Spam and Spammers

[mrodriguez4829]

So, it seems like that our website has been getting a lot of new members that are computer programs wanting to slow traffic on the servers.

so if you see someone new and you look at their profile has the following:

1) http://www.google.com/search?q=XRumer (program for spam)
2) The new member(s) fav. rollercoaster is 123456
3) The university currently attending is "Man"

Lets keep an eye-out and help spotting these fake users.

As a former network administrator, these programs are troublesome!

[mrodriguez4829]

Ok so here is an update. Did a search in the "Member Directory" and found at least two suspicious users. ICQ Messenger has become popular for spam programs!

[mrodriguez4829]

Ok, so I've been researching the net for spam automated software and found that our newest member English Warman registered at:

http://www.honda-tech.com/member.php?u=999636904
http://wirednewyork.com/forum/member.php?u=22216
http://www.straightrazorplace.com/forums/members/englishwarman.html
http://www.thebubbler.com/forums/members/englishwarman.html (BANNED!)
http://forum.globalsecurity.org/member.php?u=217 (BANNED!)

And there are 770 search results for this user.
User joined other forums on April 13, 2009

[Brandon]

This has long been a vulnerability with vBulletin that is constantly evolving with each new update. Luckily the bots do not pose a problem unless they post. And then, it is easy to ban and remove all of their posts in one click.

A few months back I instituted tougher captcha and registration requirements, but it appears to have no effect now. I have done a little research and have added a custom field requirement to the registration page that *should* stop the bots. At least other vB users have had luck with it, so we'll see.

I've banned the account you mentioned. Please feel free to PM me the names of other users who you suspect to be bots and I will remove their accounts. I truly appreciate the concern.

[mrodriguez4829]

:DSite Update! :D

Checked earlier this morning around 8:30am and found only 1 problem. Everything seems OK on the "Member List"!

:)I will continue to monitor the "New Member Spam" accounts.:)

[GravyDavey]

Yeah--a good way to catch them is to always check the New Posts whenever
possible. I used to have a website where I had to watch the spambots like a hawk--they love to post all kinds of commercial stuff on guestbooks.

[mrodriguez4829]

The easiest way to catch them is to check their Interests. Most of them can't read what the profile questions are so they just add information in there.

I never knew a roller coaster or theme park to be named 123456. Or the location to be Man.

[mrodriguez4829]

***GOING TO POST AN (unoffical) APB (All Points Bulletin)***

User name: SLIMKNYZER
Join Date: 03/08/2008
Status: Possibly Inactive

Ran a search on Google and found this user to be connected to other vBulletin forums such as LapBand, Tundra Owners, Yahoo! Answers, etc.


This user has posted topics on other forums that falls in the categories of either Human or Electronic.

So far, none have appeared on SFFTnet.com


Any users who see posts related to this user which can be questionable are asked to please contact me or PM Brandon. :)



Lets help keep this site spam free and human exclusive

[sfft_2108]

Wow, some working you are doing. Keep it up...

[Arizonaguy]

I'm going to go out and say anyone who has concerns with spam should contact Brandon, Stacy, Jimmy, or James since they are forum staff. No reason to contact a forum member if we can just send our concerns to a staff member.

I'm also going to go out on a limb here and say that these "spam" messages seem to be more of a nuisance than the spambots themselves. If you see a post that is "out of the ordinary" and has links in it.....don't click the link. The staff will catch it and get rid of it.

Just my 2 cents
*plink plink*

[mrodriguez4829]

Last time I help out!

Its funny... all you try to do is help and you get blasted by others. Reminds me of my director at work... Everything is negative and no positive.

Yea I may not be an administrator, but all I'm trying to do is help out.

Man, union stage labor is nicer than what I've seen here.

[mrodriguez4829]

Oh and you're opinions mean absolutely nothing to me. In fact, those opinions might as well be pennies. Worthless! Oh wait... *Plink plink* "My two cents" Hmm, those are worthless already!

I'm done complaining!

[Arizonaguy]

Oh and you're opinions mean absolutely nothing to me. In fact, those opinions might as well be pennies. Worthless! Oh wait... *Plink plink* "My two cents" Hmm, those are worthless already!

I'm done complaining!


My opinions obviously mean something to you considering you took time to respond to my post.

Sorry if I offended you but I just figured it was pointless for anyone to message a you (non staff member) to report spam when they could just send a message to Brandon, Stacy, Jimmy, or James (staff members). Furthermore, I never asked you to stop doing what you were doing.

I would have sent you a private message to respond to this post but since you have disabled Private Messages (at least for now), this is the only way I can respond.

*plink, plink* :cool:

[Brandon]

Nothing to worry about. I appreciate the help, Michael. If you see any suspicious accounts, send me or any of the other staff a PM and we'll look into it. It's not really a big problem, so don't worry about searching the forum roster for those kinds of accounts and the like. If we miss or haven't gotten to a spam post yet, just hit the "Report Post" triangle in the top right of the post... that way we get a notification and it will be taken care of asap. That is actually the easiest way to take care of spam. If there's anything else we can do, please send me or any of the staff a PM and we'll see to it.

Thanks,
Brandon