Spam Problem

[brienj]

I've found the solution to registration problems. Ever since I changed to the Sortable Captcha plugin, I haven't had any spam bots register.

http://www.phpbb.com/customise/db/mod/s ... ha_plugin/

[Mr.Mouse]

Thanks for the tip! But why do all these guys always use the prosilver style? Now I have to see what the changes are and how to implement them in Subsilver. Should be doable though.

[brienj]

Thanks for the tip! But why do all these guys always use the prosilver style? Now I have to see what the changes are and how to implement them in Subsilver. Should be doable though.

I use e-tech, and all I had to do, was copy the template for it into the e-tech style. Instead of being left-right, it's top-bottom, but the way I worded the question, any human should be able to do it.

Also, I added four items on each side, the more items, the more secure.

[Dinoguy1000]

It looks like it depends on Javascript being enabled... How does it work if a user has JS disabled or is browsing with non-JS software (screen readers, certain mobile browsers, etc.)?

[brienj]

It looks like it depends on Javascript being enabled... How does it work if a user has JS disabled or is browsing with non-JS software (screen readers, certain mobile browsers, etc.)?

Then they'll have to register with a browser that has JS enabled. If someone isn't willing to do what is necessary to register, then oh well, at least that's how I feel about it on my forums.

[brienj]

I just wanted to follow up on this, and let you know the progress on my forums. After installing the Sortables Captcha, it has got rid of 100% of all spam bots registering. I still had a few human spam registrations, so to get rid of those, I installed an email blacklist that includes all known fake email addresses and also a big list of known spammers from FSpamlist. Just go to the export section, and download a list of the last 1,000 emails with wildcards only, this will get rid of all fake ones registering, then download a list of the last 1,000 emails, not using wildcards, this will take care of a large portion of non-fake emails that human spammers use. Just copy and paste them into your email block list. Blocking IPs really does no good, since spammers can fake their IPs easily. This isn't required, but I also added a Custom Profile Field that is used when registering that asks if they are a Spam Bot, and the default answer is yes, but they have to change it to no.

Ever since I added all these measures, I have not had ONE spammer register, and there is never any inactive accounts awaiting for them to activate their accounts, and any I have noticed, the person activates their account by the time I check again, and actually posts something relevant to the board and are not spammers. Don't forget to set that they must activate their accounts through their email.

If you need any help on setting it up, let me know, although I know you are a smart man and probably don't need it.

You will be amazed at how the spam registering will go to zero just by doing these easy steps.

[Mr.Mouse]

Okay, I will give it a shot. I will have to update the forum to the latest phpBB version first, so I noticed. That means I have to be careful and note the changes I made and re-code them. As that is boring, it could take a while

[Dinoguy1000]

It's a good excuse to document the changes you've made anyways, in the event they have to be re-applied in the future for some reason (future upgrades), or if someone wants to apply them to other phpBB installations.

[Mr.Mouse]

Like I said in the Global Website Issues topic, I've installed Sortables.I've noticed that there are now no longer "inactive users" queing up each day. There are still spammers active occasionally, but their registration date was before the installation of Sortables. So, in essence, when we kill those, we should be a big step towards a spamfree forum.