Spammer issues. [Archive] - BlitWise Bulletin Board

Brian

10-27-2006, 04:25 PM

As many of you have probably noticed, the growth of the board in membership and popularity has...encouraged the growth of several people seeking to sell you computer equipment and, apparantly, cranes. This is a similar process to the way warm, moist environments encourage the growth of mold and other semi parasitical creatures. I and the other moderators are doing our best, up until now on a case by case basis. This morning, I took slightly more agressive measures to stop the problem, but it's going to take some time, I think, to get it further under control, if, indeed, it isn't just a cost of having a forum such as this. Please continue to report posts that are in this category as you find them, and we'll get them as quickly as possible.

zetablack

10-27-2006, 07:11 PM

Thanks brian for helping us!

Zwaken

10-28-2006, 05:46 PM

What exactly would be considered a "spam post?"

Was It Me?

10-28-2006, 05:58 PM

... people seeking to sell you computer equipment and, apparantly, cranes.
;)
-------

Leon

10-28-2006, 06:03 PM

I don't think there's ever been a construction worker just casually surfing the Web who saw one of those ads and thought "Hey, I could use a new crane..."

Zwaken

10-28-2006, 06:03 PM

Was that an answer to my question? If it was, then good response! And I haven't seen any thing about cranes...that's wierd.

Was It Me?

10-28-2006, 06:13 PM

That was an answer to your question. The reason you haven't seen anything about cranes is because that thread was deleted. Trust me, it was pretty sad. ;)

I don't think there's ever been a construction worker just casually surfing the Web who saw one of those ads and thought "Hey, I could use a new crane..."

I know! Weird if you ask me... Like I'm really going to make an impulse crane purchase after a game of Neon Wars. :)

Brian

10-28-2006, 08:14 PM

If anyone here buys a crane before they buy a copy of Neon Wars, though, I'm banning them!!!

[VC] Phrozen

11-01-2006, 06:52 PM

Alright Brian!

My Man!

Use Your Admin Powers!:D

Skix

11-04-2006, 07:47 PM

Why Don't you have a room specificly for Spammers, just call it Spam
I'v seen many other forums do it .
It lets spammers spam without spamming up the interesting and importent and otherwise un-spamified parts of the forum.

Xap

11-04-2006, 09:39 PM

What makes you think the spammers will want to spam in there? There would be no point. Not that spamming isn't already pointless. :rolleyes:

Brian

11-06-2006, 01:05 PM

Simple, Skix. We do not negotiate with terrorists.

Skix

11-06-2006, 02:38 PM

Simple, Skix. We do not negotiate with terrorists.

Cool...
Rock On...
You won't negotioate with m...
I'm no terrorist...
What do you mean i'm sweating!?!?

I'm Gonna Run Now...

Zwaken

11-06-2006, 08:42 PM

lol, Many have run away from this site because Brian said that.

Skix

11-07-2006, 02:05 PM

I Realy Could Use A crane right now...
I'm Not Sure about getting Neon Wars Though...

Xap

11-07-2006, 08:27 PM

Careful... I think Brian has the magical BlitSword (or whatever it's called) on his desk...;)

Everlast

11-08-2006, 12:03 AM

Careful... I think Brian has the magical BlitSword (or whatever it's called) on his desk...;)

Mabye he can use it like Walmart does, always cutting back the prices. :D (I don't think BlitWise sets the prices to high, its just a joke)

Xap

11-08-2006, 02:11 AM

Walmart has really low prices already anyway...http://www.pcpuzzle.com/forum/images/smiles/icon_eek.gif <--Make This a useable emoticon please, it's extremely useful...

Was It Me?

11-25-2006, 12:13 PM

We are really having a huge jump in spam posts lately... Has anyone else noticed? Why the jump all of the sudden? :confused:

Everlast

11-25-2006, 12:52 PM

I think its one person. Some else mentioned that they might be using proxies to get back in.

Zwaken

11-25-2006, 02:35 PM

I dunno but it's getting pretty old.

ben

11-26-2006, 01:37 AM

There hasn't really been much of a jump in spam posts lately, from what I can see. The main thing you guys are seeing is the lack of Brian's and my +1 vorpal swords of banning at work, with this being Thanksgiving weekend and such.

Of course, if we do start getting increased amounts of spam, I will look into other methods of preventing spambots.

EDIT: Oh, and as for IP bans: unfortunately, all the spammers are coming from completely different subnets. Most likely, the computers running the spambot are not actually owned by the spammer, but are compromised machines.

