Fake member explosion?

pmc · 07 November 2011, 10:32

These days when I search for someone in the memberlist there seems to be literally hundreds of members listed that are clearly not real members of the forum.

I'm sure in the past there were far less pages in the memberlist - now it seems huge whenever I look through it.

Is that just me mis-remembering or has there been a fake member explosion over recent months?

Dreedo · 07 November 2011, 12:49

Could do with a purge and remove inactive members. Seems the majority of our members have 0 posts.

http://eab.abime.net/memberlist.php?...sername&page=2

Thats a good example.

Allen1 · 07 November 2011, 13:03

There are some flaky names amongst those ie visa and credits etc but some of them might be more into reading posts rather than joining in. Maybe a Mod could check who hasn't been online since joining and suspend the account to maybe see if anyone enquires about it.

There are a lot of them with a www homepage leading to financial/credit sites so obviously these are fakes that have wormed their way in.

FOL · 07 November 2011, 14:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Allen1

There are some flaky names amongst those ie visa and credits etc but some of them might be more into reading posts rather than joining in. Maybe a Mod could check who hasn't been online since joining and suspend the account to maybe see if anyone enquires about it.

There are a lot of them with a www homepage leading to financial/credit sites so obviously these are fakes that have wormed their way in.

I normally scan database for key words like s*x etc etc, to weed out dodgy accounts. I also installed software to cross reference every memeber with spam forums site. It then puts their account into limbo until admin checks them.

It does put strain on sites, the overhead must be massive on EAB. As its a popular site.

Allen1 · 07 November 2011, 18:20

I wouldn't envy anyone who had to sort through fake members to get rid of the spammers amongst them, its a serious problem that sometimes gets through to the forum itself as in viagra and mobile phones type spam. Until one of the dodgy ones actually post such a thing then no-one is sure who is really genuine apart from the ones with an obvious www homepage.

Some of the sites I have seen in the past where you could leave comments on, were terrible for online drug suppliers (prescription type drugs) and the likes, it seems like the people in charge of cleaning up those posts either didn't bother or maybe just gave up trying. Thankfully most sites are dealing with such things before they become a problem nowadays but I must admit that I am surprised at some of the names that have been allowed to be used ie blatantly obvious ones followed by a homepage

Arnie · 07 November 2011, 19:48

Maybe we could have a Login cut off date whereby if you haven't logged in by a certain date then the account would be suspended. Then if someone tries to login and can't they can contact the Admin to get the account reinstated?

atchoo · 07 November 2011, 20:15

There are "Account termination" rules: http://eab.abime.net/faq.php?faq=eab...aq_eab_account
I thought they were "automatic"!

pmc · 07 November 2011, 21:35

Reading those rules it seems there's quite a few "members" in the memberlist that fit into the auto-delete no questions asked category...

prowler · 07 November 2011, 21:50

Thanks for reporting this issue, guys!

When I get a few moments I'll look into the matter of whether inactive members with low post counts should be automatically purged and if so why it doesn't appear to be working. If it's not automatic, then it looks like the GMs are going to be busy for a while.

TCD · 07 November 2011, 22:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by prowler

If it's not automatic, then it looks like the GMs are going to be busy for a while.

Been there, tried that

Really, RCK needs to make a script for that (pretty easy actually) and I don't get why he hasn't already. He purged the DB from those '0 post' spambots a few times in the past

prowler · 07 November 2011, 22:27

Phew! That solution sounds like a lot less hassle!

Paul_s · 13 November 2011, 19:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by prowler

Phew! That solution sounds like a lot less hassle!

Alas, if RCK puts in the following line of code you will have the duty to recover all the users

IF postcount >0 then purge

prowler · 13 November 2011, 19:52

Let's hope it doesn't come to that!

dirkies · 14 November 2011, 00:36

as an admin of a non-Amiga board, it was a fight I could not win, blacklisting etc, each time bots found a way to pass the checks. So I had to resort to a simple open question at registering, which can only be answered by a human being who actually is interested in the board topic. A simple human question could be for this site "What was the model number of the first Amiga released?").
Spambot registration dropped to zero overnight on my BBS with such a simple style question!

RCK · 24 November 2011, 10:08

13000 account deleted following our rules

simple question updated to "What the forum is talking about ?"

CodyJarrett · 24 November 2011, 10:19

The question could be rewritten to something like "What is this forum about?" or "What is the subject matter of this forum?".

slk486 · 24 November 2011, 10:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by CodyJarrett

The question could be rewritten to something like "What is this forum about?" or "What is the subject matter of this forum?".

It should be very clear to any human user what the answer is. The first one is a bit too open: is it amiga or amiga discussion or ?. "Could be What is this forum about (single word)". The latter may be good enough.

I like this one best: "What was the model number of the first Amiga released?" and both Amiga and Amiga 1000 should be valid replies

Anyone interested in Amiga will know or could easily research this.

Arnie · 24 November 2011, 19:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by slk486

Anyone interested in Amiga will know or could easily research this.

