XF 2.3 "About You" Spam method

[CedricV]

I've noticed a few registrations lately "abusing" the about you section. They insert a link to whatever page they want to promote.






Is there a method to remove the ability to link in the about you? Or set some kind of restriction?

TIA.

 

[Paul B]

You can restrict profile editing for new members.

Personally I find it very useful for identifying spammers via the user change log.

 

[CedricV]

Personally I find it very useful for identifying spammers via the user change log.

Hmm, that does make a good point. Where the restrictions may work on nerves of legitimate members.

Thanks.

 

[mjda]

Personally I find it very useful for identifying spammers via the user change log.

This is exactly what I do. I check that log multiple times per week. I just wish there was a way to filter by field name. Unfortunately, when someone posted that suggestion it was closed to lack of interest.

 

[jeb35]

Uhm, this has been going on for years. One of the best ways to detect spam lol

 

[leebo]

We saw this same issue for some time and gave up on Xenforo fixing it. We ask that new users insert certain details inside of profile areas so blocking profile editing wasn't an option for our site. We have found that the signup abuse detection and blocking created by Xon has helped a MASSIVE amount in stopping this issue, and we honestly don't see any Spam in these fields anymore......

 

[MentaL]

Bypass "nofollow" in submitted content links


dont allow them any referral traffic.

 

[FoP]

Personally I find it very useful for identifying spammers via the user change log.

I do the same. Caught quite a number of them this way.

I also have this spam phrase added to Spam Management that flags external links. I’ve set it for the first 5 posts of a new member. Works like a charm. Posts caught in the filter need manual approval.

/https?:|www\.|[a-zA-Z0-9._%+-]+@[a-zA-Z0-9.-]+\.[a-zA-Z]{2,}/i

One thing that this spam phrase is especially great for is detecting external links hidden in a period or comma. Apparently this is done for the crawling robots to pick up the link. So it’s like a spammer’s SEO tool.