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UK Kitchen Spam




Posted by Vegans, 07-17-2013, 05:01 AM
Anyone else getting attacked by this UK Kitchen Spam? ​ http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=8z2sY6ivAZc They are registering a hundred accounts a day and spamming us like crazy, completely destroying the vibe in our forums and costing us traffic and revenue. Please help, anyone?

Posted by BestServerSupport, 07-17-2013, 11:22 AM
I think this is applicable more for those who are using vBulletin. The best way is to report the spam as soon as you see it minimizes how long it's up for,

Posted by Ash, 07-17-2013, 11:38 AM
Probably the same as this one? http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=1271911

Posted by Vegans, 07-17-2013, 02:43 PM
Yes we are running a VBulletin forum and need to know how to stop the spambots from attacking our forums.

Posted by Vegans, 07-17-2013, 02:45 PM
Yes, exactly the same one.

Posted by Ash, 07-17-2013, 02:50 PM
What are you using right now? captcha? can people post links with one post etc? Anything common in their details? IP, email etc.

Posted by Vegans, 07-17-2013, 03:06 PM
We are using a plugin called AreYouAHuman that has a flash game you have to pass, prior to gaining access, since captcha wasn't working anymore. We got rid of all of the spambot that were attacking us before, then all of a sudden these guys start attacking us. Not sure if they are humans or not, but we have the plugin developer investigating with no luck as of yet. IP addresses change daily and it's been going on for about 5 months now, getting worse daily. Now they are up to a hundred registrations per day, it's driving us crazy.

Posted by Ash, 07-17-2013, 03:16 PM
That volume suggests bots, but it might not be. I've not looked at that plugin before and there might be ways to bypass it. It's interesting that it's the same plugin as the member in that other thread There are several things you could try to at least make it difficult enough for a while that they go somewhere else. Disable registration for free emails, require admin activation of new accounts, even put 'kitchen' in your word censor (assuming your forum isn't about kitchens ) From the searching I did as a result of that other thread they appear to be relentless, but make it difficult even for a few days and they will probably move on elsewhere. Edit - I'd change that plugin. Trying it just now, you can randomly click and drag across the screen until eventually you pass, there doesn't appear to be any consideration for the number of failed attempts. Last edited by Ash; 07-17-2013 at 03:28 PM.

Posted by Vegans, 07-17-2013, 04:05 PM
I am the same person as that other post, just forgot I posted it there and started a new thread. These things are not possible, as we have over 50,000 daily visitors and it would ruin our registration of members. We've been doing this since 1993 and history shows they want instant access and if they don't get it, they move on. Putting kitchen in our censor would create too many issues as many people discuss cooking things in the kitchen in our forums. We have a huge kitchen recipe area for our members. They've been at this for 5 months, not sure if they will however will consider this if nothing else works. Thank you. There is no replacement, either this, captcha that doesn't work or nothing. Working with VBulletin now to see if they can shed any light on this as well. Thank you so much for your valuable time and suggestions, we are truly grateful.

Posted by Ash, 07-17-2013, 04:30 PM
Doh! obviously I didn't notice I assume you've at least censored the specific domains as they appear? Search some of the IPs at stopforumspam.com, if a number of them are listed there is a vBulletin plugin that can deny registrations based on that database.

Posted by Vegans, 07-17-2013, 04:36 PM
They use several different urls, it's not about censoring the urls, it's about stopping them from getting in at all. Those spam plugins end up blocking legit registrations too, so they don;t work for us unfortunately. Already tried.

Posted by Ash, 07-17-2013, 04:46 PM
I get that, but when you are struggling to stop them getting in this could at least have them move on when they realise their posts are worthless. Stick all the urls they have used in there. Sure they can register more, but that has a cost and eventually that cost will outweigh the potential gain. Some methods will unfortunately annoy or turn away genuine members, but give them a way to contact you and be whitelisted if they are being rejected by spam measures. You'll still lose a few, but with that volume of spam you'll probably lose more if you don't do something.

Posted by RaptorNode, 07-17-2013, 05:13 PM
Happens to me all the time, Get about 2 calls a week from Indians, 20+ Emails a week between 10 Email Address's, Also even from logodesignteam.com Witch was a massive Joke there reasoning was because I emailed them about a soup logo.... Either way if I did email them they have no right to put me in there spam list. Last edited by CD Burnt; 07-19-2013 at 01:14 AM. Reason: unlink

Posted by Vegans, 07-17-2013, 05:21 PM
Just added all of these urls to the censored list and asked my team to find any I missed. kitchen-cheap.co.uk kitchenplanning1.co.uk kitchenunitssale.co.uk kitchen--cabinet.co.uk kitchensderby1.co.uk cheapkitchensyorkshire.co.uk diykitchens1.co.uk solidwoodkitchen.co.uk Thank you.