I don't agree, there are some people that are just getting in to the Amiga. To have to research a question just to join a forum can be off putting to some (myself included).

Allen1 · 24 November 2011, 19:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by slk486

It should be very clear to any human user what the answer is. The first one is a bit too open: is it amiga or amiga discussion or ?. "Could be What is this forum about (single word)". The latter may be good enough.

I like this one best: "What was the model number of the first Amiga released?" and both Amiga and Amiga 1000 should be valid replies

Anyone interested in Amiga will know or could easily research this.

Or maybe something simpler like "who made the Amiga and C64 series of computers". I think most folk would know the answer to that one.

prowler · 24 November 2011, 21:03

Hey, what about this, then?

Quote:

Originally Posted by RCK

13000 account deleted following our rules

Edit:

Quote:

Members: 3,654, Active Members: 1,510

That's a much more realistic proportion.

07 November 2011, 10:32	#1
pmc gone Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: completely gone Posts: 1,596	Fake member explosion? These days when I search for someone in the memberlist there seems to be literally hundreds of members listed that are clearly not real members of the forum. I'm sure in the past there were far less pages in the memberlist - now it seems huge whenever I look through it. Is that just me mis-remembering or has there been a fake member explosion over recent months?

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07 November 2011, 12:49	#2
Dreedo Registered User Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: West Yorkshire, UK Age: 30 Posts: 657	Could do with a purge and remove inactive members. Seems the majority of our members have 0 posts. http://eab.abime.net/memberlist.php?...sername&page=2 Thats a good example.

07 November 2011, 13:03	#3
Allen1 Registered User Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Blyth England Age: 68 Posts: 786	There are some flaky names amongst those ie visa and credits etc but some of them might be more into reading posts rather than joining in. Maybe a Mod could check who hasn't been online since joining and suspend the account to maybe see if anyone enquires about it. There are a lot of them with a www homepage leading to financial/credit sites so obviously these are fakes that have wormed their way in.

07 November 2011, 18:20	#5
Allen1 Registered User Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Blyth England Age: 68 Posts: 786	I wouldn't envy anyone who had to sort through fake members to get rid of the spammers amongst them, its a serious problem that sometimes gets through to the forum itself as in viagra and mobile phones type spam. Until one of the dodgy ones actually post such a thing then no-one is sure who is really genuine apart from the ones with an obvious www homepage. Some of the sites I have seen in the past where you could leave comments on, were terrible for online drug suppliers (prescription type drugs) and the likes, it seems like the people in charge of cleaning up those posts either didn't bother or maybe just gave up trying. Thankfully most sites are dealing with such things before they become a problem nowadays but I must admit that I am surprised at some of the names that have been allowed to be used ie blatantly obvious ones followed by a homepage

07 November 2011, 19:48	#6
Arnie R.I.P Smudge 18-08-16 Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Leicester/UK Age: 66 Posts: 3,968	Maybe we could have a Login cut off date whereby if you haven't logged in by a certain date then the account would be suspended. Then if someone tries to login and can't they can contact the Admin to get the account reinstated?

07 November 2011, 20:15	#7
atchoo SWOS enthusiast Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Italy Age: 47 Posts: 45	There are "Account termination" rules: http://eab.abime.net/faq.php?faq=eab...aq_eab_account I thought they were "automatic"!

07 November 2011, 21:35	#8
pmc gone Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: completely gone Posts: 1,596	Reading those rules it seems there's quite a few "members" in the memberlist that fit into the auto-delete no questions asked category...

07 November 2011, 21:50	#9
prowler Global Moderator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Sidcup, England Posts: 10,300	Thanks for reporting this issue, guys! When I get a few moments I'll look into the matter of whether inactive members with low post counts should be automatically purged and if so why it doesn't appear to be working. If it's not automatic, then it looks like the GMs are going to be busy for a while.

07 November 2011, 22:27	#11
prowler Global Moderator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Sidcup, England Posts: 10,300	Phew! That solution sounds like a lot less hassle!

13 November 2011, 19:52	#13
prowler Global Moderator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Sidcup, England Posts: 10,300	Let's hope it doesn't come to that!

14 November 2011, 00:36	#14
dirkies Zone Friend Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Belgium Age: 51 Posts: 1,297	as an admin of a non-Amiga board, it was a fight I could not win, blacklisting etc, each time bots found a way to pass the checks. So I had to resort to a simple open question at registering, which can only be answered by a human being who actually is interested in the board topic. A simple human question could be for this site "What was the model number of the first Amiga released?"). Spambot registration dropped to zero overnight on my BBS with such a simple style question!

24 November 2011, 10:08	#15
RCK Administrator Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Paris / France Age: 45 Posts: 3,096	13000 account deleted following our rules simple question updated to "What the forum is talking about ?"

24 November 2011, 10:19	#16
CodyJarrett Global Moderator Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: UK Age: 46 Posts: 6,162	The question could be rewritten to something like "What is this forum about?" or "What is the subject matter of this forum?".

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