Spammers posting even though spam phrases set up?

[oldford]

I've had a couple of spammers lately posting using Chinese characters. So I added several of these characters to the "spam phrases" setting.

I used a test account to try posting messages with those characters and the posts go into moderation, just as they are supposed to.

Then tonight I had a spammer post 20 messages all using those same characters. The "spam phrases" setting did not put their posts into moderation.

So I went back to my test account and tried posting a message with exactly the same subject and content as the most recent spam. It was put into moderation, just as it's supposed to be.

How can the "spam phrases" setting work perfectly against my test post, but doesn't moderate 20+ messages from this spammer?

 

[Paul B]

What is this set to?



Had the account made any posts which didn't include spam phrases?

I use this on my site - it stops all spam from being public: https://xenforo.com/docs/xf2/groups-permissions/#an-example-promotion

 

[oldford]

That setting was at 5. I bumped it up to 20.

But the spammers first 5 posts were not moderated. All of them were made public.

I'd prefer not to moderate every member, but will use that if I have to.

 

[Paul B]

If they weren't moderated then either the account has the bypass spam check permission, or the content didn't trigger the spam phrases.

 

[oldford]

I'm at a loss then. The spammer account has the "bypass spam check" set to "no" and the content they posted is in the "spam phrases". I copied and pasted their exact message using a test account and that post did trigger the spam phrases.

Screen shot below of the spammers "analyze permissions" results.

 

[Xon]

Do you have tapatalk's add-on installed? This often bypasses core XenForo functionality.

 

[Max Taxable]

Do you have tapatalk's add-on installed? This often bypasses core XenForo functionality.

IF one allows registration through the TT app, yes. BUT if you use the force native registration option, no. And last I knew, in-app registration is default upon TT install.

Definitely needs checked out.

 

[oldford]

Good thought. I do have the Tapatalk addon installed, but I have "in-app registration" set to off.

 

[Max Taxable]

Good thought. I do have the Tapatalk addon installed, but I have "in-app registration" set to off.

Humor me by disabling TT for awhile, and let's see if the nonsense stops?

 

[oldford]

Max, I appreciate the help. I made a few other changes and want to give them a chance to work before turning off Tapatalk. A lot of my members use it daily, so turning it off will be noticeable.

I'll post back if any other spammers make it through.

 

[Max Taxable]

I made a few other changes and want to give them a chance to work before turning off Tapatalk. A lot of my members use it daily, so turning it off will be noticeable

Totally understand. I've found over the years that TT users really hate having to use their browsers. And with a lot of them, losing it even for a short time will be problematic.