Robots are getting better at solving captchas. eventually they'll get through. I would think that you can prevent bothering 90% of the normal users with this spam problem by simply allowing account registration. Then, when the user posts their first post, you scan the posting for hyperlinks. If present, NOW we need to know if there is a human on the other end. At that point you present a page: "Hi, your posting contains a link. This is often attempted by spammers promoting a site. So, if you can tell your story without the hyperlink, you can edit it out below, or you can prove you're human by solving the captcha". Now, if we'd allow the second post to contain links without question, the spammers will quickly learn to post multiple messages. So, once that starts, the option to put such messages-with-hyperlink into a moderation queue should also be present.
Anyway, all this probably assumes that someone has the time and ability to change the forum software, which probably isn't the case. Oh well. I can keep dreaming....
It is getting rather out of hand, almost every topic I check with new posts now has spam on it. We could do with some moderators that can either flag posts or delete them.
People won't use a forum if its just full of spam...
Yeah, +1... I know I'm relatively new to the forum so don't have a high soapbox to stand on, but a spam takeover is usually the hallmark of an abandoned project. I know that's absolutely not the case here, but to newcomers unfamiliar with VESC this kind of forum spam sends a strong signal that the community is struggling with basic needs.
Maybe empowering community members with the sole task of squashing spam would be appropriate?
I really can't be arsed to link any more, there's approximately 120 spam posts from users:
Addison50nk
ZoeyDakota19
JAMESJerry16
GloriaJTorresRM
JosephineLangfo
I fixed the spam issue on my site by asking a registration challenge question that an EV minded person is likely to answer. Works better than a captcha. 0 spambots now.
That's because the answer to your question requires no critical thinking. It's too obvious and the hint provides even the expected letter count. Not to mention that it's not a good idea to use the main subject of the site as the challenge anyway because that's the first thing a bot would try.
You want to craft a question that's not the first answer when google it and ideally doesn't have a direct answer in google at all. It should not be a common knowledge but it should be obvious to your target community. For example, the question can be: What powers your favorite ride? A bot would have a hard time answering this one because it lacks the context. Googling this provides no direct answer.
Together with a good challenge question, you want to temporarily ban registrations from a given IP address for an hour or so after 2-3 failed attempts.
These attacks are a mixture in between humans and bots. Humans figure it out, give the bots instructions and then they start the attack. We will find a sollution soon.
That may be true to some degree but I would bet it's 98% bots and maybe a couple of percent humans. And they will always have more sites to go through than they will ever have humans to help with that task. So, all the dirty work is on bots. I am just saying this from my own experience. Used to have to prune forum every day. hundreds of posts, tons of registrations. Blocking, etc. nothing helped. Google captcha helped a bit first but it quickly became useless. They figured it out. A good challenge question goes a long way.
Could you point one out please. THX for the Info!
Frank
THX! I hope it is easy to install a plugin, allowing flags.
I deleted the user and post. If there are more, drop a link here and we will block the user and delete the post.
Frank
There are now at least 1 spam post a day... report would be nice.
Probably the registration page needs a feature to prevent robots registering themselves. Flags would also be good.
I will delete all reports.
Robots are getting better at solving captchas. eventually they'll get through. I would think that you can prevent bothering 90% of the normal users with this spam problem by simply allowing account registration. Then, when the user posts their first post, you scan the posting for hyperlinks. If present, NOW we need to know if there is a human on the other end. At that point you present a page: "Hi, your posting contains a link. This is often attempted by spammers promoting a site. So, if you can tell your story without the hyperlink, you can edit it out below, or you can prove you're human by solving the captcha". Now, if we'd allow the second post to contain links without question, the spammers will quickly learn to post multiple messages. So, once that starts, the option to put such messages-with-hyperlink into a moderation queue should also be present.
Anyway, all this probably assumes that someone has the time and ability to change the forum software, which probably isn't the case. Oh well. I can keep dreaming....
Welp, there's a serious spam problem!
I have installed a module for a service called CleanTalk and paid for a subscription, hopefully it helps.
Kind of a shame, I was so proud to have started such a successful topic ;-)
Another round of spam reporting because there are no modorators nor anyway to effectively report replies/posts:
https://vesc-project.com/comment/5614#comment-5614
https://vesc-project.com/comment/5615#comment-5615
https://vesc-project.com/comment/5613#comment-5613
https://vesc-project.com/node/1850
https://vesc-project.com/comment/4048#comment-4048
https://vesc-project.com/comment/5098#comment-5098
https://vesc-project.com/comment/5591#comment-5591
https://vesc-project.com/comment/5585#comment-5585
https://vesc-project.com/comment/5583#comment-5583
https://vesc-project.com/comment/5566#comment-5566
https://vesc-project.com/comment/5548#comment-5548
It is getting rather out of hand, almost every topic I check with new posts now has spam on it. We could do with some moderators that can either flag posts or delete them.
People won't use a forum if its just full of spam...
