PBase

I don't know about you, but my guestbook has been getting spam from different names at "40mail.com". They all are in a foreign language, but appear to advertise porn sites. Can't you easily set up some kind of block from specific domains?

In my case it's scores of canned messages from aol. I wish we could block aol messages! My delete key is getting worn out.
Isabel

sdommin wrote:I don't know about you, but my guestbook has been getting spam from different names at "40mail.com". They all are in a foreign language, but appear to advertise porn sites. Can't you easily set up some kind of block from specific domains?

This is getting ridiculous. I have had to delete about 10 messages a day for the last week. It seems like the guestbook (rather than galleries) is the most vulnerable point - is that other people's experience too?

If that is the case, it might be useful to have the option to restrict guestbook comments to members only, while still allowing non-members to comment on galleries.

This has been asked for before, without many people responding. Here's a previous thread:
http://forum.pbase.com/viewtopic.php?p=140379#140379

alangrant wrote:...it might be useful to have the option to restrict guestbook comments to members only, while still allowing non-members to comment on galleries.

Sounds like a good Idea. But the problem will remain. How about a anti-spam tool (like those with weird letters and numbers that spam-bots can´t read) for the non-members? Blogspot has one and works great.

Matías

We've called for it before...

http://forum.pbase.com/viewtopic.php?t=25343

The weird thing about this is, I can't find my original thread that is referred to above. Why would that be deleted?

alangrant wrote:This is getting ridiculous. I have had to delete about 10 messages a day for the last week. It seems like the guestbook (rather than galleries) is the most vulnerable point - is that other people's experience too?

If that is the case, it might be useful to have the option to restrict guestbook comments to members only, while still allowing non-members to comment on galleries.

Do you think it might help to have one of those graphics-images
where people have to match the text? Wouldn't stop it but
would probably be a disincentive. A lot of this is done in automated
mode. Most of it is in guestbook or in private messages somehow.

Yeah, my missing post had this sample in it:



Maybe that is why it was deleted? A screenshot from another website?

Do you think it might help to have one of those graphics-images
where people have to match the text?

Yes, I think this would certainly be preferable. However I was assuming that PBase can't be bothered implementing this. I made the suggestion about the guestbook because I thought it might be easier to implement - it is effectively applying existing functionality but making a distinction between the guestbook and other galleries. I certainly don't think it will get rid of the problem, but it might reduce the automated spam that targets the guestbook.

alangrant wrote:Yes, I think this would certainly be preferable. However I was assuming that PBase can't be bothered implementing this.

Well. Can´t say I don´t agree in that Alan. Sad but true. One thing I´ve learned this time outside PBase is that when you run a website you must have clear that when users say they really need something and what they ask seems important and could benefit everybody then you should do it.

Take care Alan,
M.

This is getting ridiculous. I cleared out a bunch of spam messages yesterday, and have just logged on to find another 15 - all in the guestbook.

I suppose I could ban non-members from commenting, but I'd hate to do that because most of my comments are from non-members.

I have searched the Wikipedia to know more about what we called "Word verification"...

Looks like it´s called CAPTCHA for Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart. Seems that the developement of that system is, in fact, complicated because the spam-bots do learn (I´m assuming that the SPAM comes from machines and not from stupid humans). Maybe there is an Open Source script to avoid having to write all the code again?

I just found this one: Free Web Wiz CAPTCHA for instance (copyright). And here´s a review with some others (all GPL). Any others?

CAPTCHAs and ineffective against human-typed spam and I have a feeling a lot of spam we see on PBase are human generated.

srijith wrote:CAPTCHAs and (EDIT?: I guess you mean "are") ineffective against human-typed spam and I have a feeling a lot of spam we see on PBase are human generated.

Really? Then we need an anti-zombie script
Anyway, in my experience many of my spam seems to be generated by spam-bots. But we should ask Alan. He´s getting tons of spam and seems hard to believe that there is a human doing such stupid things...

I have been wondering myself whether my spam is human-generated or not. If they are humans it seems a remarkably inefficient way to go about things, considering that not one of their messages has yet appeared on PBase. I also thought that the fact they always target the guestbook might suggest a bot - as every PBase member has a guestbook with a predictable URL, whereas galleries can vary.

But I don't know. Maybe people are being paid to spend their time typing messages into guestbooks and no-one checks whether they actually appear.

If they really are humans, then maybe their attention should be drawn much more clearly to the fact that their guestbook comments are not public and therefore that they have nothing to gain from posting. That would also have the advantage of helping with another problem I have mentioned before - genuine commenters who are confused when their comment doesn't appear at once, because the text explaining this is not very prominent.

If I think of it I will take a screenshot of my spam the next time and post it here - maybe somebody can tell whether it is human-generated or not.