Likes Likes:  8
Page 1 of 2 1 2 LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 18

Thread: Filtering Spammers at E-Budo

  1. #1
    PheekaJabal Guest

    Default Filtering Spammers at E-Budo

    A now-banned spammer wrote:

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Hello Everyone,
    I am PheekaJabal new to this forum...
    I was searching for forum that can help me to understand business topics deeply as i am going to learn about business strategies...
    Suddenly, I found this E-Budo and found this one very useful for so joined it..
    Now i am here to explore myself and to discuss with you on various topics...
    Let us begin...

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    ...which led to a discussion of spammers, and how to keep them off of E-Budo:
    Last edited by Cady Goldfield; 7th September 2013 at 01:21.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Location
    Seattle, Washington, USA
    Posts
    6,227
    Likes (received)
    118

    Default

    Welcome to the E-Budo community.

    Primarily we are a forum directed at the practice of Japanese martial arts, particularly the very traditional ones. We do have a Members Lounge subforum where we sometimes go off on tangents not directly related to Budo, and we have sections on other aspects of Japanese history and culture, but Budo, Bugei, and Bujutsu are the main focus.
    Yours in Budo,
    ---Brian---

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2000
    Location
    Baton Rouge, LA
    Posts
    101
    Likes (received)
    9

    Default

    PheekaJabal is a spammer. If you do a quick search on his username, you will find that he has done a whole lot of forum joining over the past few days. This is indicative of a spammer. If you do a search on his IP address and/or email address, you will find more indications of his intent.

    The Admin/Moderation team, really needs to consider changing the site registration method to requiring approval before members are allowed to post in order to weed out the robots and spammers. It takes less time to screen out the bogus accounts than it does to clean up the mess that they can leave.
    Last edited by Robert Carver; 6th September 2013 at 15:02.
    Robert M. Carver

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Apr 2002
    Location
    Saskatoon, SK, Canada
    Posts
    1,526
    Likes (received)
    58

    Default

    Not sure what the registration process is here, but if you are using image-based verification, switch to the Q&A style. That cut down the bot registrations quite a bit at the forums I moderate.
    Neil Gendzwill
    Saskatoon Kendo Club

  5. #5
    Join Date
    May 2000
    Location
    Los Angeles, CA USA
    Posts
    2,565
    Likes (received)
    46

    Default

    Hi all,

    When e-budo last came back up, we were getting hammered with robot generated accounts (about 15,000). We deleted all of them, upgraded the software, and are now fine tuning things. Moving to the "Q&A" method of account confirmation is already something that has been decided on, and may already be in place, to ensure that human beings are registering. If they are human beings, then we simply have to delete their accounts once they violate the rules. We are actually discussing "PheekaJabal" right now, and have also done some google searching.


    Feel free to report posts that look suspicious. Reported posts get forwarded to all of us, at which time we then discuss the appropriate action to take. Right now we have a re-invigorated moderator/admin team that is very active, but that doesn't mean we might not miss something.

    Thanks,
    Nathan Scott
    Nichigetsukai

    "Put strength into your practice, and avoid conceit. It is easy enough to understand a strategy and guard against it after the matter has already been settled, but the reason an opponent becomes defeated is because they didn't learn of it ahead of time. This is the nature of secret matters. That which is kept hidden is what we call the Flower."

    - Zeami Motokiyo, 1418 (Fūshikaden)

  6. Likes Robert Carver liked this post
  7. #6
    Join Date
    Jun 2000
    Location
    Baton Rouge, LA
    Posts
    101
    Likes (received)
    9

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by gendzwil View Post
    Not sure what the registration process is here, but if you are using image-based verification, switch to the Q&A style. That cut down the bot registrations quite a bit at the forums I moderate.
    The CAPTCHA image verifications have long been cracked by the spammers and hackers, and with the teams of hackers out there, they are able to defeat most Q&A methods too.

