of my reps here when you send an email, a screen comes up asking you to answer a simple question. This eliminates machines emailing him I guess.
Thank you for working on keeping the spammers out. I for one appreciate that. |
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Lynda F
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by Patrick Henry
on Fri Aug 03, 2007 4:23 pm |
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| I'm with Lynda. Thanks for your efforts. |
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Patrick Henry
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by BWilliams
on Fri Aug 03, 2007 4:27 pm |
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Well, when I re-launched the site 2 months ago, first it had just an image with letters/numbers in it which you had to type in. The spammers, somehow, got around that easily. Then I added a textual confirmation - you had to answer a question like "What is 2 + 3". The spammers then got around that. Then I asked questions like "What color is the sky?" and you had to type in "blue" - STILL the spammers bombarded me daily, sometimes more than 10 times a day! SO even with images and textual questions, the spammers are somehow getting around it all. There was nothing left to do but lock it down!
We used to get about 5 to 10 legitimate users each week; we'll see if anyone bothers now with the new email-to-join method. |
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BWilliams
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Location: New York City
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by Lynda F
on Fri Aug 03, 2007 8:59 pm |
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BWilliams wrote: Well, when I re-launched the site 2 months ago, first it had just an image with letters/numbers in it which you had to type in. The spammers, somehow, got around that easily. Then I added a textual confirmation - you had to answer a question like "What is 2 + 3". The spammers then got around that. Then I asked questions like "What color is the sky?" and you had to type in "blue" - STILL the spammers bombarded me daily, sometimes more than 10 times a day! SO even with images and textual questions, the spammers are somehow getting around it all. There was nothing left to do but lock it down!
We used to get about 5 to 10 legitimate users each week; we'll see if anyone bothers now with the new email-to-join method.
My guess is then that the spammers are not machines but real people and based on the junk email that floods my inbox, all with the same subject, I'd say it's a group of people.
Just guessing mind you. |
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Lynda F
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by Maxine
on Sat Aug 04, 2007 2:57 am |
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| Well, in my opinion, if a person is serious about joining this forum--then having to get an e-mail confirmation from the site administrator would not be any imposition or annoyance whatsoever— it is really quite a simple process. |
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Maxine
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Joined: Jul 08, 2007
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by smallbird
on Sat Aug 04, 2007 8:39 pm |
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Maxine wrote: Well, in my opinion, if a person is serious about joining this forum--then having to get an e-mail confirmation from the site administrator would not be any imposition or annoyance whatsoever— it is really quite a simple process.
I agree 100%, Maxine. Good job, Bill. |
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smallbird
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by Lynda F
on Sun Aug 05, 2007 8:12 am |
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Maxine's got a good point there. I forgot about the "confirmation email" that many forums also use. That allows the forum to verify a working email address, AND also that the person attached to the email addy IS in fact wanting to join.
It still won't eliminate the single-minded lone spammer, but should help cut down on a good majority. The email addy that is used for reply with most spammers will not work, as they never use legit email addresses to send from. |
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Lynda F
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by BWilliams
on Sun Aug 05, 2007 9:17 am |
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| The site has always required a confirmation email, and it still does. The problem is the spammers set up a new, free email address every day at yahoo.com or gmail.com, etc. so they just have automated scripts which setup accounts & then reply to the confirmation emails. |
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BWilliams
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by smallbird
on Sun Aug 05, 2007 10:13 pm |
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BWilliams wrote: The site has always required a confirmation email, and it still does. The problem is the spammers set up a new, free email address every day at yahoo.com or gmail.com, etc. so they just have automated scripts which setup accounts & then reply to the confirmation emails.
This is so beyond my techy capabilities...I'm just NOT cut out to be a spammer...  |
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smallbird
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