DVD Talk Forum - Blocking spam

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Nick Danger

02-23-19 08:06 AM

Blocking spam

I've seen a lot of spam posts lately with the link as the thread title. Can the forum be set up to block posts with http:// and https:// in the thread titles?

It isn't used very much otherwise. The last legitimate post with that combination of characters in the title was in 2012.

E Unit

02-23-19 08:15 AM

Re: Blocking spam

Hell, block any post uses http. That should hopefully stop most, if not all.

IDrinkMolson

02-23-19 08:28 AM

Re: Blocking spam

There's talk about this in the Upgrade Master thread. In that, new members shouldn't be able to create a new thread without X number of posts first.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Noonan (Post 13500542)

Following up. Could we re-instate the post requirement before being able to start threads? More spam from 1 post members today.

Quote:

Originally Posted by IBJoel (Post 13501395)

OK, I believe I fixed it, but let me know if not.

EDIT: Also just IP-banned a good chunk of spammers from India.

Meathead

02-23-19 08:38 AM

Re: Blocking spam

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick Danger (Post 13505482)

Quote:

Originally Posted by IBJoel (Post 13490233)

I'll see what we can do. I don't think we can specifically ban key phrases in thread titles, but we can ban users from posting links/images until they have X # of posts.

That was the response when I asked the same question a month ago in the upgrade master thread.

If anything has been done on IB's end (blocking new users from posting links/images/until # of posts) to cut down on the spam it hasn't helped one bit.

Adam Tyner

02-23-19 07:12 PM

Re: Blocking spam

Controversially, if I had to choose, I'd rather the spam be in new, obvious threads that are easy to spot and remove, versus them necro-bumping random threads with spammy replies. Of course, I'd rather not have any spam at all. :p

The Cow

02-23-19 08:03 PM

Re: Blocking spam

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adam Tyner (Post 13505800)

Of course, I'd rather not have any spam at all. :p

None, really? Out of all of these flavors? :consume:

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/dvdtalk...6c2d414a84.jpg

Nick Danger

02-24-19 10:53 AM

Re: Blocking spam

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adam Tyner (Post 13505800)

There is that. I get up at 4 AM on Saturday mornings for work, and I report the obvious spam. These ones are super obvious.

Dan	02-24-19 08:03 PM

Re: Blocking spam

When was the last time a "Cool New Member" had anything worthwhile to say anyway? I say the admins should block anyone from posting if their account is newer than, say, Feb 13, 2005.

VinVega

02-25-19 10:15 AM

Re: Blocking spam

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dan (Post 13506260)

When was the last time a "Cool New Member" had anything worthwhile to say anyway? I say the admins should block anyone from posting if their account is newer than, say, Feb 13, 2005.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/dvdtalk...84b7b47059.gif

IB_Villalobos

02-25-19 01:13 PM

Re: Blocking spam

This looks like something beyond admin control, we will go ahead and surface this to the tech team and try and work out a solution!

Noonan

02-25-19 01:16 PM

Re: Blocking spam

Quote:

Originally Posted by IB_Villalobos (Post 13506747)

This looks like something beyond admin control, we will go ahead and surface this to the tech team and try and work out a solution!

See my post in the Jan 3rd Upgrade thread. We're seeing more of these because new members have no post requirement before being able to start new threads. Any bot can sign up and start posting spam threads asap. Before the upgrade, there was a post requirement to be able to start a thread.

IB_Villalobos

02-25-19 01:22 PM

Re: Blocking spam

I understand, Adam raises a good point about the spam being obvious versus difficult to find. We are going to try to fix both of those problems.

VinVega

02-26-19 04:49 PM

Re: Blocking spam

Adam has a script in place that may take care of a good portion of the Spammers. We will see how it goes.

andicus

02-27-19 12:13 AM

Re: Blocking spam

Unfortunately, it didn't catch this one: https://forum.dvdtalk.com/dvd-bargai...-diet-%2A.html

Adam Tyner

02-27-19 03:38 AM

Re: Blocking spam

It did automatically ban him, though! He registered, confirmed his email, and posted in less than 60 seconds, so it was too fast for my script to catch him in time. (I say “him”, but it was obviously a bot.)

l’ll adjust things in the morning so it’ll remove threads like that too.

What I coded is a starting point, so it won’t get everything, but it does seem to be doing a good job keeping the numbers down significantly.

Adam Tyner

02-27-19 07:30 AM

Re: Blocking spam

Okay, spam with links and/or a certain keyword in the title will automatically be archived.

andicus

02-27-19 08:09 AM

Re: Blocking spam

Ah, well done, then!

Wolf359

08-02-20 03:43 PM

Re: Blocking spam

I recommended this place to a friend but two posts a day from new members?! So it takes a minimum of two weeks to really be able to feel welcome and involved? The site is dying and that seems really excessive.

Koby	08-02-20 07:25 PM

Re: Blocking spam

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wolf359 (Post 13782689)

Yeah, I stopped inviting people because everyone I got to join would see something like this and decide it's not worth the trouble.

IBJoel

08-03-20 10:01 AM

Re: Blocking spam

I personally think we could be able to lift this rule, but I'll discuss with the mods to make sure I'm not off-base.

Wolf359

08-09-20 08:56 AM

Re: Blocking spam

So nothings been done yet?

IBJoel

08-10-20 02:12 PM

Re: Blocking spam

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wolf359 (Post 13786220)

So nothings been done yet?

Just upped the posting limit. Keep in mind I let it sit for a few days for moderator discussion and then I'm not in on weekends.

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