[jscowen]

Hi,

I am getting quite a few new members joining each day but they generally don't post anything - some may post a spam message but mostly nothing. The only thing I've noticed is that most use a .cn e-mail address.

I have email validaiton and capcha enabled so I don't think they are robots but just can't work out what's the point of joining and not doing anything.

Anyone else seen anything like this?

[Brandon Sheley]

What script are you using? if it's vBulletin, I know there are a few spam mods.

[jscowen]

It's vBulletin. I've recently installed "Prevent Spam" which automatically puts any posts containing a URL in to the moderation queue for users with less the x posts. I also put any user who posts spam in to a usergroup which is set to put all their posts in to moderation.

I don't really have a problem with the spam, it's a pain but I can handle that.

I am just confused why they sign-up and then don't do anything. Are they waiting 30 days to see if there is some spam mechanism that removes restrictions after 30 days of membership...?

[DrHarriman]

I've not been having much of a problem on my forums... every now and then I'll get a member or two manually posting Chinese propaganda, though.

[OS Master]

Well, a forum I mod at has had quite a few spam posts recently. They all have Russian IPs, but we also have e-mail validation and image verification enabled. We're looking into IP banning, but do you have any suggestions for spam mods loco.m?

[phiber]

I've noticed before that this type of account is used just to build link popularity for site via the accounts profile (if you allow users to list a link in their profile). You might want to look into that and make sure they are not posting bad links in their profile.

[ashiq88]

I am just confused why they sign-up and then don't do anything. Are they waiting 30 days to see if there is some spam mechanism that removes restrictions after 30 days of membership.

[jscowen]

Originally Posted by phiber

I've noticed before that this type of account is used just to build link popularity for site via the accounts profile (if you allow users to list a link in their profile). You might want to look into that and make sure they are not posting bad links in their profile.

Hadn't thought of that, the member list pages are crawlable. I thought you could be on to something but I checked and most don't have a URL. Could count for some of them thought.

Originally Posted by ashiq88

I am just confused why they sign-up and then don't do anything. Are they waiting 30 days to see if there is some spam mechanism that removes restrictions after 30 days of membership.

Haven't noticed that happening at all...

I've pretty much given up on trying to work it out. With Prevent Spam not much spam makes it through so it just runs my user count up. I think I will just prune the user list every now and again.

Since July 11, 2008 I've had 173 users join and still be on 0 posts. 71 never validated (email addresses vary).

It's very weird but so far its not causing a big problem, but if anyone finds a reason I'd love you hear it!

[angieskidney]

There are all types of spam. Some post innocent things (I have seen it) and you welcome them and they never post again .. but a month later they log in and change their signature to spam links and disappear again.

Other types use advanced spamming programs (bots) to repeat something similar they saw on either your forums or a similar one to look like a real person. Some seem to have no links but then embedded in their post is links (the period might be linkable for example). Those are just some reasons..

Also sometimes they don't post at all for awhile because they are testing out how secure your forums are. Sometimes they only need to be a member to exploit other parts of your forums (like a shoutbox or avatar upload they might upload php instead of an image).

[twhiting9275]

Wow, way to revive a thread that's over a year old

Spam signups, and spam in general are a huge problem to deal with.
There's a number of reasons someone might signup and not post though, if you think about it.

Downloading attachments? yeah, that's a big one
Viewing certain forums, another one

How to combat spam in general? There's a lot that can be done, especially with vbulletin. Look over @ vb.org for spam stuff, use akismet to filter out things, use captcha, use Q/A stuff @ signup. There really is a lot that can be done, but it just has to be done in moderation.