New Spam Protection for the Forum

[[Co...]]

Hi all,

 

We've had our own (very individual) spam protection measures in place for some time now. Our system has worked very well as you will have noticed from the complete lack of spam at our forum. I recently added some code modifications to the forum software which curtailed spammer activity even further (less offensive spam for the team to deal with through the Membership Approval System), but this did little to prevent our membership list from becoming further clogged up with fake accounts from spammers.

 

I've now added yet another layer of protection that will severely curtail the ability of spammers from being able to even register at this forum. It also allows us to check back through the membership list for fake/spam accounts that never made it anywhere, but remain in the membership list. There are thousands of these accounts - the vast majority have been created since the end of last year. Anyway, I have just started through the semi-automated process of identifying and deleting these fake accounts. I will finish the operation tomorrow. This will result in a few thousand accounts being deleted. I thought you all might like to know what's happening in case you noticed the number of registered members dropping.

 

It is possible that a very small number of genuine accounts are deleted in the process (false positives). However, if this does occur, it should only affect a few of those that have never posted to the forum. And, they can re-register, using the same name if they so wish. If this should occur to a member you know, you might like to explain to them what has occurred, why, and that they are most welcome to re-register.

 

Thank you.

[[le...]]

Colin...thank you so much for all that you do to keep this a safe place for people seeking support and encouragement.  I truly appreciate all of your efforts. 

 

~Leena

[[Ki...]]

I second that! 

 

Thank you, Colin! 

[[dr...]]

Well done!!! 

[[st...]]

 

Patty  xo

[Guest [Si...]]

Thank You.

 

 

[[Co...]]

Hi,

 

I've removed more than 4,000 accounts today. There are a couple of hundred accounts that still require further inspection before I decide to delete or let them progress through the approval system. I've removed all the more obvious spam accounts. I also deleted 1-2,000 accounts a few weeks ago. The spam accounts help swell the forum numbers, but they crap-up the membership list with rubbish. We have pretty active forum, so I think we can manage perfectly well without an artificially swollen membership count. Until relatively recently, 99% of our membership were genuine accounts. I hope to return those kind of figures with the next day or two.