Posted by ransome, 07-17-2013, 05:26 PM
have u considered adding manual questions to the registration process & thread/replies creation to particular usergroups(based on post count)? You could control users from posting links, adding links in signatures & etc based on usergroup permissions. Its been more than an yr since I've last seen vB ACP, I'm not familiar with the current functionality which vB provides. I can take a look if you wish so (just pm me the details), we had a forum for over 5yrs which we sold last Feb, as neither me nor my partner had time to manage it.

Posted by Vegans, 07-17-2013, 05:30 PM
The AreYouAHuman plugin stopped all of those Indian spambots, these are different.

Posted by Vegans, 07-17-2013, 05:32 PM
I'm investigating what VBulletin has to offer now, going through support with them as we speak. Are you referring to a standard VB feature or a plugin that you know of?

Posted by ransome, 07-17-2013, 05:35 PM
Its a standard feature, the last which I remember was at least... in vb options, there should be an option to add manual questions to the verification system, which we had extensively used on our forum, which worked wonders. As, we used to change the questions once every week or so. We had 3 to 5 new questions every week, questions can be simple basic ones, which even an 5yr old could answer but no bot could solve them, as they are updated manually. we had serious spam issue for 2 or 3 months, when we tried almost all the free options available in the market & this was the only method which solved the issue up. The only thing is, old spammers need to be banned manually, as they might have already crossed the minimum post limit to bypass the verifications system.

Posted by Vegans, 07-17-2013, 10:27 PM
Just censored all of these! Usedkitchencabinets.co.uk Kitchenshowrooms1.co.uk Discountkitchens1.co.uk Fittedkitchen-1.co.uk Kitchendesign1.co.uk Cheapkitchens9.co.uk Kitchenworktops1.co.uk Kitchenunits9.co.uk 1kitchen.co.uk Kitchencabinetssale1.co.uk Kitchenrenovationideas.co.uk Kitchenssalemanchester.co.uk Budget--kitchen.co.uk < this has a double - between Budget and Kitchen Uk-fittedkitchen.co.uk Kitchenquotes1.co.uk Discountkitchensuk.co.uk Kitchensin1.co.uk Kitchenprices1.co.uk Kitchensdirect5.co.uk Mficlearancekitchens.com Kitchen--ideas.co.uk < this has a double - between Kitchen and Ideas Kitchenunits7.co.uk Uk-fittedkitchen.co.uk Designakitchen1.co.uk Kitchensforsale-1.co.uk Kitchen--quotes.co.uk < this has a double - between Kitchen and Quotes Designakitchen1.co.uk Lowcostkitchens-uk.co.uk Fittedkitchensale1.co.uk Fittedkitchenuk1.co.uk Cheap-kitchens.co.uk Small-kitchens.co.uk Uknewkitchens.co.uk Kitchenscream.co.uk Kitchendesighn1.co.uk Kitchensforsalemanchester.com Kitchenunits.co.uk Cheapkitchenunits1.co.uk kitchen-cheap.co.uk/ kitchenplanning1.co.uk/ kitchenunitssale.co.uk/ kitchen--cabinet.co.uk/ kitchensderby1.co.uk/ cheapkitchensyorkshire.co.uk/ diykitchens1.co.uk/ solidwoodkitchen.co.uk/ Last edited by CD Burnt; 07-19-2013 at 01:29 AM. Reason: unlinking

Posted by Vegans, 07-18-2013, 10:22 PM
So I took your advice and turned on the VB human verification, however it disabled the plugin I was using and now we've had 2,000 spambots register in the last 24 hours!

Posted by TmzHosting, 07-18-2013, 10:37 PM
When you enable human verification you must use hard questions. Once we enabled it the SPAM completely stopped on our forums. - Daniel

Posted by Vegans, 07-18-2013, 10:43 PM
Yeah that's the problem, coming up with a hard Q & A that everyone can understand, except spambots. Meanwhile we're wide open.

Posted by Vegans, 07-18-2013, 11:40 PM
Can the question include the answer or is that too easy for the spambots? Like... "Is the color of grass red or green?" ​or does it have to be something more like, "What is the color of grass?" answer "Green"



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