spam, spam and more spam!

[davidallsop]

Hi,

I have deleted most spam posts from my forum after having 15,000+ users most of which are spam bots. But I am still being spammed!!! Help me! I have the image verification on and the human verification settings enabled.

As soon as I enable the forum I get spam being posted straight away.

Link is www.buttonbash.com

[The_Saints1]

How to Reduce Spam and Registration Bots
Most people are being hit with a lot of spam these days. Some things you can do to reduce this are:



1. Moderate new registrations:

Admin CP -> vBulletin Options -> User Registration Options -> Moderate New Members -> Yes

2. Activate email verification:

Admin CP -> vBulletin Options -> User Registration Options -> Verify Email address in Registration

3. Upgrade to 3.6.x if you haven't already since this includes an improved captcha for image verification. Then activate Image Verification if your server supports it:

First:

1. Ensure that you have uploaded the true type fronts from the vBulletin download package. They are found in the /images/regimage/fonts folder
2. Ensure that you have uploaded the background images from the vBulletin download package. They are found in the /images/regimage/backgrounds folder

Next:

Admin CP -> vBulletin Options -> Image Settings -> Image Verification Library

Set this option to GD (True Type Font). If the sample image shown below the option does not work, first ask your host if they can recompile PHP with Freetype 2 support. You want PHP to be able to handle True Type fonts properly and it will need this support to be able to do so. If your host refuses to do so or is unable to accomplish it, you will be forced to use the GD (Simple Font) option.

Your server may also support ImageMagick 6.0+. If you have confirmed this, then you may also choose the ImageMagick 6 option. It is as secure as the GD (True Type Font) option.

Next:

Admin CP -> vBulletin Options -> Image Settings -> Image Verification Options

Enable all options other than Random Shapes. If you are using the GD (Simple Font) option then you will need to enable ALL five options.

Next:

Admin CP -> vBulletin Options -> User Registration Options -> Image Verification

Enable this option.

You may also add your own fonts or background image to the system. Simply upload .ttf fonts to the font directory and .jpg or .gif images to the backgrounds directory (directories are detailed above). The backgrounds are used for all three image libraries and the fonts are randomly chosen for usaged by the GD (True Type Font) and ImageMagick 6 libraries.

4. Ban 'free' email domains many spammers use:

Admin CP -> vBulletin Options -> User Banning Options -> Banned Email Addresses

5. Set these options to 'No' for the Unregistered, Users Awaiting and COPPA usergroups:

Can Use Email to Friend

Can Email Members

6. In addition you can follow these instructions to Add an extra question to the registration to prevent bot registrations. You should not need to do this unless you don't enable image verification or are forced to use the Simple Font option with image verification.


7. Some people have reported that spammers are using the 'Send Email to Friend' function to spam others from your forums. To reduce this make sure that your Unregistered, COPPA and User's Awaiting groups have the 'Can Use Email to Friend' option set to 'No'.

8. To help stop bots spamming through the Contact Us link, set this:

Admin CP -> vBulletin Options -> Site Name / URL / Contact Details -> Allow Unregistered Users to use 'Contact Us' -> Yes, but Verify Image

[onlinecc]

Hi, I have installed this mod from vbulletin.org recently and I'm very happy with it:

http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=173490&highlight=Check4SPAM

I tried a few of the other spam prevention mods over there as well, but found this one far the best. It stops new members from posting links in their posts if they have less than x posts - and more nice options that you can enable.

Also, vb 3.7.1 has the Aksimet spam prevention (wordpress thing). I also heard good things about that.

/martin