Oh another:
https://vesc-project.com/node/1857
https://vesc-project.com/node/1641
Can you please add captcha to the register page at the very least. A static question like it is currently won't do anything.
Just created a new account and there was nothing stopping spam I could see in the process.
whey:
https://vesc-project.com/comment/5649#comment-5649
Jesus fucking christ:
https://vesc-project.com/node/1887
https://vesc-project.com/node/1888
https://vesc-project.com/node/1889
https://vesc-project.com/node/1890
https://vesc-project.com/node/1891
https://vesc-project.com/node/1892
https://vesc-project.com/node/1893
https://vesc-project.com/node/1894
https://vesc-project.com/node/1895
https://vesc-project.com/node/1896
https://vesc-project.com/node/1897
https://vesc-project.com/node/1898
https://vesc-project.com/node/1899
https://vesc-project.com/node/1900
Benjamin/Frank I think it's high time you added a way to flag comments/posts for spam and a moderator who can handle them.
Yeah, +1... I know I'm relatively new to the forum so don't have a high soapbox to stand on, but a spam takeover is usually the hallmark of an abandoned project. I know that's absolutely not the case here, but to newcomers unfamiliar with VESC this kind of forum spam sends a strong signal that the community is struggling with basic needs.
Maybe empowering community members with the sole task of squashing spam would be appropriate?
Another user spamming 'free' films:
https://vesc-project.com/node/1921
https://vesc-project.com/node/1920
https://vesc-project.com/node/1919
https://vesc-project.com/node/1918
https://vesc-project.com/node/1917
https://vesc-project.com/node/1915
https://vesc-project.com/node/1916
https://vesc-project.com/node/1914
https://vesc-project.com/node/1913
https://vesc-project.com/node/1912
https://vesc-project.com/node/1911
https://vesc-project.com/node/1910
https://vesc-project.com/node/1909
https://vesc-project.com/node/1908
https://vesc-project.com/node/1907
https://vesc-project.com/node/1906
https://vesc-project.com/node/1905
https://vesc-project.com/node/1904
https://vesc-project.com/node/1903
https://vesc-project.com/node/1902
https://vesc-project.com/node/1901
And a comment:
https://vesc-project.com/comment/5726#comment-5726
Come on!
One more: https://vesc-project.com/node/1923
Another million more:
https://vesc-project.com/comment/5731#comment-5731
https://vesc-project.com/node/1966
https://vesc-project.com/node/1965
https://vesc-project.com/node/1964
https://vesc-project.com/node/1963
https://vesc-project.com/node/1962
https://vesc-project.com/node/1961
https://vesc-project.com/node/1960
https://vesc-project.com/node/1959
https://vesc-project.com/node/1958
https://vesc-project.com/node/1957
https://vesc-project.com/node/1956
https://vesc-project.com/node/1955
https://vesc-project.com/node/1954
https://vesc-project.com/node/1953
https://vesc-project.com/node/1952
https://vesc-project.com/node/1951
https://vesc-project.com/node/1950
https://vesc-project.com/node/1949
https://vesc-project.com/node/1948
https://vesc-project.com/node/1947
https://vesc-project.com/node/1946
https://vesc-project.com/node/1945
https://vesc-project.com/node/1944
https://vesc-project.com/node/1943
https://vesc-project.com/node/1942
https://vesc-project.com/node/1941
https://vesc-project.com/node/1940
https://vesc-project.com/node/1939
https://vesc-project.com/node/1938
https://vesc-project.com/node/1937
https://vesc-project.com/node/1936
https://vesc-project.com/node/1935
https://vesc-project.com/node/1934
https://vesc-project.com/node/1933
https://vesc-project.com/node/1932
https://vesc-project.com/node/1931
https://vesc-project.com/node/1930
https://vesc-project.com/node/1929
https://vesc-project.com/node/1928
https://vesc-project.com/node/1927
https://vesc-project.com/node/1926
https://vesc-project.com/node/1925
https://vesc-project.com/node/1924
Yeah, this ain't looking great...
Oh, my suprise:
https://vesc-project.com/comment/5736#comment-5736
I deleted them all. THX for the help!
More spam: https://vesc-project.com/comment/5765#comment-5765
Some more:
https://vesc-project.com/node/1985
https://vesc-project.com/comment/5296#comment-5296
https://vesc-project.com/comment/5820#comment-5820
Yet more:
https://vesc-project.com/comment/5846#comment-5846
https://vesc-project.com/comment/5850#comment-5850
Two in this thread:
https://vesc-project.com/comment/5396#comment-5396
https://vesc-project.com/comment/5877#comment-5877
Duane Degn
Another by Xavier7:
https://vesc-project.com/comment/5820#comment-5820
Two more in the same thread:
https://vesc-project.com/comment/5846#comment-5846 (This one was listed by TheFallen above.)
https://vesc-project.com/comment/5881#comment-5881
Duane Degn
All sorted THX!
