Subject: Phorum and spam
Thought I'd comment on spam just in case there's interest. (jg - you might already know this stuff - if so, take no offense)
This forum is becoming a spam target. Once identified as such it will get worse. Other Phorum-brand boards have hit the hundred-spams-a-day mark.
This particular publicity company (above message) is also spamming via ICQ and has been spamming with this message for several months. Point being, this numerical address is being zeroed in. After, which, a couple things can be done.
They use a bot which scans the posts here, registers and then sends them. Spam on this board have been coming from a multiple registrant service using Russian servers (a common onlne source of registration-spam-bots).
Taking a guess at current toggles; the easiest solutions at this juncture:
-Change registration. (In Phorum Admin>General Settings, change "Registration Verification" to "Verify via email"). -On this particular machine I can't tell if this might already be toggled.-
OR
-Use the graphic registration number (they can't see it).
-anything from a dot ru is put on the censor list. If anybody actually from Russia wants on the board they can be put on manually.
-Phorum upgrade (v5 and up) - will be needed eventually anyway
btw- bots know when we've looked at their spam (some even infect the server itself) and when you open their messages (or much worse, follow their links) they see that as a 'positive click' and respond by generating more spam. This is one reason their posts should be deleted. Looks like bots can see that this board talks about:
a)books/Amazon
b) words associated with sex (this is one reason for toggling-off the allowance of four-lettered words - to prevent spam - and why it's sometimes better to write 'fock' and 'shite')
c)music topics themselves might be a target with newer bots that have learned to associate it with sex. Better than being targeted for balding or masculine shortcomings....
Post Edited (07-24-06 21:45)
