Welcome to Writers Talkback. If you are a new user, your account will have to be approved manually to prevent spam. Please bear with us in the meantime

Spam

13

Comments

  • No, but if you suggest to Webbo that he takes it offline, he may never get to release it. Be careful what you wish for.
  • Thankfully there's only one spam message at the moment- hope it stays quiet for the rest of the day/week/month/year. :D
  • One giveaway that new users are likely to be spammers is that their usernames almost always contain digits.
  • I'm beginning to wonder if this is just a spam blitz or a deliberate attack to try and make the forum unusable.
  • 24 new ones tonight so far
  • The end of Talkback as we know it!
  • We must not surrender!
  • I have added 'our' threads to my bookmarks on here and enter TB via that link so they're always up at the top.
  • Will do that BB. Thanks.
  • We could do that – if we want to scroll through what's now pages of spam to find tham and don't mind missing any new discussions.

    Wouldn't it be better for everyone to stop letting the spammers join? 
  • Good idea
  • Sorry to not be here yesterday.
    To answer a few points above: 
    I am banning every account that spam posts as soon as it posts. Yes they're obvious. 
    I've set new account registrations to be manually approval by an admin (me) and require email verification
    I've banned certain email domains from registering at all (the spam accounts tend to come from the same ones). 
    The forum was completely unchanged in the recent redesign. This spam flood is coincidental. 

    I'm putting every provided hurdle in the way to prevent the spam posts but there's either bugs in the system that spambots know or the hurdles don't work at all. New accounts are still being created, and allowed to post, without my approving them, and while banning the email domains works quite well for some, others are still getting through. I've appealed to higher powers for help. 
  • Thank you, Webbo.
  • God help me?
  • (But thank you so much for trying)
  • Looks like an uphill task, Webbo. When will you find time for editing!
  • Gosh. It's cleared atm. 

    Thanks Webbo. 
  • Thanks, Webbo.
  • Thanks Webbo. 
  • An hour later and still clear. 

    *gobsmacked*
  • Yes same here!
  • Great work, Webbo.
  • Just logged in again.

    How shiny and clean the place looks!

    I knew Webbo would look good in a pair of yellow Marigolds..
  • It looks like Webbo's tactics are working. 
  • It's actually working!!?  :o
  • Don't talk too soon - another spam post has slipped in under the radar.
  • Yes unfortunately the spambots have got together and figured out that there's one email domain I haven't blocked (actually the spam accounts use at least 3 that I haven't blocked, but the others have gone quiet). And I can't as it's one that real people use too. I'll keep manually whacking those for now and hope they don't breed
  • I understand Liz has an extra thick cucumber which what could possibly be used to plug an 'ole.  Ain't that right, Liz?
  • As they've suddenly come back they're obviously targeting the forum.
  • I do? Can't think where you got that info from, dora. It wasn't on one of the spam threads, was it? 

  • edited October 2019
    The spammer gits are back 🙁
  • They are!
  • edited October 2019
    I bet Webbo and Tam have wiped at a sweaty brow or two today.

    Let's hope your elastoplasts work through the night :) and we don't all wake up to lots of little spammie bot comments tomorrow morning.
    If we don't we could say

    It was all just a bad dream.
  • edited October 2019
    Oh no.  Half eleven and one has crept in again.
  • And there more now. 
  • It's definitely not as bad as it was, so maybe Webbo can work out how to block the stubborn ones now.
  • They are back!
  • It's the Russians! 😀
  • Usually is. Though I think other countries may be joining in...
  • I suspect they've searched and found Carol's Eurovision Song Contest comments. 
  • One good thing about this spam is I keep hearing the Python spam song and then start thinking about gorgeous Michael Palin.  Mmm. 😁
  • They've gone over onto page 2 again. 

    Wonder if these spammers have a topic list, so as one subject gets blocked they use the next sub-set...
  • LizLiz
    edited October 2019
    This info on that site looked most worth doing: 

    "We all know this weakness of Vanilla and other forums. See if this can help you. Look at the IP adresses country origin, do also check your analytics software and try to find out if the SPAM bots are coming from a certain country. The IP adresses will likely give you an answer if so. Then block this country's IP with in your .htaccess. It happens to me once in a while that I get attacks from Chile, Kasachstan or some African states. Let us know how it goes."


  • Wow.  

    On a clear day, rise and look around you ..
  • Held them off eh!?
Sign In or Register to comment.