idea to stop spammers

[lostforawhile]

I came up with an idea that might help stop spammers, It seems that they have been out in force lately, after studying all the ones that have popped up on the board, one thing I've noticed, is nothing is ever filled out in the "about me" What if we required something to be filled out in every blank, if someone didn't want to answer something, they would be required to put in N/A or something simple, this just may stop a large number of the bots, something would just have to be added to the directions during registration to explain this. There are some pretty sophisticated bots out there, they can take items from a thread or the board, and generate a realistic looking post with advertising links in it, but even the best frequently has trouble following basic directions that any human can read. the directions to filling out the registration could also e worded in a somewhat odd way that humans can figure out, but will confuse the logic in a computers software. The main weakness in the bot software, is it HAS to follow logic, people don't. hopefully this idea may be able to help

[2oodoor]

they have about ruined CL:
I dont see how it all works really, personally i do not do business with pushy scattered promises and shady trade practices. They must surely prey on ignorance.
Im, starting to smell a conspiracy among certain computer formats trying to dominate the "market" well not the best word for this venue actually because so many other things now depend on the operating systems and interfaces of computers now its not a market but a language.

edit, obviously im not done thinking how I want to say what im thinking, but something is about to change drasitcally very soon

[charliekuney]

Well, if the bot can create a name and enter a captcha and whatever else they have to do to create an account, then I'm sure they can put a "." in their about me.

[lostforawhile]

Well, if the bot can create a name and enter a captcha and whatever else they have to do to create an account, then I'm sure they can put a "." in their about me.

right, but one thing that is hard for them to do is follow directions, some sites will ask you to do things like enter a code word backwards or with a cetain letter mising, it's difficult for bots to make sense of these type of directions

[charliekuney]

some sites will ask you to do things like enter a code word backwards or with a cetain letter mising

Uh, I've never seen anything like this.

[lostforawhile]

Uh, I've never seen anything like this.

i have, people can make sense of it, but machines can't. it's actually pretty effective, machines can't make deductions, thats why it's so effective. the machine sees the word you have to enter to finish registration, and tries to enter it, but it can't connect the directions to enter it backwards with the word.

[2oodoor]

Uh, I've never seen anything like this.

really? I find that amazing

[charliekuney]

I'm serious. All I've ever seen is/are regular captcha's for days.

[Vanilla Sky]

The issue is that most of these spammers aren't bots anymore. They're humans sitting at a computer. Anything we do will fail. The only thing we can do is nuke them with your help. If you see a spammer, report the post. Most of us get email to our cell phones and can check it right away these days. I know that's what I do now that I have my new phone.

[lostforawhile]

I'm serious. All I've ever seen is/are regular captcha's for days.

here's an example that will confuse a bot, a lot of what appear to be human spammers are sophisticated bots that will scan a forum and create a very realistic post that may fool people, other then the advertising links in the post. this type of question will change constantly, simple for a human but incredibly complex for a machine.

[Vanilla Sky]

Seriously dude, hiring kids in 3rd world countries is cheaper than bots. This stuff really doesn't work.

[DBMaster]

Hmm. I have literally trimmed my spam to only a handful of messages each month. I have used the same email address for over ten years. I am not sure which of these strategies I have employed did the trick so I'll mention them all.

USE MOZILLA FIREFOX as your browser: It's not because it is necessarily better than all the others. Since it is open source there are plenty of add-ons out there. My favorite is called "No Script." It blocks Java according to parameters you set. It's a pain for a while telling it which sites to allow, but in the end you end up with a more anonymous browsing session because web trackers end up being blocked. I also like a piece of blocking software called "Taco with Albion." You'll have to look that one up.

Delete all browser history and cookies EVERY time you exit your browser. Yes, it makes things slightly more work to access your favorite sites, but this way you further prevent web tracking of your IP address.

Utilize spam blocking from both your ISP and your email client program (if you use one). I use Mozilla Thunderbird and it has some kind of "smart" blocking technology.

Make sure you pay close attention to ANY web forms you fill out to join an online community or make a purchase. Most of them seem to have an automatically filled checkbox that either wants to install a toolbar (DON'T), or put you on a list to receive "special offers and other items of interest."

I could go on, but I also use IOBit Advanced System Care once a week to completely clean the cache and cookie files for mt browser(s).

[2ndGenGuy]

The spam on this site isn't really that bad. We get what, like a few every month? They get banned and dealt with quickly. The best thing to do is just report them and not reply in the spammers threads.