Final Spam Solution

[Chris Perkins]

As you may have noticed - I've given up!

The volume of spam just became too much and I (and the other mods) were spending too much time trying to keep it under control. Over the last couple of days the spammers got quite aggressive, posting new topics in most areas and adding their filth to existing topics in a quite random fashion. We have banned 100's of IP addresses and ranges of IP addresses, and email addresses, and probably whole countries, but it was pointless, they simply moved on to use one of the other billions of IP addresses.

I will personally moderate new membership applications, and from now on only existing members or manually approved new members will be able to post.

It's such a shame really, because I always wanted to keep the forum open for all, as I believe it encouraged people to pop in and make enquires. There may be less casual enquires now as a result, but there should also be zero spam, which has become a real annoyance and risk to all users.

[Emperor Oli]

The nuclear option, perhaps, but every time I logged on there were several topics queued in a few forums which were spam. I think most people who bother to find the site if they have inherited/discovered some coins wouldn't be dissuaded from posting because of registration.

[Chris Perkins]

Same for me, the spammers seemed to post every few minutes. It was beyond a joke.

[TomGoodheart]

Yeah. A bit sad, but perhaps inevitable. And now you can buy viagra at Boots I doubt anyone will miss the spam

Apart from THIS of course! And this one has Japanese subtitles, just in case you didn't get the joke!

[scottishmoney]

I started noticing the spam appearing on the tail ends of threads too. I found it rather annoying to have to go in delete, block etc. Now maybe we will have a bit more time for discussion of our favourite topic:)

[Geordie582]

Great stuff, Chris. But how long before they get around it?

[Chris Perkins]

Not possible (as far as I can tell). To post anywhere you have to be a member, and to be a member you have to have been confirmed as a real person by me.

The only way anyone could spam is if a real person joined and then started spamming. The vast majority of spammers are automated bots that search the internet spreading their filth wherever they can, and this measure will keep them out.

[josie]

How come their is still guest appeared?

It should be all member and anonimous member,when you go to the main page at the bottom.

[Chris Perkins]

No, because guests can read what they like and look almost everywhere....They just can't reply to topics or start new ones.

(a few hours has passed and no spam yet!)

[josie]

Thanks chris.

Im loss again maybe because of the new login page, I thougth one cannot go through the forum browse except members,it is still good, guest can browse for info but dont have access to spam the forum.

Good Work.

[Hussulo]

I suspected you might have to go down this route and I don't blame you Chris. I'm sure their will still be great discussions and at least the guest's can still read them. They can then become members and post topics once they feel ready to.

Keep up the good work!

[Emperor Oli]

at least the guest's can still read them

That is a bonus. I've seen some forums where you have to register just to read the posts.

[Peter]

Yeah. A bit sad, but perhaps inevitable. And now you can buy viagra at Boots I doubt anyone will miss the spam

Apart from THIS of course! And this one has Japanese subtitles, just in case you didn't get the joke!

30 odd years ahead of their time.

[Gary]

30 odd years ahead of their time.

Have to agree with you there. funnily enough, all them years ago I did`nt find Monty Python that funny, these days!