Was It Me?

11-26-2006, 12:06 PM

Oh, ok then. Keep that swordsmanship up... ;)

Xap

11-26-2006, 02:33 PM

The main thing you guys are seeing is the lack of Brian's and my +1 vorpal swords of banning at work, with this being Thanksgiving weekend and such.
So, do you usually delete spammers as soon as they appear?:shocked:
I am constantly browsing this forum, and if spammers appear, I usually see them.
A while back, if there were the same amount of spammers, you guys must have been doing some hard work!:shocked:

Brian

11-27-2006, 03:17 PM

Hi guys.
It's pretty much what Ben said. Although I would say that there was a bit of a jump this past week, it was mostly noticable because we weren't on the job. :)
If you don't see spam, it sometimes means it's because it was deleted physically, leaving no trace. I tend to do this when it's porn or something obscene or otherwise extremely obnoxious. I'll probably go back and delete all the spam physically once we have the thing better under control.

Back to the battle! *Snicker-Snack!*

Brian

11-27-2006, 04:03 PM

Whew...okay...that took a while, but I think I did it. There was a...shall we say, suspicious number of new registrations over the past week. I just sifted through them and banned all the spammers. Also took a few other precautions, which will probably make some people angry, and will mean more work for me, but that's just the way the cookie crumbles. My thanks, and I'm sure all of yours as well, go to Ben, however, who took on quite a number of spammers over the weekend! Bravissimo!

Xap

11-27-2006, 10:35 PM

Back to the battle! *Snicker-Snack!*
One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.
:) :) :)

Good job with the spam-defeating.;)

Everlast

11-27-2006, 10:49 PM

Spammers - 0
Brian & Ben - 1

:D

Brian

11-28-2006, 01:07 PM

Well, Ben found a slightly more elegant solution to the spammer problem than my rather ham-fisted method. It may require a bit of patience, learning, and careful observation on our parts while we figure out all the parameters for weeding out their nonesense. Nontheless, I think we've got it covered for now, and registrations have been restored to normal.

Everlast

11-28-2006, 08:44 PM

I guess a IP range bann won't work?

Xap

11-28-2006, 08:48 PM

Like Ben said:
Oh, and as for IP bans: unfortunately, all the spammers are coming from completely different subnets. Most likely, the computers running the spambot are not actually owned by the spammer, but are compromised machines.

Skix

12-02-2006, 07:19 PM

Nope, Bans are pretty useless if you got a persitant person on yur hands.
An Account Ban can be underminded with a new account and an IP ban in any nnumber of ways, mainly proxies. A mega-banned person can un-ban himself in under five minutes if he knows what he's doing.

Thats why forums don't ban me.

Or is it because i follow the rules 99 percent of the time...

I don't know...

I like fear better...

TranQ

12-02-2006, 08:42 PM

Bans are useless unless you know a way to find people who get around the ban and get a permanent ban unline I.P bans which can be gotten around very easily.

Xap

12-04-2006, 02:27 AM

IP bans are the best way to ban someone unless they have a dial-up connection, because if they've been banned from their home IP address, then they can't go on unless they're at a different location.

Grif392

12-04-2006, 02:46 AM

Or...if they use a proxy...

Brian

12-04-2006, 02:50 PM

That's the beauty of Ben's solution. Ban the post...not the person. Their posts never see the light of day, and I can go about at my leisure and ban their accounts, email providers, etc...

Xap

12-04-2006, 07:51 PM

Or...if they use a proxy...
So what exactly is a proxy?
How could it get around a home IP ban?

Zwaken

12-05-2006, 12:28 AM

Xap

12-05-2006, 12:30 AM

Oh, that's a good idea. Cool!

Grif392

12-05-2006, 12:37 AM

So what exactly is a proxy?
How could it get around a home IP ban?

A proxy server is a computer that offers a computer network service to allow clients to make indirect network connections to other network services. A client connects to the proxy server, then requests a connection, file, or other resource available on a different server. The proxy provides the resource either by connecting to the specified server or by serving it from a cache. In some cases, the proxy may alter the client's request or the server's response for various purposes. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_server)

Brian

12-05-2006, 12:53 PM

In our case, it just goes to a moderation list, to be promptly deleted if deemed spam.

Skix

12-09-2006, 03:21 PM

I have seen this rule on many other forums. If you havn't posted a certain number of times, you can't start a new thread. A number that would be good is 3 posts. And it's not just a rule. If you click "start a new thread" it wont let you start a new thread unless you have a certain number of posts.

