Edoropolis Emporium

(Moved from the Pizza Cats Review thread   -Violet)

How about an article relating to the massive amounts of spam that the forum keeps getting from members who only post once, and ONLY once, and have nothing better to do than advertise random websites relating to adult video, or Free Taco Bell Food, or anything! I work my butt off, reporting a lot of these posts, just to keep these forums safe! Or maybe a Member Spotlight.

This isn't really the place to talk about it.  The newsletter is about SPC, not spam.  If you think you're sick of it, I come here 3 or 4 times a day and have to delete 10-20 new spam accounts each visit!  Often they are the same ones, because if you ban an account then delete it, that deletes the ban too.  So I either have to keep deleting them of let a million spam accounts get saved on here so the ban will work.  90% of the spambots are too dumb to even figure out how to post once they get here.  If we just had a captcha (one of those things that makes you type in the scrambled letters when you register) my job would be easy.

I could use a little help from the other mods.  I know some do delete spambot accounts, especially the ones who actually manage to post, but we need to be more aggressive.  Spambots are usually easy to spot.  Look for:

• Gibberish names that make no sense
• Links or comments in the profile that have nothing to do with EE/SPC/Anime
• "Last Active: Never" Only a bot can get in, register and leave so fast that it doesn't show them as being logged on for a few minutes.
• Accounts that never post.  Spambots that can't figure out how to post just waste an account, but they'll still keep registering cause they are too dumb.  Some just have spam in their profiles and don't even try to post.  People don't need an account here if they just want to read without posting.

The few spambots and occasional human spammers that are smarter than that are very rare and can be dealt with easily.

sometimes when I get online I just see some members online and then see some names and think to myself...they are spambots for sure, and when I watch there action it mostly: posting a poll in forum rules and announcement.

I access the forum via the "New Posts" thing ... and I'm currently seeing spam threads ... which is meant to be my job!!


I'd actually volunteer in helping get rid of the spam bots, until the problem goes away

I'm very tempted to ask for emergency moderating powers to help fight the spambots.

But you all know I would abuse that power.  Right?  :P

With great power...comes Mechadon wielding a giant ass, anti-spam flamethrower.

But seriously, it is an annoying problem and we should at least try to think up a solution. With that said...ideas? (Besides giving power to the first two people who would abuse it)

I promise not to abuse my power If I get to have a flamethrower.

But, seriously, I would do it to help Vi out. You know you can count on me.

Yes...reliable...

How's that sketch coming?  :P

jk. Yes, I would hope you wouldn't turn that flame-thrower on us little people...  >:[

Oh, the irony if one of them gets in here...
Not that I'm asking for the job, but I think it would be a decent idea to make one or two members temporary mods to combat the bloody things. Or at least try to get one of thoses 'captcha' things.

If I had to choose 2-3 to be temp mods, I'd have ... Mechadon, Gabya and Sjonnoh ... all of them are active and I know they won't abuse their power ... and maybe Burkey aswell

......

Thanks for making me spit out my coffee.

I'd ruin this place and ban anyone that looked at me cockeyed.

Lets not forget the past, shall we? ;D

But as the old saying goes; History is doomed to repeat itself.

~Darc

now I see this again: Nicteerty      03:00:15 pm     Posting a new poll in Forum Rules and Announcements.
if I had the ability to delete people I can delete a lot of guys before they even got the chance to post nonsense

Can't we just ban the IP address?

Darn, I'd be banned in 2 seconds flat...

But I don't know much about the past of this place, so I won't say much more than that...

all i can say is that the person who came up with that stupid Ford key question better hope i never find them...EVER >:[

They couldn't even get their darn info right...

You don't want to know.

But you can always research, most of the threads/posts from years ago are still about.

~Darc

Yeah, I tried doing that once...didn't last long. Came across a topic about shipping in SPC/KNT and that about killed my curiosity. Who knows what else is buried in here...  :-\ (Besides you and all the older members)

I know ALL my spam is buried there

That's the whole idea.  That's why the first place I go when I visit here is to click on the "Latest Member" up in the right top corner and see if they are legit.  99% of the time it's a spambot, and I just keep doing it until I get rid of them all.

Oh hell no!!! The latest batch of spam bots I've seen have included pornographic images in the post. Probably not the first time, but it's the first time I've seen it. This is totally unacceptable. Only I am allowed to post porn here. ( I just choose not to)

All joking aside now. I really want to do something about it, and be able to put an end to these offenses when and where I see them. I want moderating power, now.

sounds really trustful...

Well...


I'm all for more mods if that means less of the spam.

I'll take care of the spam-bots.

Trust me...  ;-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAQDToH8o7o

I just killed off a few more accounts, I do that about every time I log in.

We don't need more mods right now, then it would just be more people doing the same thing. What we need is CAPTCHA, like Vi said. The best way to prevent spam is to stop it before it starts.

If we had CAPTCHA, TGL wouldn't have gotten in.  :P

LOL, I probably would of lurked and left

And several weeks later, that Adult Porn Spam thing is back, again.

