Forum Registration

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KateR
Site Admin
Posts: 734
Joined: Fri Mar 28, 2014 10:58 pm

Forum Registration

Post by KateR »

Unfortunately, over the last couple of days, this Forum has been hit with an unusually high number of spambots trying to register.

Normally I get a dozen or so a week, and I simply delete them before they can join, but lately I've been getting at least a hundred a day, all coming from Russia and the Ukraine, and I just don't have the time or patience to be spending the day deleting them all. :(

I've tried blocking the email domains that keep repeating, but many of them are gmail addresses. I've tried blocking the ISPs that repeat, but most of them are using different ISPs. I've tried changing the spambot countermeasures (reCaptcha, image, GD, GD 3D, and Q&A), and that has cut the number down considerably, but I still get a few every hour. Does anyone else have experience with this and another solution to offer?

So, until Russia decides it has better things to do than to try to hack into a Richard Dean Anderson fansite, I have decided to simply disable registration. This means that new members won't be able to register through the website.

HOWEVER, IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO JOIN US ON THIS FORUM, JUST SEND ME AN EMAIL, AND I'LL ADD YOU MANUALLY. :)

Thanks for understanding.

Kate
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Annelies
Posts: 3682
Joined: Sat Mar 29, 2014 5:33 pm
Location: the Netherlands

Re: Forum Registration

Post by Annelies »

Ooofff Kate, I hope soon the spambots will be less or stopped 😱😱
If I hear of a way to stop it I will let you know
Sounds like irritating replicators 😜
Hang in there
Lots of love,

Lies

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Salem Moses
Posts: 190
Joined: Thu Apr 14, 2022 1:50 am

Re: Forum Registration

Post by Salem Moses »

This might be considered dark humor.. but I wonder if a website could require a physical postcard mailed to a Post Office? As a way to confirm the legitimacy of the registrar being an actual contributing human being and not a spambot. They would need to write their email address on the postcard as a confirmation process for registering

Also.. can probably write a notice that due to high spambot traffic, online registration is only open on the 1st day of each week. (The rest of the week's registration attempts would be auto-deleted until further notice).

..sometimes I lean toward extreme security measures, but am learning to relax these days to lessen my anxiety attacks. Please notice that a blood test wasn't part of the suggested requirement. Which is a kindness as I've been burned before in trusting online people & online businesses/contractors.
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