Possible Spambot Sightings

On another forum I go to, spambots don't usually post if they get discovered. So maybe it works this way here as well.

Possible spmabot: http://www.cavestory.org/forums/

 

http://www.cavestory.org/forums/

 

If spambots were smart they could atleast use names instead of randomly generated letters

http://www.cavestory.org/forums/
http://www.cavestory.org/forums/
http://www.cavestory.org/forums/
http://www.cavestory.org/forums/391
http://www.cavestory.org/forums/
http://www.cavestory.org/forums/

 

If all these are real usernames, I couldn't imagine the kind of war that'll begin.

 

Use "find all posts by this user" to help find out if that member is a spambot. postcount does not count for "satellite lounge" posts so you need to check yourself. Also check the "additional information" box, name, sig and avatar.

http://www.cavestory.org/forums/
http://www.cavestory.org/forums/
http://www.cavestory.org/forums/
http://www.cavestory.org/forums/
http://www.cavestory.org/forums/
http://www.cavestory.org/forums/
http://www.cavestory.org/forums/306
http://www.cavestory.org/forums/
http://www.cavestory.org/forums/

If they are real users then why have they not posted? Also they deserve it for having such stupid usernames.

 

Is it possible to have the boards terminate automatically an account if it still has 0 posts after, say, a week? Seems to me this would quickly cut back on spambots, and a week is long enough a delay to post if you're ever gonna post, IMO. Could be two, I dunno.

I doubt the forums have that option, and figure it would take some board scripting, but it's worth asking.

Edit: Oh yeah. Sattelite lounge posts. Still, I dunno, maybe some kind of flag gets set regardless of where you post. Seems less likely to work with that in mind, though. ;P

 

Is it possible to have the boards terminate automatically an account if it still has 0 posts after, say, a week? Seems to me this would quickly cut back on spambots, and a week is long enough a delay to post if you're ever gonna post, IMO. Could be two, I dunno.

I doubt the forums have that option, and figure it would take some board scripting, but it's worth asking.

Edit: Oh yeah. Sattelite lounge posts. Still, I dunno, maybe some kind of flag gets set regardless of where you post. Seems less likely to work with that in mind, though. ;P

A flag is most likely not set, but a number can be retrieved with a simple SQL query counting the number of results from pulling up every non-deleted post made by that user. Probably simpler than the one that grabs your postcount minus satellite lounge posts.

Too bad I learnt Coldfusion instead of PHP. I know the mechanics behind PHP, just not the language.

Oh and to answer your question, it is possible.

 

Probably simpler than the one that grabs your postcount minus satellite lounge posts.

Hmm, now I'm confused. Don't satellite lounge posts not increase your post count?

Either way, you get the basic idea.

 

Hmm, now I'm confused. Don't satellite lounge posts not increase your post count?

Either way, you get the basic idea.

It grabs a list all the posts for that user from a database minus the satellite lounge posts, then it counts the posts.

All it takes to get a postcount that includes satellite lounge posts (true postcount) is to copy that query and change it to not remove satellite lounge posts.

Setting up the forum to delete these posts will be the more difficult part.

 

Here:

http://miraigamer.net/forums/member.php?u=5563

I'm sure all of those are bots because a real person wouldn't type random characters for username and even if he did we'd know he's real by comparing the username with the keys' position on the QWERTY keyboard.

 

When they get found out they don't post

I was right

 

This has become a reasoning skill training ground.

What I noticed was Rune doesn't frequently check his postcount.

 

What I noticed was Rune doesn't frequently check his postcount.

...Holy crap, since when has that been there?

 

I didn't get it

 

When they get found out they don't post

I was right

Can't be sure, I'd seen a ton of randomly generated usernames having registered before this thing was made but they never posted. Dunno why, though.

 

http://miraigamer.net/forums/member.php?u=5634

 

http://miraigamer.net/forums/member.php?u=5593

It is definitely a spambot, it made a spambot thread in the zelda3c forums.

 

Why do they always make pr0n spam?!

Sex sells. And the internet is packed with it.

If spambots like these are still around forums, it's because people are still dumb enough to fall for them. All's it takes is one click - some people get curious, think they found something good, and sign up - so spambots just post that shit all over the place. The more forums they post to, the greater the odds of someone clicking the link, the better the chances of them getting people to sign up for their "free" gerbil porn or to buy their herbal viagra.

...By the way, they censor the gerbils unless you pay a monthly fee anyway. Don't fall for that one like I did. :/

 

http://miraigamer.net/forums/member.php?u=6577
http://miraigamer.net/forums/member.php?u=6578
http://miraigamer.net/forums/member.php?u=6579

 

Okay guys, we have a total of 669 different members with 0 posts to their name. The vast majority of them seem to be spambots. This is quickly becoming a problem.

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