As I've said, I kill at least 20 of those things everyday.  But I can't be here 24/7

Meanwhile, thousands of forums away...


"Hey, lets go spam that forum, I'm sure they won't mind"


Could be worse, they could be trying to hack us...

now that you mention it... is there a way to make a backup of this forum or something before someone is going to try and hack this??

A very dark premonition...

...would hate to log on one day and find the forum in flames. A sad day that would be...  :'(

Here's hoping someone jerkwad doesn't come around to perform said action!

It's not a person or another forum sending these things. It's an automation attacking more than just these forums. I can't believe I have to explain that to some of you.

I know THAT! I'm just saying in a worst case scenario... <_<

Yes, but I, along with a few others are the only task force that can report these things, and have them eliminated. If the source were stopped, then the battle's only half-won. Then again, this sort of thing is kind of impossible.

Aren't there forums where after signing up, you need to wait for a moderator to approve your account before you can post? I'm sure I remember joining several forums with that feature. Wouldn't that annihilate most of the things?

A few that I'm on, got hacked a few days ago ... that person managed to guess the root admin's MSN secret question answer, send a password recovery to that email address and BAM, the forum was hacked ... but he failed, since he hacked while the admin was AWAKE


I know that, I was being sarcastic


Yeah, some forums use that to stop spam-bots from getting in ... I think this forum has that system, but it's not used, just in case nobody can moderate the new members

This forum needs the "prove that you are human" system, to register...

and questions to make sure that the people who register are familiar with the pizza cats

questions like:

name these characters

 :speedy:

 :polly:

 :guido:

 :francine:

that´s a pretty good one, though they migt spell their names wrong, or in japanese

You could make one that looked like that, but instead it asked what is the name of ............? and then have like five alternatives or something
 
Example:
Who is the third one from the top?

Characters:                         Alternatives:
:speedy:                                     Big Al [ ]
:polly:                                    Guido [ ]
:guido:                        Sundance Kid [ ]
:francine:                                   Speedy [ ]
:lucille:                                        Polly [ ]
:bigcheese:                              Guru Lou [ ]

Knowing me, I'd get them all wrong :D

well... yes, but you wouldn't have to worry since you're already a member.

Or am I, I could be a very smart bot that everyone wants to ban :D

Bah, who am I kidding

Yourself?

But then again, a smart spam bot doesn't just integrate itself into a forum society...(or does it?  :/ )

On vBulletin, there was a bot that actually could post proper messages ... AI Alice Bot, via a hack ... god, I've not seen one of those since 2006

We DO need some Spam-bot protection.
Just look at this:
(http://pic.ipicture.ru/uploads/090930/thumbs/Z22O6W27Jt.jpg) (http://ipicture.ru/Gallery/Viewfull/24429892.html)

Or 10 spam post from this user:
http://www.edoropolis.org/forums/index.php?action=profile;u=6344

Someone call the rescue team

Since this is a small forum, we should stick to the "You are only allowed to post in the New members forum until your account gets approved". Since a spam bot would just post spam there, you would know what members to approve.

that would be fun,
"new unread posts: 5"
"new unread posts in new members section: 356873"

But that would be impossible, since there is only 5 new unread posts.... unless I've got my maths wrong

Its your math

right now, it seems that rity is filling all the forums on this site with porn topics, with names like awihgfiobhasi.

(http://www.freewebs.com/agentrose/SMITHCLONES!.jpg)
"Mr Anderson..."

Members of EE, watch out!! *Jumps in between everyone and a random member, and slashes it's disguise to shreds* Just as I thought! A Spambot!

Spambot: Curses! *Ran away*

Anyone who gets this reference instantly get 5 polly points. I don't care if I'm not allowed to distribute. XD Lol j/k

Samurai Pizza Cats

I'm detecting massive quantities of fail in this post.

~Darc

Agreed.

Popeye??

And now there is a spambot again

Yep, one of the hypocrite spam bots.

Go yiff yourself lol [Sarcasm]

Adding a captcha to SMF forums is not terribly difficult at all.  It's actually contained in the newer versions... an upgrade or quick code fix would add it.

If you need some help with this just hit me up with a PM or on AIM.

Good luck with that. I've been trying to get CAPTCHA implemented for some time now.

Yeah, if it was in place in 2006, I would of been stuck trying to get into this forum :D

Would this help?
http://www.stopforumspam.com/downloads/

I found it buried deep in my bookmarks (which is like 10000 entries)
Unfortunately, I only know a little bit of PHP, so I'm not sure if this is helpful.

I have a preliminary idea as well, there could also be an "avatar lock" so that you have to upload an image while registering or within a time limit of registering. I don't think spambots could upload media.

I have a sneaky suspicion that they might be smart enough to do that, to be honest.

I didn't know...but now I do!

(http://steynian.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/gijoe.jpg)

And knowing is half the battle!

