Can't we do something about spam?

[Eric]

I noticed a huge amount of spamming tonight.  It's annoying, but, unfortunately, it happens, and our administrators have to spend all that time removing the posts and (hopefully) locking out those accounts.

That said, isn't there anything that can be done to prevent spam before it happens?  On some other message boards I've been to over the years, new accounts have to wait a pre-determined period of time before they're allowed to post.  This will discourage many spammers, since they want to get their "work" done as quickly as possible, not register, save the site address, and come back later to post all of their links.

[WeatherWitness]

I've already sent a couple of reports to the admins about this. Unfortunately, our administration team isn't active on the forums 24/7, and I certainly don't expect them to be. However, then sometimes we will have to deal with what is going on tonight. For some reason, the board is telling me that the profile of the member with Chinese/Japanese writing as his title doesn't exist.

So you two spammers, are you going to post here now? We're on to you.

[Eric]

I've already sent a couple of reports to the admins about this. Unfortunately, our administration team isn't active on the forums 24/7, and I certainly don't expect them to be.

I've sent some reports, too.  I actually exceeded the time limit for sending spam reports, so, after a couple, I figured the message would get across.  That, and the enormous number of new posts by two brand-new accounts will probably attract someone's attention.

However, then sometimes we will have to deal with what is going on tonight. For some reason, the profile of the member with Chinese/Japanese writing as his title doesn't exist.

Probably self-deleted already?  That account started the spamming, and then "autumn" continued it.

So you two spammers, are you going to post here now? We're on to you.

You write that like they care.    There's a difference between spammers and trolls. 

[gt1racerlHDl]

There are always spammers on every forum, there should be some kind of filter that could block them from accessing the forums.

[TWCToday]

It seems that SMF forums are once again being targeted. While all forums are suspects for spam there seems to be an increase in activity that is suspect for SMF forums. I have updated an extension to try and prevent spammers. Tougher restrictions on registration including admin approval made be needed. I am reluctant to pursue such methods because it usually is a turn off for new members. If this increased spamming occurs I will implement it. Please continue to report spammers. Note that simply reporting each individual username is sufficient rather than each post. The admin team can remove all posts made by a member. Thank you for your patience

[TWCToday]

There are always spammers on every forum, there should be some kind of filter that could block them from accessing the forums.

There are actually and we try to implement and keep it updated. There are extensions and mods that keep track of the IP addresses of spammers. It helps but obviously doesn't keep them all out

[Eric]

Thanks to the administrators for working to keep this forum as spam-free as possible! 

Just imagine my disappointment, though, when I saw so many new posts... just to realize that they were all worthless. 

[TWCToday]

Thanks to the administrators for working to keep this forum as spam-free as possible! 

Just imagine my disappointment, though, when I saw so many new posts... just to realize that they were all worthless. 

Something in particular about this latest round is interesting. The accounts were deleted making it really hard for me to remove the posts. Rather than just remove the account and all the posts at once I have to remove each individually. Please report anything I missed. Thanks guys

[Eric]

Something in particular about this latest round is interesting. The accounts were deleted making it really hard for me to remove the posts. Rather than just remove the account and all the posts at once I have to remove each individually. Please report anything I missed. Thanks guys

Oh, geez... the spammers are learning!!

[phw115wvwx]

I have deleted the Chinese/Japanese member.  You couldn't delete him by normal means as his username messed up the characters of the URL to his profile.  Every member gets a number upon registration just like when you "take a number" to get an order, so I used that method to delete it.  Martin, I've been trying to delete members, ban IP ranges, and delete posts when I can for months now!  I really would like the help as I can't spot and delete everything 24/7 as you've all noticed.

[WeatherWitness]

Thanks to the administrators for working to keep this forum as spam-free as possible! 

Just imagine my disappointment, though, when I saw so many new posts... just to realize that they were all worthless. 

Something in particular about this latest round is interesting. The accounts were deleted making it really hard for me to remove the posts. Rather than just remove the account and all the posts at once I have to remove each individually. Please report anything I missed. Thanks guys

I didn't think you could delete your own account...I wonder how they did this.

And thank you, Martin and Patrick, for taking care of this. I hope we didn't abuse the "report a post" function.

[phw115wvwx]

I didn't think you could delete your own account...I wonder how they did this.

And thank you, Martin and Patrick, for taking care of this. I hope we didn't abuse the "report a post" function.

Yes, you can delete your own account if you access your forum profile and find the right menu option.  However, that wasn't the case with this Chinese/Japanese member tonight.  His username garbled the URL to his profile to where none of our English computers could figure out the link to access it.  So, it appeared he was deleted, but the reality was that we couldn't access him and got an error message instead.  You had to use the number idea I mentioned above.

Reporting spam is perfectly okay, and I ask everyone to continue it for attacks like this one.  I've cleaned up the last of the spam from tonight now.

[TWCToday]

I have deleted the Chinese/Japanese member.  You couldn't delete him by normal means as his username messed up the characters of the URL to his profile.  Every member gets a number upon registration just like when you "take a number" to get an order, so I used that method to delete it.  Martin, I've been trying to delete members, ban IP ranges, and delete posts when I can for months now!  I really would like the help as I can't spot and delete everything 24/7 as you've all noticed.

Patrick has been doing an amazing job! Hopefully the extension I updated will help out as well. I didn't even think about the Chinese characters and the url. *"D'oh!*

[twcfan68]

Spammers? To be honest, I'm not seeing a lot of them at all. I don't usually check here constantly, but I'd say the admins are doing a pretty good job to me at keeping the spammers at bay. One or two are nothing compared to the spammer pandemonium at another forums I used to visit.

[Eric]

Spammers? To be honest, I'm not seeing a lot of them at all. I don't usually check here constantly, but I'd say the admins are doing a pretty good job to me at keeping the spammers at bay. One or two are nothing compared to the spammer pandemonium at another forums I used to visit.

You're a few hours too late.  Late last night (Eastern time), we had dozens of spam messages for fake Gucci bags or something like that.