XF 1.3 VERY odd SPAM sign up issue?

[Okenyon]

Hey all, so yesterday I started receiving emails that people can't sign up due to a "spam" issue on the sign up page. Saying they are being flagged or something?

I checked the spam trigger and its here, whats going on and how do I resolve this quickly please?

 

[Paul B]

Adjust your spam settings accordingly.



Or disable it if you wish.

 

[Okenyon]

Why would this suddenly happen tho?

 

[Mike]

A lot of those have a wide range of entries, so they do seem like spammers. Otherwise, it's really hard to say. It may certainly not be "all" users, but it definitely looks like your anti-spam settings were set very tight (reject on 1 flag requiring 1 or more sightings; the default for rejection is 3 flags requiring 5+ sightings).

 

[Okenyon]

@Mike @Brogan having made the changes to the suggested above I woke up to 3 SPAM threads on the forums from 3 new members.

Not sure what they should be set at?

 

[Paul B]

You will need to adjust them to suit, based on how spammers target your site.

Consider adding spam phrases and/or moderating posts from new members.

 

[Okenyon]

Getting a lot of these:



Whats the best settings to do that?

 

[Okenyon]

Any help guys? @Brogan @Mike

 

[Paul B]

I can't offer any more help than I already have.

You will need to utilise the features available and set up the various options accordingly.

 

[Okenyon]

Ok thanks, still having big issues with spammers.

How should I start to edit these? What should I be changing? @Brogan

 

[Mike]

Spam phrases are really the most you can do, unless you want to start identifying unique IP ranges they use and banning large swathes. You would need to identify words they use that others don't and then block their posts.

Or move to a system where you moderate initial posts.

 

[Okenyon]

Thanks @Mike but that doesn't stop them signing up right? Therefore adding bots to my user count and not to mention emailing them newsletters etc which all costs.

 

[Martok]

Thanks @Mike but that doesn't stop them signing up right? Therefore adding bots to my user count and not to mention emailing them newsletters etc which all costs.

You are moderating them. That means when a new user posts, you determine if they are a spammer or not. If they are not, once you have moderated 5 posts (or whatever limit you set) they will be free to post without moderation. If you do determine that they are a spammer, you don't approve the posts and you ban the spammer/delete the account etc. They won't get email newsletters sent to them.

 

[Mike]

It doesn't stop them from signing up, no. The spammers you're seeing are likely humans (despite how their messages may look), so there's only so much you can do to pre-emptively stop them from registering.

 

[Okenyon]

Thanks guys, adding keywords now.

Also lots are coming from ovi.com is it possible to block that email providers addresses? @Mike @Brogan

 

[Mike]

You can ban email address in the control panel.

 

[Okenyon]

Can I prevent anyone with a @ovi.com email registering and how? @Mike

 

[Paul B]

 

[Okenyon]

Sorry @Brogan - where exactly would i see this option?

 

[Paul B]

ACP Search is very useful.