Anti-spam proposal

Found an issue with the phpBB system here at NESdev? Use this forum to report problems.

Moderator: Moderators

User avatar
Bregalad
Posts: 8056
Joined: Fri Nov 12, 2004 2:49 pm
Location: Divonne-les-bains, France

Re: Anti-spam proposal

Post by Bregalad »

Bavi_H wrote: Mon Jul 27, 2020 9:27 pm Even if a user doesn't post anything, one useful feature of having an account is that the site remembers which posts you have read. On some forums, I would set up an account just for the purpose of having the site remember the posts I had read long before I ever posted anything. I would be upset if someone deleted my account because it had no posts.
Another legitimate use of an account with no posts is sending PM to people. Or simply having the boring process of account creation done in case you want to post something later.
Garth
Posts: 246
Joined: Wed Nov 30, 2016 4:45 pm
Location: Southern California
Contact:

Re: Anti-spam proposal

Post by Garth »

gauauu wrote: Sun Jul 26, 2020 9:18 pm
rainwarrior wrote: Sun Jul 26, 2020 7:32 pm IMO this board could probably benefit from having a few more mods than it does? There are a number of people who have been active here for years that could probably help sort that stuff out faster.
Agreed. Having a few more mods could make a significant difference in fighting the problem without having to install or build new tech.
I'm a mod or admin on several forums, mostly 6502-related. I check this forum many times a day too, even though I seldom post. As I write right now, it's 2:45am California time when the mods & admins are probably sleeping. There's spam pretty much every night. I think the offenders are taking advantage of the fact that the mods & admins are sleeping so they can have their garbage up for several hours before it's caught. I am volunteering to be a moderator here, only for deleting spam and banning the offenders. As Dwedit says, mods cannot throw an abuser out; but they can delete his spam and ban him, then PM the admins to throw them out.
http://WilsonMinesCo.com/ lots of 6502 resources
User avatar
Banshaku
Posts: 2417
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2008 8:38 pm
Location: Japan
Contact:

Re: Anti-spam proposal

Post by Banshaku »

I'm a mod and living in Japan so when people are sleeping I'm awake ;)
Garth
Posts: 246
Joined: Wed Nov 30, 2016 4:45 pm
Location: Southern California
Contact:

Re: Anti-spam proposal

Post by Garth »

Banshaku wrote: Tue Jun 29, 2021 12:04 pm I'm a mod and living in Japan so when people are sleeping I'm awake ;)
How often do you check in? There's spam every night the last couple of times I check the forum before I go to bed. Obviously no one has taken it down.
http://WilsonMinesCo.com/ lots of 6502 resources
lidnariq
Posts: 11432
Joined: Sun Apr 13, 2008 11:12 am

Re: Anti-spam proposal

Post by lidnariq »

I'm in PST8PDT (usually) and check for spam throughout the day. I've been somewhat more AFK the past few days but will more aggressively cover things as soon as that's over.

I think the big timezone we're missing is someone in europe. I'm on the left coast of the US; tepples, gauauu, and memblers are in CST6CDT; and Banshaku is in Japan.
User avatar
Dwedit
Posts: 4924
Joined: Fri Nov 19, 2004 7:35 pm
Contact:

Re: Anti-spam proposal

Post by Dwedit »

What we need is a new host, and to transfer the domain to someone else. Being unable to IP-ban spammers is a dealbreaker.
Here come the fortune cookies! Here come the fortune cookies! They're wearing paper hats!
User avatar
Banshaku
Posts: 2417
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2008 8:38 pm
Location: Japan
Contact:

Re: Anti-spam proposal

Post by Banshaku »

Garth wrote: Tue Jun 29, 2021 1:23 pm How often do you check in? There's spam every night the last couple of times I check the forum before I go to bed. Obviously no one has taken it down.
These days I have been quite busy so I can only log in irregularly. I have deleted a lot of spam too in the last few days so there seems to be some wave of it.

Unless we do something at the host level, like dwedit said, there is not much we can do but do some manual clean-up once it happens.
Garth
Posts: 246
Joined: Wed Nov 30, 2016 4:45 pm
Location: Southern California
Contact:

Re: Anti-spam proposal

Post by Garth »

Banshaku wrote: Tue Jun 29, 2021 5:56 pmUnless we do something at the host level, like dwedit said, there is not much we can do but do some manual clean-up once it happens.
I should have been more clear. Part of my point is that it is very discouraging to spammers if their garbage is removed immediately, like removing graffiti before the paint has even begun to dry. If they are deprived of their reward, it won't be worth their effort. Moderators checking in needs to be very frequent, whether it's a few moderators each checking a dozen times a day or more, or dozens of moderators each checking a few times a day, and distributed rather evenly, at least around the times spammers tend to strike. It only takes a few seconds to check. You won't find anything charming about what I think ought to be done to spammers. In fact, I won't even put it in writing here.
http://WilsonMinesCo.com/ lots of 6502 resources
User avatar
Dwedit
Posts: 4924
Joined: Fri Nov 19, 2004 7:35 pm
Contact:

