To report this spammer

WessB · November 2006

I think I found the way to formally report this spammers behavior..anyone/everyone feel free to report them....[p]Wess
[ul][li]HopeOne abuse[/ul]

WessB · November 2006

WessB,
I can`t seem to get the site to accept any of the reports I try to file....may not even be operational....dunno.[p]Wess

tach18k · November 2006

WessB,
Mine worked

The Naked Whiz · November 2006

WessB,
I think it will reject you form if it contains any profanity. Don't ask me how I know this, lol![p]TNW

WessB · November 2006

The Naked Whiz,
Mine didn`t contain profanity...not sure why it didnt work, hopefully enough people will get through to make something happen.[p]Wess

WessB · November 2006

tach18k,
Great...

egret · November 2006

WessB,
Worked ok for me......

Unknown · November 2006

WessB, Webmaster and everyone else,[p]
FYI - this is a spambot. They have programs now that search the web for any discussion forums and the program signs them up as new users and spams away. The same thing happens on some other discussion forums that I frequent.[p]One way to stop it (or at least slow it down) is to require new members to type in a code word they read from a scrambled text box. The spambots cannot usually read the code. Also, admin activation before a user can start posting is another avenue of slowing down the bots.[p]For what it is worth.[p]Adrian B.

WessB · November 2006

Adrian B.,
Thanks for the explanation...I would hope the ISP can do something, but maybe not from what you say.[p]Wess

Celtic Wolf · November 2006

WessB,[p] Keeps telling me I must submit the form properly. Since I have header privacy turned on in Firefox and Zone Alarm I can only guess if they can't get the proper referrer information they won't allow you to complain.[p] This also tells me there complaint form is nothing more them a address collector for mor spam.

Unknown · November 2006

Hey guys...[p]I operate a few forums and can tell you that this problem is only going to get worse and worse for you because of this perl scripted wwwboard that is used for the forum. [p]Most users of this script like it becauce it is easy to follow threads chronologically but the facts are that it is horribly out of date and lacks any real security. [p]The spammers use automated scripts that troll the internet looking for these perl wwwboards and when they find one they add it to their spam list. This is all completely automated and the guy doing it has no idea who you guys are...you are just another line in his spam script. [p]Since the BGE folks are using a Joomla/Mambo script on the .net site it would seem that the next logical step would be to abandon the insecure perl forum script in favor of one that integrates with the Joomla (such as SMF, vBulliten, etc...)[p]I know... I know... [p]Every one loves this format but it can't be secured properly. The admin has to constantly monitor the site, log IP addresses and then update .htaccess to block those IP's. It is a tedious manual process. There are two other BBQ sites that I know of that use this same script and they are also constantly bombarded.[p]Think of them as Forum Terrorists...except they REALLY DO HAVE the "Scripts of Mass Destruction" and they are using them on you. You can't just sit around and keep taking it because they will not stop. They just move from host to host and IP to IP without batting an eyelash. They use spoofed emails and IP's, hacked hosting accounts. [p]As an example:
I used to get several fraudulent web hosting signups a month on my web server using fraudulent paypal/credit cards from spammers. They sign up with a webhost with fraudulent info, use made up domains, spam like heck for as long as they can until the host figures it out and cancels them. No biggie...they are doing the same thing with hundreds of other hosting companies at the same time. In my case they were never successful because I required manual activation of all new acounts, and only after I verified the domain, user name/address, etc... Eventually a few days later I'd get a paypal dispute from the spammer tryng to get the money back. I finally just disabled online sign ups (using WHM-AP for those in the know) and now just do hosting for my regular business customers or people that I know.
[ul][li]The Story Of A Spammer's Attempted Registration[/ul]

Herm · November 2006

jiarby,[p]I have a quick question. Is this worth it to them? I mean, does ANYBODY click on the links? Why would anyone click on it?

Celtic Wolf · November 2006

Herm,[p] Yep... The idiot that Virginia threw in jail a couple hears ago was grossing 8 million a year. He had 42 T-1 Lines going into his house. There in lies the major problem. As long as a Local Telco is willing to terminate a data line regardless of the content this will continue.[p] Worse part is, this idiot could actually be spoofing one or more of HopOne's IP addresses. It is very easy to change the referer IP in the HTTP header. If that is the case then all the complaining in the world isn't going to help.

