Testing captcha in forums to reduce spam

Post by **Mastertrek** » Thu Jan 20, 2022 8:52 pm

[quote=41517]

Mastertrek wrote:
I have just deleted first (to my knowledge) spam post inside a real topic. These may get unnoticed so I hope they won’t show up in comments, but if they do (and are not taken care of quickly) please report their existence.

I’m only reporting spam half the time I visit the forums now, before it was everyday ?

Also – there’s more spam on the forums to be taken care of.

[/quote]

I'm trying to find all spam posts made recently (may be easy for some people, but not for me).

I used to be here every day, but I moved on for a while, returned and will try to be more active with removing SPAM posts. I apologize for not being online 24/7 to remove any of these posts whenever they appear.

I don't get notifications from "Report", only @msg-commander does.

Post by **jesusalva** » Fri Jan 21, 2022 4:02 am

[quote=41545]

I apologize for not being online 24/7 to remove any of these posts whenever they appear.

[/quote]

Only bots can be online 24/7; I guess that proves you're not a bot and, therefore, is allowed to post here

Post by **Mastertrek** » Fri Jan 21, 2022 4:11 am

[quote=41547]

Mastertrek wrote:
I apologize for not being online 24/7 to remove any of these posts whenever they appear.
Only bots can be online 24/7; I guess that proves you’re not a bot and, therefore, is allowed to post here ?

[/quote]

Well, I guess it's the only proof, captcha seems to not work very well seeing these posts appear after it was put in place.

Victar · Post by **Victar** » Fri Jan 21, 2022 4:53 am

I think the captcha is having some effect, because I remember the bots getting really frequent right before it was added.

Post by **jesusalva** » Fri Jan 21, 2022 6:35 am

There's actually a trick

https://www.rpginsanity.com/forums/?feed=atom

Install a RSS Reader on your phone and add it; Then you'll get notified every post or reply or topic.

Configure it properly, and you can catch spam faster. I kinda stopped using these RSS tricks after installing SFS, but it seems to work and who knows, might be useful even if it's not spam

Post by **Mastertrek** » Fri Jan 21, 2022 7:42 am

[quote=41549]

I think the captcha is having some effect, because I remember the bots getting really frequent right before it was added.

[/quote]

True. A spam topic every minute for half a day, every day. Dark times.

Victar · Post by **Victar** » Sat Jan 22, 2022 4:02 pm

It looks like once a singe bot gets itself registered, it repeatedly tries to randomly break through the captcha until it's banned, and succeeds maybe 1-3 times an hour.

Post by **shram86** » Sun Jan 23, 2022 12:51 am

Is there a way to tell where they are being redirected from? We are sharing RPGInsanity links in the Discord and I would feel terrible if a spider crawled in through there.

Post by **jesusalva** » Sun Jan 23, 2022 1:57 am

[quote=41566]

Is there a way to tell where they are being redirected from? We are sharing RPGInsanity links in the Discord and I would feel terrible if a spider crawled in through there.

[/quote]

To be honest, I would insist in installing Stop Forum Spam plugin... And not worrying with were they come from, bots will always find a way even if they need dark web lists for that, but normal users will need legit sharing.

So not sharing the forum wouldn't help too much with spam bots, at least not as much as harm us.

The risk of a shared link bringing a spam bot... Is a risk that site administration must take if they want to keep it running and alive ^^

Post by **Mastertrek** » Sun Jan 23, 2022 2:49 am

[quote=41566]

Is there a way to tell where they are being redirected from? We are sharing RPGInsanity links in the Discord and I would feel terrible if a spider crawled in through there.

[/quote]

Off-topic: I have no idea how I found this site myself (most likely I found it while searching for tips on KEMCO game, it was a good decision).

Bots probably scan and "attack" all sites, whichever site has weak spots they will go in and SPAM it with posts or comments. It's not impossible that bots would find our beloved site through links made at other sites, but the most likely scenario is that bots already knew this site exists and "occasionally" SPAM.

Side note: I don't know how many real users are here, but most people that ever posted here made no more than a few comments, most likely asking once about a given game. Only a select few did more than 100 comments in total.

I really hope @msg-commander finds a way to remove any attemppts to SPAM from bots.