Thork

Bots
« on: December 07, 2013, 08:37:12 PM »
I see you guys are on top of the bots.

However there are a few 0 post accounts with no links that are likely bots as well.

drevko has 0 posts but we know that user although he chosen not to post yet. He was last active Today at some time.
But Jorhan Brimve Stahl who we have never heard of was last active "Never". If you have never been active, you are a bot. You've never read a single page of the forum.

You should be able to write a nice little script to sort this for you.
« Last Edit: December 07, 2013, 08:38:52 PM by Thork »

Re: Bots
« Reply #1 on: December 07, 2013, 08:38:49 PM »
The second person you referenced is also an account on the old site.  I'd assume they are the same person and not a bot.

Thork

Re: Bots
« Reply #2 on: December 07, 2013, 08:43:08 PM »
The second person you referenced is also an account on the old site.  I'd assume they are the same person and not a bot.
How can you be active Never? It means you haven't read a single post.

Could it be that the bot came to both sites, as unlikely as that sounds?

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Offline juner

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Re: Bots
« Reply #3 on: December 07, 2013, 08:44:36 PM »
The second person you referenced is also an account on the old site.  I'd assume they are the same person and not a bot.
How can you be active Never? It means you haven't read a single post.

Could it be that the bot came to both sites, as unlikely as that sounds?

He posted at the other site.

Re: Bots
« Reply #4 on: December 07, 2013, 08:44:52 PM »
That account has posted on the other site, maybe he registered when approval was still needed and hasn't finished logging in?  I'm not sure.

Thork

Re: Bots
« Reply #5 on: December 07, 2013, 08:45:19 PM »
Mmm. Oh, well. It was only a suggestion.  :-\

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Offline Pete Svarrior

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Re: Bots
« Reply #6 on: December 07, 2013, 08:46:27 PM »
We're using an SMF plugin that checks all registrations against a database of known spammers. So far, only one has slipped, and reports for him started flowing in today (one coming from me).

Before that, when we had to approve everyone manually, I tended to err on the side of not accidentally denying a legitimate member, so I let some of them slip - but we got rid of them asap. That said, I checked all accounts with 0 posts against this database and found no confirmed spambots. We shouldn't remove people's accounts just because they didn't decide to post. That'd be a dick move.

If we get a confirmed spambot that slips through the filter, we'll take care of them accordingly and make sure they get added to the DB, for the benefit of this site, and all others that use stopforumspam.com
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Offline juner

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Re: Bots
« Reply #7 on: December 07, 2013, 08:46:57 PM »
Mmm. Oh, well. It was only a suggestion.  :-\

A terrible one...

But yeah, I think it is okay right now.  It isn't like we are overrun.  Although, having a big number next to that total member count is nice, maybe moar bots.

Thork

Re: Bots
« Reply #8 on: December 07, 2013, 08:47:24 PM »
k. :(

this is when a thread should be locked.

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Offline Pete Svarrior

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Re: Bots
« Reply #9 on: December 07, 2013, 08:50:06 PM »
Just one more word of clarification: In case someone *does* get matched against the database, they get sent to us for manual approval. We had one false positive - emily - due to the username having been previously reported as spammer. Because of that we no longer verify usernames and focus on the e-mail used for registration and IP address.

Also, I get an e-mail saying that "masturbateur" tried to register several times a day. Thought you'd want to know.
Read the FAQ before asking your question - chances are we already addressed it.
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