Spammers And Phpbb

[JTD]

I just put a site up that I have had a domain name for 3 years for. I am running Phpbb the newest version of version2 And I get nothing but the good old vi@gr@ and I AM A SPAMMER sign ups with links. Thank god i do have it set so i have to approve all new sign ups. Plus I have and add on to trace there sign up IP so i can ban it. But how do these people find these sites so quick???? And is there any other way to stop this. I use a no follow robot file in all my folders. I don't want my forum on any search list. Any ideas anyone?????

Edited April 16, 2008 by JTD

[MikeJ]

A lot of them just search all domains looking for common phpbb files (particularly if you install it under /forums or /forum or something fairly common).

 

You're best bet is to put better spam protections into your phpBB 2. For starters the default captcha is pretty much useless in preventing spam, and you should go look for better mods (on an old phpBB2 site I had I went from about a dozen spam accounts being created per day to about less than 5 a month).

 

You could also look at upgrading to phpBB3 which is just considerably better in everything than phpBB2.

[JTD]

I will look at the captcha part. As far as phpbb3 I am not all that fond of version3. Plus the fact that it is harder to mod and has no real templates that I like.

[dcumpian]

I just put a site up that I have had a domain name for 3 years for. I am running Phpbb the newest version of version2 And I get nothing but the good old vi@gr@ and I AM A SPAMMER sign ups with links. Thank god i do have it set so i have to approve all new sign ups. Plus I have and add on to trace there sign up IP so i can ban it. But how do these people find these sites so quick???? And is there any other way to stop this. I use a no follow robot file in all my folders. I don't want my forum on any search list. Any ideas anyone?????

 

You can eliminate 90% of the spam registrations by modding two files:

 

usercp_register and functions_validate

 

By adding your own validations to these files, you can prevent most of the spam registrations.

 

Regards,

Dan

[Bob Crabb]

I agree with MikeJ about the captcha mod. I seldom get any spam registrations any more, using this mod:

 

http://www.phpbb.com/community/viewtopic.p...15&t=473222

 

I haven't upgraded any of my sites to phpBB3 yet either, but I am planning to in the next few months when some more of the mods that I need are further along in development. I just saw on the phpBB.com site, however, that they plan to retire phpBB2 earlier than expected. Support will be dropped on 1/1/09, and security patches will no longer be offered as of 2/1/09.

[MikeJ]

Yea, that's the captcha I was using before upgrading to phpBB3.

 

So far under phpBB3 spam hasn't been a problem. I did have to switch themes (but I was due for it anyway) and ended up taking one that I mostly liked and modifying it myself to get what I wanted. Most of the mods I used I've found replacements for or managed to get working again.

[JTD]

Well I have added 3 mods. One that kills the signature and the homepage link blocks until you are a full fledged member. Plus I have added 2 different security question fields. And now I am working on the new captcha mod. Yes that is the captcha mod I am working on. Hopefully this all works. And I am also adding a open proxy mod. That will kill anyone trying to register with an open proxy. I just hope that one does not backfire and not let legit people register.

Edited April 16, 2008 by JTD

[MikeJ]

That should cover you pretty well. In case you still get spammers though, the one other tool I used to use in phpBB2 was Admin Userlist which was useful for doing mass bans or deletes.

[Bob Crabb]

JTD -- just a note about that mod. I seem to remember there being a problem using EasyMod to install it. If you use EasyMod, you might have to copy the font files manually, or FTP them in binary mode. It has been a while since I installed it, and I might be confusing it with a different mod, but if you don't see the captcha after installing the mod, that might be something to investigate.

[JTD]

I have admin userlist. That is the first mod I install on my forums. I found that years ago. No I do not use easy mod. I found it to be more of a pain than it was worth.

Edited April 16, 2008 by JTD

[JTD]

Well I have added some new security measures after getting some good tips from the family here at TCH So far so good. Now it is a waiting game to see what happens.