Defeating the Hong Kongian Spammers

[Rampage]

No, they won't be back.

Their software/programs are all automated, I know because I use similar things but I don't spam I actually write legitimate posts using programs to create backlinks.. they don't visit your site individually.. the program just runs through your website as part of their search query.. it is most likely a forum automater which goes through the sign up process automatically.. all they have to do is confirm the e-mails and then it will post threads / messages for them without them having to be there.. by adding the extra screen you spoke of.. they will just get a failed message for your particular website on their list..

they do this for thousands of websites so you don't have to worry about them posting here..

[Wolv]

Damn Asians.

[Solecord]

The other thing those spammers do is register with screen names that represent specific company names, product names, etc. with the intent on forcing web sites using google ads to display ads relevant to that name. Could be to have competitor's ads get shown and clicked on quickly so their ads will show up more/longer during peak hours... could be just to get their ads shown, etc. There's tons of reasons for the spammers.

[tical]

Baker 1. China 0.

[Baker]

I wonder if the tab order got randomly changed with encrypted form names in the registration form would keep automation scripts from pre-filling out the forms so all thats required is a Captcha entry. Thats isn't a sure way to stop spammers at all but maybe they'll be slowed down since this type of work seems to relish in A.M.A.A.P (As Most Automation As Possible)... more work would equal less desire to spam if they had to manually click or tab through registration forms, you think?

My guess is that the spam operators target specific CMS systems like vBulletin or PHPBB and write a script to deal with those, use search engines to find those sites and then set it up in the database.

The thing is, they don't actually have to tab, they aren't using your normal web browser.

But the number of customized CMS systems is very low. Most people use them how they come "out of the box". I enabled a weird option that isn't commonly used and is only slightly inconvenient to a human. Anything small can break those script systems.

They search for the standard copyright text at the bottom of sites using the CMS like:

http://www.google.com/#hl=en&source=...=&oq=&gs_rfai=

And add it to a database and have the system pull up the regstration page filled out with random garbage and the CAPTCHA is shown on the spammer's screen, he types it in, the system registers and he does the next one.

[Phenom]

Add a good automation system can increase capacity, but such automation systems are easily broken too.

I wonder if the tab order got randomly changed with encrypted form names in the registration form would keep automation scripts from pre-filling out the forms so all thats required is a Captcha entry. Thats isn't a sure way to stop spammers at all but maybe they'll be slowed down since this type of work seems to relish in A.M.A.A.P (As Most Automation As Possible)... more work would equal less desire to spam if they had to manually click or tab through registration forms, you think?

[Baker]

Whoa... next thing you know we'll need admin registration approval :/ spammers are so annoying.

I think I just deleted the last 120 of them. Literally there would be 3 or 4 junk registrations a day with names like nop899. Yesterday I did some homework and noticed they aren't actually using the home page but go straight to the registration page.

Those guys get paid to perform "Search Engine Optimization" by boosting spamming forums and getting a company's name out there and increasing the search engine link strength.

There is also money to be made for false testimonials and such.

Not a lot of money by US standards, but 3 or 4 cents per spam times 80 times an hour can add up to a rather decent amount of money for countries where wages are normally something like $3 a day. (Some of these evil search engine optimization companies pay per spam link).

Add a good automation system can increase capacity, but such automation systems are easily broken too.

[Phenom]

Whoa... next thing you know we'll need admin registration approval :/ spammers are so annoying.

[Baker]

Every day, about 4 or 5 spammers (sometimes more) register here from East Asia. I don't know if they are from Hong Kong, but they have a .cn email address (it varies) and otherwise appear to actually know English.

Anyways, they appear to have some sort of automatic registration system that merely requires them to type in the CAPTCHA (you know, type these letters in from the graphic).

I enabled an option that adds an additional registration screen and apparently their system can't deal with that.

It looks like they are defeated. For now ....

I'm sure they will be back.