    The process here is simple. Someone joins, they enter the CAPTCHA verification, and an email is generated to verify the validity of the registration email address. Once the person has clicked the link to verify their email, their account is active. No human interaction at all. On the other hand, I screen every single registration on BudoSeek and do a little detective work with each. Most of the time, the spammers have paid other forums a visit before yours, and within a few seconds, you can determine if the new member is a spammer/bot, and then get rid of them. Like I said, a little early intervention can keep the mess to clean up later on to a minimum.
    Robert M. Carver

  8. Likes Harlan liked this post
  9. #7
    Join Date
    Jun 2000
    Location
    Baton Rouge, LA
    Posts
    101
    Likes (received)
    9

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Nathan Scott View Post
    When e-budo last came back up, we were getting hammered with robot generated accounts (about 15,000). We deleted all of them, upgraded the software, and are now fine tuning things.
    One thing you might consider Nathan is to not delete the account, but instead ban them as spammers. That way, you have a record of them being here, along with their information, like their IP address. It makes it easier to determine if they are trying to sneak back in. If not, then consider at least banning their IP address.

    Also a resource you might consider is StopForumSpam.com. They have a add-on software product (that is free) for vBulletin that checks a prospective members registration details (username, email & IP address) with their database of known spammers. It will then deny registration for those known spammers. When you ban a spammer here, the software reports that back to StopForumSpam and updates their database. It is VERY helpful in cutting down the number of spammers before you even do a manual screening. Between StopForumSpam and a manually approving each registration after a little cursory detective work, and you won't have spammers.
    Robert M. Carver

  10. #8
    Join Date
    May 2000
    Location
    Blue Ridge, Texas
    Posts
    2,000
    Likes (received)
    125

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Robert Carver View Post
    The CAPTCHA image verifications have long been cracked by the spammers and hackers, and with the teams of hackers out there, they are able to defeat most Q&A methods too.

    The process here is simple. Someone joins, they enter the CAPTCHA verification, and an email is generated to verify the validity of the registration email address. Once the person has clicked the link to verify their email, their account is active. No human interaction at all. On the other hand, I screen every single registration on BudoSeek and do a little detective work with each. Most of the time, the spammers have paid other forums a visit before yours, and within a few seconds, you can determine if the new member is a spammer/bot, and then get rid of them. Like I said, a little early intervention can keep the mess to clean up later on to a minimum.
    This is incorrect, Captcha is not used for registration at e-budo. When registering for an account at e-budo, one of a number of random questions is asked. I just started a test registration, and the question that I was asked was "Who was the creator of Shorinji Kempo?" While Google will allow someone unfamiliar with the Japanese arts to find an answer, it will prevent bots from registering. Human spammers are not high in number nor are they difficult to detect. We'll continue to ban them as it becomes necessary.

    Thanks for trying to help though, it's appreciated.
    Paul Smith
    "Always keep the sharp side and the pointy end between you and your opponent"

  11. #9
    Join Date
    Apr 2001
    Location
    Hiroshima, Japan.
    Posts
    2,550
    Likes (received)
    151

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Robert Carver View Post
    PheekaJabal is a spammer. If you do a quick search on his username, you will find that he has done a whole lot of forum joining over the past few days. This is indicative of a spammer. If you do a search on his IP address and/or email address, you will find more indications of his intent.

    The Admin/Moderation team, really needs to consider changing the site registration method to requiring approval before members are allowed to post in order to weed out the robots and spammers. It takes less time to screen out the bogus accounts than it does to clean up the mess that they can leave.
    Hello Robert,

    I followed your advice and did a search on his user name. He has joined a vast number of forums, sometimes with the same introduction. I have deleted this user.

    Thank you for the advice.
    Peter Goldsbury,
    Forum Administrator,
    Hiroshima, Japan

  12. Likes Robert Carver liked this post
  13. #10
    Join Date
    May 2000
    Location
    Los Angeles, CA USA
    Posts
    2,565
    Likes (received)
    46

    Default

    Thanks for the tips Robert. We'll keep on it!
    Nathan Scott
    Nichigetsukai

    "Put strength into your practice, and avoid conceit. It is easy enough to understand a strategy and guard against it after the matter has already been settled, but the reason an opponent becomes defeated is because they didn't learn of it ahead of time. This is the nature of secret matters. That which is kept hidden is what we call the Flower."

