SPAMBOTS - how can we stop them - read FIRST post.

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FirstTracks
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Posts: 10
Joined: Wed Feb 04, 2009 8:45 pm

Re: SPAMBOTS - how can we stop them - read FIRST post.

Post by FirstTracks »

tffnguy wrote:Anyone else been having trouble staying logged in? Also any help on why the custom profile fields aren't working for me? Guess I better post this while I can. ;)
Yes, but only with Firefox. I can stay logged in via Google Chrome.

johnsemple
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Posts: 23
Joined: Sun Feb 01, 2009 10:42 pm

Re: SPAMBOTS - how can we stop them - read FIRST post.

Post by johnsemple »

All our forum emails are bouncing back as spam probably due to the number of spammers joining us, as we have our board set to admin activation they are never returning to post but the activation emails still go out. Last week it was all our members "subscribe to topic" and notifications emails with Hotmail/Live accounts that came bouncing back to us so we followed the links to hotmail help and fixed that. This week it's the turn of any members with Yahoo accounts......and BTInternet....

Mr_Glyn
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Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Feb 24, 2006 12:36 pm

Re: SPAMBOTS - how can we stop them - read FIRST post.

Post by Mr_Glyn »

My Board has not changed for months apart from updates.
Now I am getting hundreds a day registering. But not activating there accounts.
My view on this is that the People who create the bots have figured out how to read the captcha.
Now as I said apart from updates I have had the same settings for months.
99.9% of the time it's using a gmail. something.

I have a custom profile field within the registration process.

For some very strange reason they put in the word 'test'

And thats 100% of them??

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DHCook
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Joined: Fri Feb 06, 2009 2:40 pm

Re: SPAMBOTS - how can we stop them - read FIRST post.

Post by DHCook »

FirstTracks wrote:Yes, but only with Firefox. I can stay logged in via Google Chrome.
Clear your Firefox cookies.
Dale H. Cook, Member, NEHGS and MA Society of Mayflower Descendants;
Plymouth Co. MA Coordinator for the USGenWeb Project
Administrator of http://plymouthcolony.net

1959
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Joined: Wed Feb 04, 2009 10:50 pm

Re: SPAMBOTS - how can we stop them - read FIRST post.

Post by 1959 »

I am interested in trying the queued posts option. My board is using version 3.0.2 though, and I can't seem to find where in the ACP to adjust the queued post settings.

Is that feature only available in 3.0.4? I'm not sure I'm really in the mood for an upgrade :)
Vintage Amps Lover and proud of it :)

johnsemple
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Posts: 23
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Re: SPAMBOTS - how can we stop them - read FIRST post.

Post by johnsemple »

1959 wrote:I am interested in trying the queued posts option. My board is using version 3.0.2 though, and I can't seem to find where in the ACP to adjust the queued post settings.

Is that feature only available in 3.0.4? I'm not sure I'm really in the mood for an upgrade :)
I believe it's only available from 3.0.3 upwards... you might find the update files here

http://sourceforge.net/project/showfile ... _id=194469

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pmbinky
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Location: Suburb of Detroit
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Re: SPAMBOTS - how can we stop them - read FIRST post.

Post by pmbinky »

Mr Glyn (and all),
I was also being bombarded and tried all of the Custom profile fields on the registration page and the spammers got through all of them. I installed the AntiBotQuestion MOD and that has stopped. It is listed back on the first page of this thread.

"AntiBotQuestion Provides a configerable question for the registering user to answer."
blessings,
Tony <><

hikernick
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Posts: 8
Joined: Fri Feb 06, 2009 2:49 pm

Re: SPAMBOTS - how can we stop them - read FIRST post.

Post by hikernick »

Can someone please post a very quick how-to on installing this mod? There is no README or similar in the package. Searching for "install mod" or "how to install mod" on this site is forbidden because the words are "too common". I looked in the offline knowledge base and found a subject on how to install mods, and it pointed right back at the main phpbb site, so I'm snookered unless someone here can help.

Thanks

Nick

1959
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Joined: Wed Feb 04, 2009 10:50 pm

Re: SPAMBOTS - how can we stop them - read FIRST post.

Post by 1959 »

johnsemple wrote: believe it's only available from 3.0.3 upwards... you might find the update files here

http://sourceforge.net/project/showfile ... _id=194469
I was afraid that would be the case. I don't see a 3.0.2 to 3.0.4 package so I might just wait until the phpBB web site comes back online in case I have a problem with the upgrade.
Vintage Amps Lover and proud of it :)

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Fountain of Apples
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Re: SPAMBOTS - how can we stop them - read FIRST post.

Post by Fountain of Apples »

1959 wrote:I was afraid that would be the case. I don't see a 3.0.2 to 3.0.4 package so I might just wait until the phpBB web site comes back online in case I have a problem with the upgrade.
If you've got MODs installed, then you'll need to run the phpBB 3.0.2 to 3.0.3 auto-update package first, and then the 3.0.3 to 3.0.4. If you don't have MODs to worry about, then you can simply download the package that says phpBB 3.0.4 files, which will contain all of the changed files since 3.0.2; just overwrite the existing files on your board.

If there's one thing that this week's phpBB.com downtime should teach all of us, it's the importance of staying up-to-date.
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