But seriously...where did all the bots go? They came...they conquered...and now they're off somewhere else?  :huh:

They came, but they never conquered and they never will. It looks like someone finally set up CAPTCHA, so that's what's keeping most of the bots at bay.

Sorry...my bad. I keep forgetting TGL has yet to really succeed at takeover...  :D

:D All you need to do is take my posts Harm and you're sorted!


Just to think, if I didn't make this second account, hurrah I had an account before this, you wouldn't of even had someone to pull these "TGL" jokes on o.o

Dream on, guys. If not even Burkey can take over these forums, what makes you think you can? ;)


I want to say Mad TV (former fan here), but I don't think that's how the line went.

Tigriss. In due time.

OH MY GOD ANVILANIA!!!!

I loved the national anthem.

#Invalid YouTube Link#

Guys, I have found the solution

Request a robots.txt file:

hope that helps.

Yeah, nice, and then no search engine will find EE.
Real smart -_-

In general Mitch, that probably wont' stop SPAM bots from hitting the forums.
The bots usually are automated to the point where they'll do as they please.

Thanks for the attempt though. ^_^

Well It looks like this forum isnt getting stuck by these bloody Bots Anymore

And boy-howdy... it stinks big time. Especially when taking a break from the forum & seeing the wall of junk accounts upon returning.

This can't be happening!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BX_JAEEujCY

still actually don't get how that barrel roll got so popular....

The spammers have had a taste of the ol' pan of justice. Tell me if there's any I missed, there were a lot. I think we need to start banning again. I tried that on one, but I deleted the account too, and I can't remember if that nullifies the ban or not.

Uhh... anyone here cause i found the topic ExpolitedBabySitter (I think thats its name).
and i think its spam
Because it's very funny.
that and i think barrel roll is very popular

That thread has already been deleted, but thank you for mentioning it. When you're logged in, there is a "Report to moderator" function that you can use to inform us if there's spam or a user is acting inappropriately.

Thanks for telling.
EDIT: link removed

Sorry, but we can only combat spam here, not on other sites. And I would discourage posting the links to sites with spam, there's plenty of those out there on the World Wide Web, but if you put up a link to every spam site you came across, this thread would be full in seconds.

Jeez, every time i come back on here theres a new spam bot! >:[
Ugh...

Sometimes I think that you are a new kind of SpamBot...

Just kidding... ;)

Dear Spambots,

Please put all spam here in the future. Thanks.

Good idea, it's a perfect trap for them :D

user Inentawaync is a spam bot

Folks, today/last night we got hit hard. ... Well... Harder than hard.
Over 100 new users, all (or at least 99.9%) spam bots.

I'm going to be deleting/banning like nuts today.
If I hit anyone by mistake, please be patient while I try to get things cleared out.

If you are hit with a ban, please contact me at  mrdps2@hotmail.com.
Include your user name in the subject line.
In the body tell me the ban name that pops up blocking you.

I'll try to keep an eye on logs to fix any problems I see.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Update : We're still getting pounded.
Be ready folks. With all the fake users coming in this has the potential to get ugly... very fast.

O_O

 =]

Update (yet again.):

New user registration has been closed while we dig out the false users.

Wow, it's gotten that bad.

Initial cleanup completed.
Final Count : 364 Bans / Deletions.

As you dudes (and dude'etts) may also see, at this time, our front gate's still being pounded on.

WOW!!!!
That's alot of spam.

Well, you could add one of those fancy tests to see if users are human to register. Ban lists are just a big no, there are many reasons one could be in a ban-list without doing nothing wrong.

A) Your e-mail account was hacked

B) You use web-based e-mail

C) You where seeding or downloading a torrent, even if it was legal stuff

D) Some shitty website reported you had too many Internet connections

And there are rarer ones, like some sort of evil-ware infection your computer

I figure I got banned because...

I am a Spam-Bot.

A spam bot who learned how to love.

Those are the worst kind. They're always trying to find a way to sell that "love" to everyone else.

The lines have been breached, and we have been pushed back. We must stand together, and fight together to defeat this threat. We will fight! We will not surrender. This is the last stand!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZDDL4k2_ss
so, ok. We don't have M240 bravos....But you get the point of what must be done.

Maybe the registration form could include tens questions about the show, a "Are you human? button" and maybe one of those "type the text show in the pic in this box here" things.

That is a great idea, also a thing where you're requierd to ask an SPC related qustion like:
What is the color of Guido?
Just say'in.
But yeah, that's a good idea.

Uh, he already suggested that.

We have something better: Giant robots. ;)

I think it's safe to open registration.

Not unless we change the reistracion system to avoid most spambots....

^What he said.

I know a guy who might want to join, what if the forum admit sets a e-mail account for registration requests, any e-mail that doesn't say "Registration request by: (nickname here)" would just go to the junk folder. We cant have registrations closed forever, or this will become a dead forum in just a few years.

We could also add a "(nickname) referenced me" and make it a invite only forum in the most extreme case.
 

It's never safe once you've been painted.