Re: Anti-spam proposal

Post by Dwedit »

That's a lot to assume, that they even look back after they release their automated flooding.
Here come the fortune cookies! Here come the fortune cookies! They're wearing paper hats!
Garth
Posts: 246
Joined: Wed Nov 30, 2016 4:45 pm
Location: Southern California
Contact:

Re: Anti-spam proposal

Post by Garth »

Dwedit wrote: Tue Jun 29, 2021 9:31 pm That's a lot to assume, that they even look back after they release their automated flooding.
They often make several posts at once. If, after posting the second one, they see that the first one is already gone, they should get the message. Better yet, by the time they try to post the second one, they'll find that they're already banned, and the message they get is that it's because of spam.
http://WilsonMinesCo.com/ lots of 6502 resources
User avatar
Bregalad
Posts: 8056
Joined: Fri Nov 12, 2004 2:49 pm
Location: Divonne-les-bains, France

Re: Anti-spam proposal

Post by Bregalad »

lidnariq wrote: Tue Jun 29, 2021 1:51 pm I'm in PST8PDT (usually) and check for spam throughout the day. I've been somewhat more AFK the past few days but will more aggressively cover things as soon as that's over.

I think the big timezone we're missing is someone in europe. I'm on the left coast of the US; tepples, gauauu, and memblers are in CST6CDT; and Banshaku is in Japan.
I live in Europe. I'd be happy to delete spam, but something more elaborate like conflict moderation is not my cup of tea.
Useless, lumbering half-wits don't scare us.
User avatar
Quietust
Posts: 1920
Joined: Sun Sep 19, 2004 10:59 pm
Contact:

Re: Anti-spam proposal

Post by Quietust »

Garth wrote: Tue Jun 29, 2021 9:58 pm
Dwedit wrote: Tue Jun 29, 2021 9:31 pm That's a lot to assume, that they even look back after they release their automated flooding.
They often make several posts at once. If, after posting the second one, they see that the first one is already gone, they should get the message. Better yet, by the time they try to post the second one, they'll find that they're already banned, and the message they get is that it's because of spam.
You assume that they are actually supervised by humans, as opposed to just automated background processes which blindly register and post on as many forms as they possibly can.
Quietust, QMT Productions
P.S. If you don't get this note, let me know and I'll write you another.
Garth
Posts: 246
Joined: Wed Nov 30, 2016 4:45 pm
Location: Southern California
Contact:

Re: Anti-spam proposal

Post by Garth »

Quietust wrote: Wed Jun 30, 2021 5:23 amYou assume that they are actually supervised by humans, as opposed to just automated background processes which blindly register and post on as many forms as they possibly can.
When they do a bunch of spam posts at once, I have observed that they're separated by a couple of minutes or more, suggesting they're not spambots, but human. However, the sign-up process should have a capcha and a question that requires a human to answer, and should check the email address and IP address against the spam databases in certain websites like stopforumspam.com, and keep out the spammers. This is what we do on 6502.org, and even though it's a very active phpBB forum, it is extremely rare that we get a spammer.
http://WilsonMinesCo.com/ lots of 6502 resources
User avatar
Jarhmander
Formerly ~J-@D!~
Posts: 569
Joined: Sun Mar 12, 2006 12:36 am
Location: Rive nord de Montréal

Re: Anti-spam proposal

Post by Jarhmander »

For the record, I might not be one of the brightest members over here, but would be happy to lend a hand for cleaning spam here. As for the time zone, I'm in EST (EDT currently), so I'm pretty sure there's other people at the same time zone, but anyways.
((λ (x) (x x)) (λ (x) (x x)))
lidnariq
Posts: 11432
Joined: Sun Apr 13, 2008 11:12 am

Re: Anti-spam proposal

Post by lidnariq »

Garth wrote: Wed Jun 30, 2021 12:36 pm When they do a bunch of spam posts at once, I have observed that they're separated by a couple of minutes or more, suggesting they're not spambots, but human.
Today I just deleted 30 single spam posts from 30 separate accounts. All were separated by ten-ish seconds. There would be no way to prevent the subsequent spam after the first one because the HTTPS reverse proxy isn't trusted by the PHPBB or MediaWiki instances, so we can't know the IP address of the spammer.
However, the sign-up process should have a capcha and a question that requires a human to answer, and should check the email address
It does. We just haven't been able to update them because WhoaMan is AWOL.

Any serious solution requires either that he come back and participate more in forum admin, or that we move to another server (hosted by who?) where that person participates more in forum admin.
Post Reply