More Spam:
https://vesc-project.com/comment/5876#comment-5876
https://vesc-project.com/comment/5875#comment-5875
Also you've said:
>All sorted THX!
in response to this spam:
https://vesc-project.com/comment/5396#comment-5396
Think that was a miss-post :)
One more:
https://vesc-project.com/comment/5895#comment-5895
The bots are getting smarter. This one almost didn't look like spam.
https://vesc-project.com/comment/5900#comment-5900
Thanks for maintaining this forum. I'm learning a lot here.
Duane Degn
Thx for the input, I deleted them all.
A few more:
https://vesc-project.com/comment/5923#comment-5923
https://vesc-project.com/comment/5924#comment-5924
https://vesc-project.com/comment/4322#comment-4322
This is painful, surely there's got to be a way for us to flag comments rather than having to post a list of links?
I didn't click the link but I'm betting this post is spam:
https://vesc-project.com/comment/6033#comment-6033
Duane Degn
Some more:
https://vesc-project.com/comment/5923#comment-5923
https://vesc-project.com/comment/6054#comment-6054
One more in that thread:
https://vesc-project.com/comment/6060#comment-6060
All sorted! THX again.
Please, can we move this forum to another system, with good spam protection ? Or improve this one ?
Seriously, can we please sort this out? In the 2.5hrs this forum has been completely flooded with spam drowning out all the genuine posts making the forum look abandoned.
https://vesc-project.com/node/2036
https://vesc-project.com/node/2037
https://vesc-project.com/node/2038
https://vesc-project.com/node/2039
https://vesc-project.com/node/2040
https://vesc-project.com/node/2041
https://vesc-project.com/node/2042
https://vesc-project.com/node/2043
https://vesc-project.com/node/2044
https://vesc-project.com/node/2046
I really can't be arsed to link any more, there's approximately 120 spam posts from users:
Addison50nk
ZoeyDakota19
JAMESJerry16
GloriaJTorresRM
JosephineLangfo
Here's one from a different user than those listed by TheFallen.
https://vesc-project.com/comment/6088#comment-6088
Duane Degn
Some more from:
WaselliftChadwick
KristenAMontesRM
Sorted, but we need to add a feature not alllowing to link anything until you are member for a week or so.
I fixed the spam issue on my site by asking a registration challenge question that an EV minded person is likely to answer. Works better than a captcha. 0 spambots now.
NextGen FOC High voltage 144v/34s, 30kw (https://vesc-project.com/node/1477)
Like this?
I mean it's clearly not stopping them here. And it's pretty easy to add this answer to a bot.
We need a decent captcha, a moderator and a way to flag spam on each comment/thread.
That's because the answer to your question requires no critical thinking. It's too obvious and the hint provides even the expected letter count. Not to mention that it's not a good idea to use the main subject of the site as the challenge anyway because that's the first thing a bot would try.
You want to craft a question that's not the first answer when google it and ideally doesn't have a direct answer in google at all. It should not be a common knowledge but it should be obvious to your target community. For example, the question can be: What powers your favorite ride? A bot would have a hard time answering this one because it lacks the context. Googling this provides no direct answer.
Together with a good challenge question, you want to temporarily ban registrations from a given IP address for an hour or so after 2-3 failed attempts.
NextGen FOC High voltage 144v/34s, 30kw (https://vesc-project.com/node/1477)
These attacks are a mixture in between humans and bots. Humans figure it out, give the bots instructions and then they start the attack. We will find a sollution soon.
That may be true to some degree but I would bet it's 98% bots and maybe a couple of percent humans. And they will always have more sites to go through than they will ever have humans to help with that task. So, all the dirty work is on bots. I am just saying this from my own experience. Used to have to prune forum every day. hundreds of posts, tons of registrations. Blocking, etc. nothing helped. Google captcha helped a bit first but it quickly became useless. They figured it out. A good challenge question goes a long way.
NextGen FOC High voltage 144v/34s, 30kw (https://vesc-project.com/node/1477)
https://vesc-project.com/comment/6203#comment-6203
https://vesc-project.com/comment/6204#comment-6204
Ugh, sort this out Frank, lets us directly report comments or make someone who's regularly active a moderator:
https://vesc-project.com/comment/6444#comment-6444
https://vesc-project.com/comment/6434#comment-6434
https://vesc-project.com/comment/5096#comment-5096
https://vesc-project.com/comment/5961#comment-5961
https://vesc-project.com/comment/6431#comment-6431
https://vesc-project.com/comment/6319#comment-6319
https://vesc-project.com/comment/6424#comment-6424
https://vesc-project.com/comment/5495#comment-5495
https://vesc-project.com/comment/5236#comment-5236
I'm sure I've missed loads.
And some more pop up:
https://vesc-project.com/comment/6329#comment-6329
https://vesc-project.com/comment/6448#comment-6448
https://vesc-project.com/node/2680
https://vesc-project.com/comment/6447#comment-6447
https://vesc-project.com/comment/5090#comment-5090
https://vesc-project.com/comment/4891#comment-4891
All deleted, THX
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