Hmm... Not sure if thats a good idea...

A spammer doesnt need to start a new thread to spam, they can just go into any random popular thread and spam, essentualy doing more damage by clogging the thread, and showing more people, because people don't know it's spam until they actualy read it.

Though it might stop a few bots...

Another reason is that some newbies who just joined joined because they want to share something or ask a question. a minimum post rule would discourage them from posting, or encourage them to post useless crap to get past the rule.

Then again, every security feature has it's drawbacks...

Brian

12-09-2006, 06:38 PM

Precisely why our system doesn't work that way.

Kalphite

01-05-2007, 02:22 PM

Brian, Would it be okay to request a Moderator Team?

First of all it could moderate Spam, not only from bots, but also things like what I 'have' to do, like making a 10xpost, because we can't edit it after a short while, Also they would close topics that keep getting posts that don't need posts, Such as (I'm logging on to blitwise with my Wii), the problem was solved ages ago, but people are still posting thing's that should be in a different thread. I did what i could by attracting people away from it with my new one, but still....

So... Could you?

Brian

01-05-2007, 02:40 PM

Hi Kalphite. We feel that the BlitWise Administrators are more than sufficient at this time for the size of the board. Spammers never actually get to post anyway, and, at least in the General forum, "on topic" Naziness isn't really necessary. In the future, perhaps, we'll extend some more priviledges to a select group, up to and possibly including the ability to edit, etc.

However, since you're not the first person to bring up, I have extended the time period in which you can edit your own post to 1 day. Frankly, I think this is too long, and I hope no one abuses the ability, but we'll see how things work out.

Kalphite

01-05-2007, 02:43 PM

Thanks! Now i can do what i need in 1 post! Nobody will abuse it, most forums have the edit set to forever, and NEVER once, have i seen someone abusing it. Well, how many members should we have before a Mod Team is needed? 1000?

theguy0000

01-05-2007, 02:49 PM

I agree, I see no reason for the edit time limitation...

Kalphite

01-05-2007, 02:52 PM

Maybe Brian has a point though, since mos of the people here aren't even supposed to be here since they are under 13, A lot of them might be tempted to edit and cause trouble, but in general it won't happen.

P.S. Theguy0000 go on msn!

theguy0000

01-05-2007, 02:54 PM

Hmm...I just can't imagine anyone abusing the power to edit their OWN posts...

and I am on MSN. I have been for a couple hours.

Kalphite

01-05-2007, 02:56 PM

Well, somone would say like:

Bob: Hey who here likes chocolate?
Billy : MEEEE!!!!
Bob edits post:
Bob: Hey who here is stupid
Billy: MEEEE!!!!

Okay, that was lame, and most people would probably say other things than that, but this is an example...

Was It Me?

01-05-2007, 02:59 PM

Exactly, which is why I think that 15 minutes is plenty of time to fix any spelling or grammar mistakes, and I agree with Brian that 1 day is too long. But whatever he thinks...

Kalphite

01-05-2007, 03:05 PM

Well, i need to edit them to add things, like in My Wii thread, i had to add the friend code, and some of the names, and i would REALLY like to be able to edit that one post whenever i want, and it almost makes me MAD that i can't and i have to make a new one every day, but i guess it's the best i can do to update it. But seriously, it should always be the first post to show ALL the information.

theguy0000

01-05-2007, 03:06 PM

Was It Me?

01-05-2007, 03:08 PM

thats why I always QUOTE wwhen replying :D
Same here, but it seems to bother some people when you quote stuff...

Brian

01-05-2007, 03:17 PM

Kal, that's precisely one kind of abuse I'm worried about. It's childish, yes, but it happens.

Setting the time limit to a day is a trial period. If it can be handled well, without any problems, then I may make it indefinite, because I agree with Kalaphite that in certain threads all the information is most useful in the OP. I have every confidence in the maturity and restraint of the people here, and I hope it goes well. After a few days, if there are problems, then it will go back down to an hour or so.

Of course, I won't let one or two bad apples ruin the increased utility for everyone. If I extend it indefinitely and some people start to abuse it, they will just find themselves warned and/or banned, rather than everyone stripped of the ability.

Kalphite

01-05-2007, 07:35 PM

That makes more sense ;) I personaly don't like it when people quote if it's a direct reply, like what Guy and WIM just did, if its RIGHT after, or 2 posts after i say it doesn't need to be quoted, but if it's say on the page before, or your referring to something someone said, or your even replying to many questions or something yeah the quote is great!

