OKAY, WHAT IS UP WITH THESE BOTS?

[Winnie the Pooh]

SRSLY, it seems like the captcha is on vacation or something. Something must be done about these losers.

[Kaleo]

I don't think they are bots. I think it's no lifers who can't get a real job.

[Survivor]

Sorry guys, skynet is causing trouble from my toaster, added too much butter. Oh, and i'm still not dead.

[Asvarox]

GOOGLE WILL TELL YOU THE TRUTH
in next few days......................

[Kaleo]

Sorry guys, skynet is causing trouble from my toaster, added too much butter. Oh, and i'm still not dead.

More active admins pl0x?

[Winnie the Pooh]

Yeah i guess admins are the only way to get rid of these bruisers.

[Yahoo]

close registrations!

who needs new players anyway?

[khalsa]

Don't think these are bots entirely. They are too easily getting past the "Are you Human" question I put on the registration page without there being more hits for choice "No" or "Unsure".

[Bissig]

Don't think these are bots entirely. They are too easily getting past the "Are you Human" question I put on the registration page without there being more hits for choice "No" or "Unsure".

On our forums I observed that the IP doing the account registration is in a completely different subnet/ISP as the humans or bots posting the spam.

They seem to have found a way to humanize the account registration and boterize the spam posting. On the other hand that would mean that the bots are smart enough to find topics/subforums close enough to their mindless spam posts... Who knows.

"Mechanical Turk Spam" via Amazon? Maybe?

[khalsa]

Ah you're right, I've been banning both IP's though

[Winnie the Pooh]

Don't think these are bots entirely. They are too easily getting past the "Are you Human" question I put on the registration page without there being more hits for choice "No" or "Unsure".

Cyborgs?

[Annihilation]

Sorry guys, skynet is causing trouble from my toaster, added too much butter. Oh, and i'm still not dead.

HOLY FUCK HI!

[Archangel]

@Khalsa/mod team: Try manual verification. I don't think trem.net gets that many (legit) people registering everyday, and you have enough moderators I'd think to go over registrations -- if not you can always setup an administration level that can do nothing but accept/deny users.

[Bissig]

From the forums stats:

"Average registrations per day:   3.83"

Four manual registrations per day should be managable.

[khalsa]

So I enabled manual approval for a bit, but it quickly became apparent that it's pretty pointless as the "bot" registrations look completely like real registrations. They are from unique IP, using a gmail or other public email address, with innocuous sounding names. No way to tell the spammers from the humans.

I've temporarily made it so that users with less than 10 posts cannot post links.

[Archangel]

My forums are under manual verification. I typically check IPs via googling them and checking on DNSBLs. Perhaps there's some sort of DNSBL plugin for SMF ?

[khalsa]

Of all the bots we've had on trem.net over the last several days,  only one of them have been on any DNSBL, Anti-Spam list, or anything else I've checked.

[player1]

Sorry guys, skynet is causing trouble from my toaster, added too much butter. Oh, and i'm still not dead.

Welcome back, Survivor. And speaking of toasters, have u ever thought of visiting the tropics?

[Bissig]

So I enabled manual approval for a bit, but it quickly became apparent that it's pretty pointless as the "bot" registrations look completely like real registrations. They are from unique IP, using a gmail or other public email address, with innocuous sounding names. No way to tell the spammers from the humans.

I've temporarily made it so that users with less than 10 posts cannot post links.

Just look at the sigs they use.

[khalsa]

You can't set a signature till after you're a member

[Bissig]

You can't set a signature till after you're a member

Sorry, my mistake!

[Yahoo]

From the forums stats:

"Average registrations per day:   3.83"

Four manual registrations per day should be managable.

DIBS DIBS DIBS

[Survivor]

Sorry guys, skynet is causing trouble from my toaster, added too much butter. Oh, and i'm still not dead.

Welcome back, Survivor. And speaking of toasters, have u ever thought of visiting the tropics?

Never been really gone. Just don't have time to immerse myself in this place like I used to. Usually it's a quick check for trouble and interesting topics.

[KamikOzzy]

Sorry guys, skynet is causing trouble from my toaster, added too much butter. Oh, and i'm still not dead.

Welcome back, Survivor. And speaking of toasters, have u ever thought of visiting the tropics?

Never been really gone. Just don't have time to immerse myself in this place like I used to. Usually it's a quick check for trouble and interesting topics.

don't call it a comeback, he's been here for years...

okay I'll shut up >.>