What do you think is up?

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  • Chris!
    Senior Member
    • Feb 2004
    • 180

    What do you think is up?

    Hey Gang,

    I had this member named oOgerryOo join one of my sites.

    Right away my internal spam alert went off, so I set this person up as a tachy goes to coventry member.

    So then he posts a thread with something to the effect of Hi I'm Jerry, I wanted to say hello - I'm new.

    So I googled oOgerryOo. And a rather large list came up and this apparant spammer is joining up to almost every site they can find, more or less posting the same message.

    So I deleted this member as I figured something was up.

    This morning I log into my board, and he's back and signed up again. So I deleted him again.

    Google the name oOgerryOo and have a look for yourself and see.

    Anyone have any thoughts as to what this new spamming approach might be trying to accomplish?
  • Razasharp
    Senior Member
    • Feb 2005
    • 2789
    • 3.7.x

    #2
    Sounds like a bot of some sort. Thanks for letting us know..
    What's Special About Ruby on Rails?

    Comment

    • Chris!
      Senior Member
      • Feb 2004
      • 180

      #3
      Actually, I use the no spam hack, so I think someone is manually signing up these accounts.

      I also manually approve all memberships, and they did confirm their email address.

      What I'm wondering though is what their plan is.

      Perhaps they plan to make one legitimate post and then go back and spam after? Or I'm wondering if they're up to something else.

      It's certainly different from the normal approach, so to me it's weird.

      Comment

      • dkon26
        Senior Member
        • Jul 2007
        • 552
        • 3.7.x

        #4
        Just curious but what country does the IP originate?

        Comment

        • Chris!
          Senior Member
          • Feb 2004
          • 180

          #5
          Seems to be from the U.S.

          Comment

          • Chris!
            Senior Member
            • Feb 2004
            • 180

            #6
            I just googled that name again and there is something in the range of 50 plus google pages now.

            And the boards all seem to have been signed up to in the last day or two, by whoever this is.

            And all the messages are pretty much the same thing. All one post.

            Something is up.

            Comment

            • dkon26
              Senior Member
              • Jul 2007
              • 552
              • 3.7.x

              #7
              Wow.. 5,690 results from google! I would think its for spamming. I would let it stay active and see what kind of posts "it" makes. Then you can let us know!

              Comment

              • Distance
                Senior Member
                • Jul 2006
                • 143
                • 3.6.x

                #8
                Its simple, stop deleting the user and jut ban him permanently.

                If you delete the account he can re-register using the same name.

                There is a product on vBulletin.org called AE detector, which alerts you when a user is using the same computer as another user so you can ban the new user.

                Comment

                • Chris!
                  Senior Member
                  • Feb 2004
                  • 180

                  #9
                  Originally posted by Distance
                  Its simple, stop deleting the user and jut ban him permanently.

                  If you delete the account he can re-register using the same name.

                  There is a product on vBulletin.org called AE detector, which alerts you when a user is using the same computer as another user so you can ban the new user.
                  I'm aware of that.

                  I wasn't really bringing the topic up asking about banning or not banning people or how to stop spammers from joining.

                  I brought it up because this seems like a new approach being taken by this spammer. Why go around and post an introduction thread everywhere?

                  Normally if they get on your forums, they just get on with posting their spam and then come back and do it again under another name later.

                  Comment

                  • Dilly
                    Senior Member
                    • Mar 2005
                    • 1812

                    #10
                    Because they'll come back and edit their signature or post to include spam later.

                    Comment

                    • Chazel
                      Senior Member
                      • Nov 2007
                      • 589
                      • 4.0.0

                      #11
                      Question: Was his introduction post using regular font, or a unusual combination (color, size, etc.).

                      Usually when I see bots their first post is an introduction post and it is in colored font and larger than normal.

                      Comment

                      • Chris!
                        Senior Member
                        • Feb 2004
                        • 180

                        #12
                        I erased the post off mine.

                        From what I remember, it looked fairly normal.

                        It could have been a cut and paste job though.

                        There are tons you can see if you google that username.

                        I was thinking perhaps the spammer is thinking of doing something with the internal email contact systems or something.

                        Time will tell I suppose.

                        Comment

                        • Dilly
                          Senior Member
                          • Mar 2005
                          • 1812

                          #13
                          It's nothing like that.
                          they'll come back and edit their signature or post to include spam later.
                          Trust me. I'm right - it's happened to a site of mine.

                          Comment

                          • Chris!
                            Senior Member
                            • Feb 2004
                            • 180

                            #14
                            On my site, I've got things set up so that until a member is approved they can't do much. That includes using a signature.

                            Yet every day two or three spammers join up with totally bogus email addresses that aren't even valid.

                            Kinda dumb...

                            Comment

                            • Dilly
                              Senior Member
                              • Mar 2005
                              • 1812

                              #15
                              Doesn't stop them trying.

                              Comment

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