Cornfed · November 2006

Herm,[p]I agree with Celtic Wolf. I read what to me was an astonishing article a year or so back which talked of the clickthrough rate on spam emails. It was something like 30%, if I remember. I can't imagine anyone actually clicking a spam link these days, but folks do. What's astonishing to me is that everyone I know claims to not even open spam messages (actually, many don't even see most of them when using good spam filters), but the study showed how it was often very worth it for spammers. Also, they have such a low operating cost. Calling an extra million people would take forever, and sending postal junk mail is expensive, but the incremental cost of spamming an extra million people is very small.[p]Spam stinks, except when cooked on the BGE,
Cornfed

Unknown · November 2006

jiarby,
Thanks to you and to Adrian B for the accurate assessment of the Spam issue. It is most refreshing to know that some folks realize the difficulty and the dilemma involved. Much appreciated![p]David (WMK) & Brenda Miller

Unknown · November 2006

Of course it is worth it to them! People click on things...that's why there are spyware scammers and pop up ads, and google ads everywhere you look. [p]With a heavily trafficked site a host can earn tens of thousands of dollars just in "Pay Per Click" ad revenue. Most earn less, a few earn alot more! That's just the legitimate ones (won't go into the legitimacy of AdWords/Adsense here!) [p]The v1@gra & penny stock "pump & dump" scammers send out MILLIONS of emails per hour. [p]Back before the internet these guys sent millions of junk advertising faxes wasting your toner & paper (well, they STILL do that too!). If you send 25 million spams a week and it costs you close to nothing (because you are probably scaming unsuspecting web hosters also!) what does your return have to be before it is worth doing? They are just churning the numbers and harvesting a ton of dough. [p]If they get any heat they just close up shop and do it again tomorrow with a different name/account. [p]The only REAL way for this to be controlled is to have government control (regulation) of the data circuit providers & ISP's (such as Layer3, MCI, ATT, etc..) This is usually a very unpopular opinion! These providers don't want to do it because it woudl require tons of extra labor and expense PLUS... guess who pays their bills: the people that use alot of bandwidth ie..the p0rn people and the email spammers. The gov't would have to make legislation to force the ISP's to crack down on illegal use. The providers say "we just sell the pipe...we are not responsible for how people use it". The whole thing is made harder because many of the abusers operate outside of the US jurisdiction. You can greatly reduce spam if you block all non-US Ip addresses from accessing your web server. How many BGE's could they be selling in Romania or Nigeria? I doubt that would hurt them that badly. I know it shouldn't come to that but there really is no one in charge and you have to protect yourself! [p]As it stands now the casual web user (all the rest of us) is engaged in an arms race against the spammers to try and out-tech each other. Forum scripts now have to have flood prevention (posting too many times in a given time period), visual user authentication (those wavy pictures of words that you have to type in a box), and scads of other gimmick security features to keep the spam to a minimum. This means that the web admin weenie has to constantly keep up with the latest versions of installed scripts and security and all this takes alot of time & upkeep. [p]The days of the wwwboard and other perl/cgi scripts (where you can install it and forget about it for 2 years) is over. A joomla/mambo site with an SMF/vB forum, gallery, and other coms & mods had to be updated 3-4 times a month! [p][p]

Herm · November 2006

jiarby,[p]My only point was, who the hell is clicking on these links? You've got to be incredibly stupid to click on them.
Keep the government out of it!

Wise One · November 2006

jiarby, You said:"You can greatly reduce spam if you block all non-US Ip addresses from accessing your web server. ". Yes but we would miss out on our Irish, Canadian, Danish and Australian posters among others.

Unknown · November 2006

Wise One,[p]Yep...
It's kinda like throwing out the baby with the bathwater isn't it! You can actually pick & choose which IP blocks you want to get or reject but inevitably you p1ss someone off. It just complicated the admin job a bit. [p]My comment was not directed as advice that I believe BGE should take, but only as in illustration that it is a tough balancing act between security and convienence/accessibility. Blocking the world would obviously be an extreme measure and is contrary to why you have a wen page to begin with. There are many many options in between here and there. [p]Obviously the point of having a web page is to expose your content to as many people as you can...literally the whole world! [p]On my AZBBQA site I have had to block many top level country domains (like .ru, .cn, etc...) to reduce the spam postings even on a Joomla/SMF site. Then I had to restrict a members ability to send messages (PM's). It is one exploit after another! It seems like there is something every week almost! [p]I guess I woke up on the wrong side of the bed today and this topic set me off!! You guys have a great user community here that is beneficial to peopel that are interested in BBQing in general- not just BGE or ceramic cooking.

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