Spam Bots WOW!!

[Outlier]

Hi,
Complete newbie to vBulletin. Purchased and loaded 4.1.2 to Gator Hosting about one month ago and didn't add any content or check any settings. Looked at it for the first time yesterday and I had 494 Users, 24 threads and 77 posts. The majority of the posts were for pharmacies in Canada, but a few others were hawking software and other mechandise. I've been reading the manual and have already made note how to ensure a real person is signing up, but does anyone have a Security Configuration Checklist, such as we use on Servers to ensure configuration best practices. I downloaded 4.1.3 yesterday and instad of performing an upgrade, I'm think of wiping out 4.1.2 and starting over and in the porcess hopefully eliminating my 494 Bot generated users.

Any advice would be appreaciated.

Craig

[Trevor Hannant]

Please see this thread for the things you can do to fight spam and registration bots:

http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?359107-How-to-Reduce-Spam-and-Registration-Bots

[beishe8]

I downloaded 4.1.3 yesterday and instad of performing an upgrade, I'm think of wiping out 4.1.2 and starting over and in the porcess hopefully eliminating my 494 Bot generated users

Do that,nothing to lose.

[steven s]

I really like vbStopForumSpam.

http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=176481

Very few spammers get through.

[uninvited13th]

recaptcha plus custom questions, I think you're fine..

[HMBeaty]

recaptcha plus custom questions, I think you're fine..

Recaptcha is a waste as it doesn't work anymore, or correctly for that matter

[beishe8]

recaptcha plus custom questions, I think you're fine..

Without modification you cannot use them together.

[Outlier]

Thanks to all who responded. I'm going to start with a fresh install and implement the tools suggsted.

Craig

[Tekmiester]

recaptcha plus custom questions, I think you're fine..

That mod is incompatible with the mobile suite, so be careful.

[Metal Head]

I've seen a number of forums have trouble with spam bots and spammers recently. They never quit do they?

[beishe8]

I've seen a number of forums have trouble with spam bots and spammers recently. They never quit do they?

No,they don't.

[Mark Hewitt]

The problem is that the spam bots aren't *just* bots, they have a human element to them too, no doubt most of the donkey work is done by scripting but then it's bounced back to a real human just to fill in certain parts. Even with email verifications and question & answer we still get 10+ spammers a day registering.

I remember back when I started in 2000, people spamming forums was almost unheard of, even turning on email verification was a big step!

[Wayne Luke]

The problem is that the spam bots aren't *just* bots, they have a human element to them too, no doubt most of the donkey work is done by scripting but then it's bounced back to a real human just to fill in certain parts. Even with email verifications and question & answer we still get 10+ spammers a day registering.

I remember back when I started in 2000, people spamming forums was almost unheard of, even turning on email verification was a big step!

Tools like the StopForumSpam (listed above) or Spam-O-Matic addons help a lot with the human element as well.

[CeleronXT]

I turned on Q&A and since then the spam has completely stopped.