Brian: Is the edit allowed forever now?

???revived

01-05-2007, 10:12 PM

I have honestly, on any of the forums I went to/go to never have seen people editting their own post to make fun of somebody or whatnot. I have, however, seen moderators edit other people's posts for their own evil deeds.

Then again, if what Kalphite said, that most of the posters here are under thirteen, is true, then yes, a limit should be enforced. (Lol I'm only 14 myself anyways)...

EDIT: 404 post...

Everlast

01-05-2007, 11:04 PM

I'm not under 13, I'm 17! :) But I don't have a car yet. :(

Kalphite

01-05-2007, 11:05 PM

Yes, But Brian should and will give us a few chances, i doubt many people here will abuse it, if anyone, and he said that if only say 2 people do, then they would get a warning/ban, so i think this mini discussion is pretty much done, now... back to spammer issues, people are spamming my WII thread, and it's p*ssing me off.

Was It Me?

01-05-2007, 11:13 PM

Well Kalphite, to honor your request I didn't post this in "your" Wii thread, but how do you know that Leon doesn't have a Wii? In fact, it sounded like he does..

Kalphite

01-06-2007, 03:34 AM

Yes, im grateful for that Wim, but i dunno...

theguy0000

01-06-2007, 02:39 PM

OK I'm sorry Kalphite but this is a public forum, and you have no right to tell people where they can or cannot post. Spamming is just randomly posting crap that has nothing to do with the topic, and I think that if that thread is about a wii, people do have a right to post about wii's there.

Kalphite

01-06-2007, 05:02 PM

Yes... But it's my thread... i could just NOT update the OP and such if you people really don't care...

???revived

01-06-2007, 09:46 PM

Yes, but it's not really your thread. Treat forums as communism, where everything made by a normal person belongs to every other normal person (and the government, which in this case would be the admins and mods)...

Kalphite

01-07-2007, 08:51 PM

Ok i guess your right, but people should still listen to me...

theguy0000

01-07-2007, 10:30 PM

if they have something relevant to say, I see no reason why they shouldnt post there...

John Brooks

01-08-2007, 05:55 PM

Yeah, I don't like huge, spammed forums.

You speak for us all, Brian!

dr Evil

05-19-2007, 01:06 PM

at me home forum we have something like 2800 spam users.
AND since its phpBB its near impossible to delete them all:mad:

mentallyunstable

05-20-2007, 03:32 AM

Spam is bad, mmmkay (unless you're having a sandwich, but it's still ehh)

Brian

05-21-2007, 12:49 PM

Hehe...a spammer tried to spam in this thread...I love the irony.

blue_moon

05-21-2007, 06:28 PM

Really? Wow, thats pathetic.

Omega_Chaos

05-26-2007, 08:44 PM

okay if we get a spam thread, who knows what it will lead too! it may be another MFZ forum all over again!
NOOOO! NOT AGAIN! I WILL NOT LET THAT HAPPEN! I DARE ANYONE TO COME BETWEEN ME AND MY FREEDOM OF INTERNET COMMUNICTION!!!
*dies*

endgame

06-30-2007, 07:14 PM

I think it's time for the +1 Vorpal Sword of Banning to be wielded, and can you tell me where to get one? :D

blue_moon

06-30-2007, 08:37 PM

Can I have the -1 Plastic Knife of Uselessness? The only way to get the Vorpal Sword of Banning is to obviously be here at the time of the great creation and have reached Adminator status.

Rex Nex

06-30-2007, 08:44 PM

Reaching Admin Status Is Impossible, Brian Only Allows The staff To Have It.

blue_moon

06-30-2007, 10:01 PM

I know. I trusted my government and now my skull glows in the dark. Seriously, I wish I was part of Blitwise. Not just to be an admin, but making games is a cool career.

endgame

06-30-2007, 11:36 PM

Can I have the -1 Plastic Knife of Uselessness? The only way to get the Vorpal Sword of Banning is to obviously be here at the time of the great creation and have reached Adminator status.

Okay then, I have one of those, but it doesn't work over here...:D

blue_moon

07-01-2007, 12:58 AM

Yeah, its useless. Hence the name.

ekoz

07-01-2007, 06:49 PM

or is it...

dr Evil

07-01-2007, 07:58 PM

the problem with having a spam thread is that your forum becomes flagged as spam succeptible and recieves much more spam than it did before.
the trick is to delete spam and spam accounts from the beggining and turn on every anti spam measure you can find.

