A quick comment on spam

[Alasdair Ryan]

wow took those out fast how many were there 30?

Yes,there was a ton of spam this morning.I hope the admin's can find some way to defeat the all these bots we been getting.

You probably can't block the ISP as they will most likely use a VPN,but perhaps you could better detect what they are inputting into the text field and screening it against a filter.

[rodiziorobs]

There is a ton more in the general forum at this very moment.

[GallardoLU]

I've been seeing wave after wave, Admin are knocking them out quick, but they just keep coming back

[Forresto]

Can I just say how much I appreciate the hard work of the mods. Every time I see a slew of spam it's almost always gone in less then a minute. That's dedication!

[UrbanErwin]

Did someone say spam?

Beside this rare case, I seldom see any form of spam. :thumbup:

Keep it going moderators!

EDIT: This is some kind of wave, they keep coming, the topics have now kicked the regular topics from the first page.

Edited March 17, 2016 by UrbanErwin

[Alasdair Ryan]

I am not reporting a whole page of spam topics.

[1974]

This is just a typical day at EB, sigh. Bad programming. I do not see this at the +20 other forums I frequent (some of them have a lot more members/traffic than EB btw)

Too easy to sign up here?

[Alasdair Ryan]

I have made automated drivers for firefox using selenium,it is easy to make a "bot" sign up and start posting.

The admins need to try and screen the topic content or titles a bit better.

string line = read topictitle
if (line contains "cvc79.com")
{
//block
}
else
{
//allow
}

[Hinckley]

I have made automated drivers for firefox using selenium,it is easy to make a "bot" sign up and start posting.

The admins need to try and screen the topic content or titles a bit better.

string line = read topictitle
if (line contains "cvc79.com")
{
//block
}
else
{
//allow
}

Oh do we now? I have many entries in our swear filter based on what they try to sell so that the topics can't be posted. As far as the actual site code goes, we're looking into many updates and options to do something about the influx of spam recently.

The problem is they aren't saying cvc79.com, they are saying C V C 7 9 . C 0 M

Thanks for the advice, though.

So, try and catch that with some code snippet.

Bad programming.

Ok, folks. Yes, I realize there's a lot of spam lately but we are working with unsupported software and looking into how to upgrade the whole site. Your patience would be greatly appreciated.

[Actor Builder]

Instead of hating on the programmers, you can all come play in the Spam Poetry thread! It's a jolly good time. If you copy and paste a Spam (But taking out the links of course), one of our Master Poets will use it as inspiration and serenade you with Spam Poetry! Or, you can become a poet yourself!

Here's a link!

http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=110789

[Alasdair Ryan]

Oh do we now? I have many entries in our swear filter based on what they try to sell so that the topics can't be posted. As far as the actual site code goes, we're looking into many updates and options to do something about the influx of spam recently.

The problem is they aren't saying cvc79.com, they are saying C V C 7 9 . C 0 M

Thanks for the advice, though.

So, try and catch that with some code snippet.

I did not mean to be rude,and I did expect the staff members to be looking into the situation (thank you staff).

I also did expect you to be using the spam filter,I don't know if it is possible or not but having the spam filter carry out two screening iterations one with no spaces between characters and one with characters might be a idea (yes use a try and catch statement).

Oh just a thought while reading the text convert it to lower case,otherwise the filter might not pick it up (perhaps another iteration to try).

Edited March 18, 2016 by Alasdair Ryan

[Darkdragon]

I also did expect you to be using the spam filter,I don't know if it is possible or not but having the spam filter carry out two screening iterations one with no spaces between characters and one with characters might be a idea (yes use a try and catch statement).

That won't help much, the bots will just iterate on to putting some random character/s between the letters or words.

[Alasdair Ryan]

That won't help much, the bots will just iterate on to putting some random character/s between the letters or words.

True,but I think you are going to need a multi layered approach which uses different algorithms to stop the "spammers" and not just block all words containing ".com" or ". c o m".

if you look at a recent spam post they just use the same sentence over and over again,how about parsing the reply and matching all the same lines?

[Darkdragon]

True,but I think you are going to need a multi layered approach which uses different algorithms to stop the "spammers" and not just block all words containing ".com" or ". c o m".

if you look at a recent spam post they just use the same sentence over and over again,how about parsing the reply and matching all the same lines?

The thing you have to remember is if a filter can be programmed, a bot can be programmed around it. It's just a dog chasing his tail. Captcha is the closest thing to working and only the most annoying versions really do any good.

[Hinckley]

I did not mean to be rude,and I did expect the staff members to be looking into the situation (thank you staff).

I also did expect you to be using the spam filter,I don't know if it is possible or not but having the spam filter carry out two screening iterations one with no spaces between characters and one with characters might be a idea (yes use a try and catch statement).

Oh just a thought while reading the text convert it to lower case,otherwise the filter might not pick it up (perhaps another iteration to try).

No worries. Thank you for saying so. I didn't intend to come off so flustered about it but I can see how I did. Insert comments about internet and lack of tone...

I have entered many iterations but that is somewhat of a desperate attempt. They seem to know when I do it, which creeps me out and it doesn't stop the registrations. We really just need to update our software to have the best anti–spam tools.

That won't help much, the bots will just iterate on to putting some random character/s between the letters or words.

Yes, this. Repeatedly. And they seem to learn what I enter into the filter. They really do. I don't see spam accounts (I can tell by the names) registering and spinning their wheels. The swear filter is not an effective tool as far as I can tell. They must be able to switch to a different iteration when one topic won't post. I replace certain terms with open tags so that the board software won't allow the topic to be posted.

The thing you have to remember is if a filter can be programmed, a bot can be programmed around it. It's just a dog chasing his tail. Captcha is the closest thing to working and only the most annoying versions really do any good.

Yes, this. 1000 times, this.

[Robert8]

I have another solution for the spam

Maybe it can be reduced if members are not allowed to start new topics until they reach the vassal rank (10 posts)

Similar to the poll option, which is allowed only to members with +500 posts

[Actor Builder]

Then they'll put the Spams in all our threads, and nobody will want to read the cool real stuff with all the "WOOD FURNITURE UK!" and "SUPERCAR!" mixed in.

I think that all new members should be required to post in the "New Member" section before they can do anything else. Then, if Spams come, we can just welcome them. They'll change their ways and join this lovely site.

Add on: I just saw three Spams in the "Introduce Yourself" forum. They seem to like my idea....

[Robert8]

Actor Builder you are one of a kind

[xboxtravis7992]

Town forum of all places just got hit. If I see Train Tech hit I'll just die :P

[Artanis I]

Supercar spammers are back for more punishment

[1974]

I have another solution for the spam

Maybe it can be reduced if members are not allowed to start new topics posts until they reach the vassal rank (10 posts)

Fixed it for ya. You can all thank me later

[xboxtravis7992]

It's happening again in General Discussion. It used to be the spammers were only attacking at midnight, but now it is a 24/7 occurance.

[Junior Shark]

Yep, we got another mid-day wave in General Discussion. Repel boarders!

Edited March 18, 2016 by Junior Shark

[Captain Nemo]

We're under attack! Save us oh great Poseidon!

[Junior Shark]

Gentlemen, it has been a privilege playing with you tonight.