spammers are back

Undertoad · 10-01-2008, 10:42 PM

It appears pretty clear that they have "broken" the code for the CAPTCHA graphic that we use to prevent spam. Six spammers caught by moderation today.

I have added a new question to the registration questions:

What is four plus five?

They have to answer 9, or they can't register. The default is 2.

This may help prevent robots from filling out the registration.

Please let me know if you are required to fill this out in the user CP. I just did mine and I had to fill it out. This is not what the setting suggested.

SamIam · 10-01-2008, 10:56 PM

It made me answer the question when I went into my profile. Damned spammer.

xoxoxoBruce · 10-01-2008, 11:09 PM

I knocked off 4 Russians today.

It did let me go to my user cp, without a challenge, but probably because I'd already logged into the Mod area, earlier.

Undertoad · 10-01-2008, 11:11 PM

Damn. Well this is not what the setting suggested, so it must be broken, do y'all mind filling this out for the time being?

Or I can spend money on upgrading the software, which has a potential fix to this, before upgrading the hardware...

xoxoxoBruce · 10-01-2008, 11:14 PM

How often do people go to the user cp?

Clodfobble · 10-01-2008, 11:15 PM

It didn't bother me when I opened my User CP...

jinx · 10-01-2008, 11:17 PM

didn't ask me

xoxoxoBruce · 10-01-2008, 11:29 PM

vBulletin is smart, it knows who the shady ones are.

Undertoad · 10-01-2008, 11:31 PM

OK I did change another part of the settings which may have fixed the User CP asking this question.

lumberjim · 10-02-2008, 12:13 AM

when i went into my user cp,

.... it called me a cock.

xoxoxoBruce · 10-02-2008, 12:37 AM

And a fur salesman, with a spamming rap sheet a mile long, from Panama, claiming he was from Switzerland.

lumberjim · 10-02-2008, 12:41 AM

spamming rap sheet? euphemism, or .....?

Undertoad · 10-02-2008, 08:12 AM

The problem of having to answer this question in the User Profile is fixed.

The setting is helping. Glancing at the vBulletin support boards, we are in the company of many, many forums around the world.

xoxoxoBruce · 10-02-2008, 08:16 AM

Russia, Latvia, et al, seem to be making an effort to reclaim their place, after the surge from the Chinese... and one persistent prick from Panama.

gvidas · 08-12-2010, 06:44 PM

Interesting article about how spammers solve CAPTCHAs.

Quote:

But the inventors of CAPTCHAS probably didn't anticipate this: Hundreds, possibly thousands of laborers working for less than $50 a month to solve an endless stream of CAPTCHAS delivered to them by automated middlemen who sell the results to spammers in real time,[...]

[...]The system is so efficient at delivering CAPTCHAS to workers in these remote locales that the average time for delivery of a solution hovers around 20 seconds.

10-01-2008, 10:42 PM	#1
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	spammers are back It appears pretty clear that they have "broken" the code for the CAPTCHA graphic that we use to prevent spam. Six spammers caught by moderation today. I have added a new question to the registration questions: What is four plus five? They have to answer 9, or they can't register. The default is 2. This may help prevent robots from filling out the registration. Please let me know if you are required to fill this out in the user CP. I just did mine and I had to fill it out. This is not what the setting suggested.

10-01-2008, 11:09 PM	#3
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	I knocked off 4 Russians today. It did let me go to my user cp, without a challenge, but probably because I'd already logged into the Mod area, earlier. __________________ The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.

10-01-2008, 11:14 PM	#5
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	How often do people go to the user cp? __________________ The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.

10-01-2008, 11:15 PM	#6
Clodfobble UNDER CONDITIONAL MITIGATION Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 20,012	It didn't bother me when I opened my User CP... __________________ My book My other book My spirit animal

10-01-2008, 11:17 PM	#7
jinx Come on, cat. Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: general vicinity of Philadelphia area Posts: 7,013	didn't ask me __________________ Crying won't help you, praying won't do you no good.

10-01-2008, 10:56 PM	#2
SamIam Registered User Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Not here Posts: 2,655	It made me answer the question when I went into my profile. Damned spammer.

10-01-2008, 11:11 PM	#4
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	Damn. Well this is not what the setting suggested, so it must be broken, do y'all mind filling this out for the time being? Or I can spend money on upgrading the software, which has a potential fix to this, before upgrading the hardware...

10-01-2008, 11:29 PM	#8
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	vBulletin is smart, it knows who the shady ones are. __________________ The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.

10-01-2008, 11:31 PM	#9
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	OK I did change another part of the settings which may have fixed the User CP asking this question.

10-02-2008, 12:13 AM	#10
lumberjim I can hear my ears Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 25,571	when i went into my user cp, .... it called me a cock. __________________ This body holding me reminds me of my own mortality Embrace this moment, remember We are eternal, all this pain is an illusion ~MJKeenan

10-02-2008, 12:37 AM	#11
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	And a fur salesman, with a spamming rap sheet a mile long, from Panama, claiming he was from Switzerland. __________________ The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.

10-02-2008, 12:41 AM	#12
lumberjim I can hear my ears Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 25,571	spamming rap sheet? euphemism, or .....? __________________ This body holding me reminds me of my own mortality Embrace this moment, remember We are eternal, all this pain is an illusion ~MJKeenan

10-02-2008, 08:12 AM	#13
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	The problem of having to answer this question in the User Profile is fixed. The setting is helping. Glancing at the vBulletin support boards, we are in the company of many, many forums around the world.

10-02-2008, 08:16 AM	#14
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	Russia, Latvia, et al, seem to be making an effort to reclaim their place, after the surge from the Chinese... and one persistent prick from Panama. __________________ The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.

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