    - Zeami Motokiyo, 1418 (Fūshikaden)

  14. Likes Robert Carver liked this post
  15. #11
    Join Date
    Aug 2000
    Location
    Massachusetts
    Posts
    3,714
    Likes (received)
    153

    Default

    Hi Folks,
    I have altered and moved this thread to the Help Forum, in order to preserve some of the really helpful information (thank you, Robert Carver) regarding spammer issues. While spambots are easy enough to filter out of the member registration process, human spammers are not so easy to catch, at least not until they begin to post. The admins and mods will do our best to keep up with due vigilance; likewise, if any members spot spammers, please notify us (using the "report" function) asap. Thanks!
    Last edited by Cady Goldfield; 7th September 2013 at 13:53. Reason: spelling typo
    Cady Goldfield

  16. Likes Robert Carver liked this post
  17. #12
    Join Date
    Apr 2002
    Location
    Saskatoon, SK, Canada
    Posts
    1,526
    Likes (received)
    58

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by P Goldsbury View Post
    Hello Robert,

    I followed your advice and did a search on his user name. He has joined a vast number of forums, sometimes with the same introduction. I have deleted this user.

    Thank you for the advice.
    You really needn't do much research. After a while you will recognize the patterns. If someone joins KW and post things like "I agree" or "great information" or a snippet regurgitated from upthread or non-thread related stuff, they get punted immediately. Commercial link in the sig, goodbye. Multiple posts on or near day of joining, username with numbers, obscure country selected, horribly mangled english, all red flags.

    Q&A with forum-specific questions reduced the bots from dozens/day to one every week or two at KW compared to Captcha.
    Neil Gendzwill
    Saskatoon Kendo Club

  18. #13
    Join Date
    Aug 2000
    Location
    Massachusetts
    Posts
    3,714
    Likes (received)
    153

    Default

    This particular spammer seemed human enough. His posts were not nonsensical or sales-oriented. They were specific requests for recommendations of what kind of firearm to buy (in the Self Protection) forum, questions about buying a car in the Member's Forum thread on car-buying, etc. It's evident that English is not his first language, but the posts were not random.
    Cady Goldfield

  19. #14
    Join Date
    Jun 2000
    Location
    Baton Rouge, LA
    Posts
    101
    Likes (received)
    9

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by pgsmith View Post
    This is incorrect, Captcha is not used for registration at e-budo.
    It has been a few years since I registered, and I assumed that the default registration method was still being used. Random Q&A isn't hard to defeat. A little Google-Fu will overcome your Q&A any day. Not all spammers are non-biological bots, most are a bunch of poor folks sitting in a room in some backwater foreign country making a few pennies a day to feed their family.
    Robert M. Carver

  20. #15
    Join Date
    Jun 2000
    Location
    Baton Rouge, LA
    Posts
    101
    Likes (received)
    9

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by gendzwil View Post
    You really needn't do much research. After a while you will recognize the patterns. If someone joins KW and post things like "I agree" or "great information" or a snippet regurgitated from upthread or non-thread related stuff, they get punted immediately. Commercial link in the sig, goodbye. Multiple posts on or near day of joining, username with numbers, obscure country selected, horribly mangled english, all red flags.

    Q&A with forum-specific questions reduced the bots from dozens/day to one every week or two at KW compared to Captcha.
    I think it's a waste to let them get far enough along to post and then have to go back and clean up after them. You don't teach a dog to not poo in the house by letting then do so and then taking them out after the fact. Instead, you stay proactive! Same with spammers, catch them at the door and don't let them in. That way, you don't have to go back after the fact and delete 15,000 (!!!) bogus accounts. This is one of the reasons I recommend StopForumSpam and their vBulletin add-on. It provides one additional layer to your registration process and helps keeps out the bots, both human and non-human type.

    Two other suggestions: A lot of forums will isolate new members into a "newbie" usergroup that has very limited privileges (like no signature) and all posts up to a certain number must be moderated. In other words, the posts must be approved by a member of the moderation staff. Once the magic number is reached, they are promoted to another more senior usergroup (like "Member") and their posts will no longer be moderated.

    On that similar note, I have an add-on that I use that restricts members with less than XX number of posts from posting any sort of a link. Yes, sometimes they will spoof the URL (like spelling out DOT COM), but those you just whack for breaking the rules and trying to circumvent your restrictions.
    Robert M. Carver

Page 1 of 2 1 2 LastLast

Similar Threads

  1. Spammers Turning Japanese
    By Prince Loeffler in forum Budo Fun
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 26th March 2008, 18:22
  2. Spammers: Its Apocalypse Now Baybee !
    By Prince Loeffler in forum Member's Lounge
    Replies: 20
    Last Post: 3rd June 2007, 23:23
  3. Replies: 8
    Last Post: 1st April 2004, 01:28

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •