Spammers - more done to try and reduce them

[Crispin]

I'm sure you've all noticed the spamming folk are having a field day at the moment. There are several protections in place to try and thwart them but some do still get through.

Some new things I've added in to try and stop them:

• blocked certain countries - 9 in total - which do offer nothing other than spamming users.
• increased the sensitivity of bad-IP checks
  • sadly, inadvertently, some of you may get a "Are you human" challenge as your IP may once have been used by naughty people. It should not last long.

It's not bullet proof and some will still get through. These "funeral directors" and locksmith ones are actually happening from the company premises. 3 of them I traced yesterday to their offices in the USA.
For instances like this, it is always reactive and if you click on "Mark as Spam" then I get the alert and jump on it as soon as I can. In those instances, it will block their IP and they won't be able to return.

Any questions - please do shout.

 

[Shayne]

Perhaps less work for you if so many users block then the ip is blocked automatically ?

 

[Crispin]

I've also been thinking about that. I can't find a plug in to do it so will look at writing one.

Watch this space

 

[Towpack]

I'm just curious how you can block someone on a DHCP server where their IP address will change periodically or do you block a specific range of addresses?

 

[Crispin]

This is the issue which you can't really get around. Two main tactics. 1. Use Spamhaus which I do. When you or I report an ip as spam, they note it. Enough reports, they'll mark it as naughty for a period of time. When a new user signs up here, I check them first against Spamhaus. In the list? No go. This works well for most dynamic IP but has retrospective.

I also block networks known to countries. Cloudflare actually sits in front of the site and does not the hard work. Coming from Russia? You just get Access Denied page.

900ish unique IPs in the last 24 hours fall into this category.

Can you jump on a vpn based in Europe and continue to harass? Sure. Here's a screenshot of the naughty attempts probing the site for passwords, vulnerabilities etc. Naudics are a big vpn host. I could block those but so far they're not doing any damage.

 

[felix2566]

Appreciate your work in the background that non of us really see to keep the site decent and usable. Thanks

 

[Crispin]

Appreciate your work in the background that non of us really see to keep the site decent and usable. Thanks

No worries. I'm just stoked it's going all these years later.

Domain was bought Feb 2010 after "that other site" owner became a bit of a chop.
Cue 14 years on and 3 different versions... we're all still here with loads of new faces too

 

[felix2566]

It is nice that it's still an active forum. Too many seem to have died with the advent of FB. Some people seem to prefer asking questions on the FB groups with often little useful content coming back.

Where as a great forum like this one has a wealth of information already stored on it, plus many knowledgeable and helpful members. I much prefer that!

 

[Towpack]

There's some of us who don't use FB, Twitter, etc... Just sayin'.

 

[Crispin]

I quit facebook a few years ago. It was like divorcing a twisted wife.

There's some of us who don't use FB, Twitter, etc... Just sayin'.

weirdly, I am one of those too. My daughter snaps her friends. It means nothing to me (other than the literal....)

 

[fbnss]

@Crispin I dunno if this is related but @stumog can't get on the site anymore, he keeps getting this

Thanks for your help

 

[Crispin]

Ask him to send you his ipadddress please. Send it via dm.
That happens if the system thinks you're being naughty and I'm struggling to work out the false positives.

@Crispin I dunno if this is related but @stumog can't get on the site anymore, he keeps getting this
View attachment 337620
Thanks for your help

 

[fbnss]

Thankyou

 

[Crispin]

I found his IP and it had been put in the banned list. It's now cleared so should be good.
If he's still seeing it, ask him to clear cookies and all should be well.

 

[BobMurphy]

I can access the site OK from my tower PC but I'm now "Forbidden" from accessing it from my Galaxy smart phone.

Any ideas? Do I have to clear something ??

I'm not great with smart phones - I'll ask my 13 YO Grandson !

Bob.

 

[Shayne]

I seen the Apache message once on my laptop but now its fine . Swambo's ipad remains locked out

 

[Shayne]

Googled how to clear ipad cookie cache and the ipad works now

 

[Crispin]

There's something odd after the upgrade (why would it have been easy???) - several folk have emailed or messaged me saying they are locked out.
I'm working on it now and should be back to normal soon.

 

[MODVRS]

I've had no bother FWIW on PC or mobile devices; all works as normal.

 

[Crispin]

I've had no bother FWIW on PC or mobile devices; all works as normal.

Yup, it's affecting a small number of users and I cannot understand why.


It should now be good for all. If you're still getting sporadic errors, let me know.