TurtleTuck

07-01-2007, 08:08 PM

are you suggesting an upgrade to a +14 holy cannon of banning?

endgame

07-01-2007, 11:56 PM

are you suggesting an upgrade to a +14 holy cannon of banning?

If only we had enough rupees. :)

Rex Nex

07-02-2007, 01:28 AM

Brian still needs to find that golden rupee in that tree. Good thing he has a nice yen maker!

Bella

07-15-2007, 01:37 AM

HII rex!!!!

XRaiderV1

07-15-2007, 09:05 AM

Hehe...a spammer tried to spam in this thread...I love the irony.

lol, i'll bet the unfortunate idiot loved the returning salvo too, lol

mentallyunstable

07-27-2007, 07:39 PM

Pshh, everyone knows Ban Hammer is the best.

http://img240.imageshack.us/img240/5570/ban20hammer1gq4.jpg

Rex Nex

07-27-2007, 07:47 PM

Nuh uh
http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:WPgKGJNZTYaPPM:www.markdroberts.com/images/no-spam-5.jpg

Everlast

07-27-2007, 07:50 PM

Umm, that's not even a hammer, it's just a can of Spam.

Rex Nex

07-27-2007, 07:52 PM

I never said it was

XRaiderV1

07-28-2007, 12:00 AM

wow, how about a can of raid?

Rex Techs

08-05-2007, 06:41 PM

I'm withXRaiderV1. Just get a giant can of raid and ban all them spammers

Rex Nex

08-05-2007, 06:45 PM

Brian has a +2 Vorpal Sword Of Banning

Rex Techs

08-05-2007, 06:47 PM

Ok forget the raid and the hammer, the +2 Vorpal Sword Of Banning
should take care of it once and for all

Samail

08-05-2007, 07:23 PM

It's a +1 sword, actually.

Also that hammer picture above is not spam.

XRaiderV1

09-17-2007, 10:02 AM

i forgot how amusing the spammer issues thread could be, lol

Rex Nex

08-17-2008, 11:56 PM

First post this year :)

Is it just me or is the number of spammers... decreasing.

Val81

08-18-2008, 02:07 AM

Yeah; seems like it. There's a whole new crowd of NewBlitters now, but they don't seem to be spammers...

Red_Cracker

08-18-2008, 07:23 AM

There more like late bloomers already.

blue_moon

08-18-2008, 12:39 PM

Yeah; seems like it. There's a whole new crowd of NewBlitters now, but they don't seem to be spammers...
The actual threat of spamming really comes from spambots, not the members.

ekoz

08-18-2008, 08:05 PM

or one post wonders.

Rex Nex

08-18-2008, 08:28 PM

The actual threat of spamming really comes from spambots, not the members.

Thats true. With the new members themselves, not to be mean or anything, but you guys are more hectic, and a bit younger.

But hey, I will withstand your onslaught.

Nonnag

08-19-2008, 12:30 AM

O_o....Im glad im considered atleast a MiniVet...Id take Rex on that bet...He would not live :D :P

Rex Nex

08-19-2008, 03:54 AM

I must be a semi-vet then!

Well, with the proper common household appliances (Such as a toaster) anything is possible!

orbital pain

08-19-2008, 02:24 PM

well, could you have a keyword block on a poast? so any offensive words can not make it threw. and pictures will have to get the A-OK from an admin before they apear in the thread

da red tank

08-19-2008, 02:40 PM

The keyword block may not work 'cause some people would just figure out a way to bypass it

ben

11-19-2009, 08:32 PM

I've added a new field to the user registration page. Since these forums are small enough to not generally be directly targetted by spammers directly (just automated bots), a simple text box that must be changed from 'no' to 'yes' might actually make quite a difference.

Current members will actually see it under user options. If you happen to try to edit your user options but get an error about a spambot check, just type yes into the Bot Check field.

flankattack

11-19-2009, 09:46 PM

Samail

11-20-2009, 12:03 AM

"Upgrade complete"
~StarCraft line

XRaiderV1

11-20-2009, 12:52 AM

wonder how long that fix'll hold.......

AWP

11-21-2009, 12:24 PM

It lasted until he (http://forums.blitwise.com/forums/member.php?u=10197) appeared.

Xap

11-21-2009, 02:51 PM

True... the guy's going nuts out there!
We need the sword of banning!

Samail

11-21-2009, 04:17 PM

I said this (http://forums.blitwise.com/forums/showpost.php?p=89830&postcount=35).

I'll give him/her/it some more rope, but I imagine I'll be doing some hanging with it...