Staff should do something about the annoying Advertising Trolls on this site

[MisterScott]

These con artists or bots keep posting endless spam about “anti ageing products” “health products” and “fitness supplements” on this site and can be easily spotted since their usernames are often gibberish and the titles tend to be little more than a URL, if you are a staff member reading this I hope you try to strengthen the anti bot system on the registration page, since these bots/trolls/scammers post so much spam it makes it harder for us to keep track of genuine recent activity without searching through all the discussions.

 

[Springhosen]

Remember this isn't Steve's only site or responsibility; same goes with Femme, Romero and Angel. I'm going to assume that there's more going on behind the scenes than any of us know. In fact, with my almost ten years of experience on these forums, I know that someone is working to rid us of this issue so I feel like we should all try to be a little more patient. We have no idea what measures are or are not being taken to fix this issue.

 

[Turo602]

Remember this isn't Steve's only site or responsibility; same goes with Femme, Romero and Angel. I'm going to assume that there's more going on behind the scenes than any of us know. In fact, with my almost ten years of experience on these forums, I know that someone is working to rid us if this issue so I feel like we should all try to be a little more patient. We have no idea what measures are or are not being taken to fix this issue.

How do you know Steve, Femme, Romero and Angel aren't responsible for the bots? I bet secretly, they're the ones selling all those products to get us ripped, healthy, and fully erected. Probably just trying to make a quick buck before they activate the bots to start the shutdown.

 

[mjk321]

How do you know Steve, Femme, Romero and Angel aren't responsible for the bots? I bet secretly, they're the ones selling all those products to gets us ripped, healthy, and fully erected. Probably just trying to make a quick buck before they activate the bots to start the shutdown.

it's Umbrella sending these bots, we have a full forum that idolizes the characters that hates umbrella and this is their way at having revenge.

 

[La Femme Fatale]

How do you know Steve, Femme, Romero and Angel aren't responsible for the bots? I bet secretly, they're the ones selling all those products to gets us ripped, healthy, and fully erected. Probably just trying to make a quick buck before they activate the bots to start the shutdown.

Don't forget those healthy bowel movement supplements either - those are super important.

As moderators, we don't have any control over administrative options - we can pretty much just clear the spam from the forum and mod queue. I will, however, loop Steve into this thread for more information.

 

[Turo602]

Don't forget those healthy bowel supplements either - those are super important.

*GASP* I knew it!

 

[Cure Zombrex]

You can add a 'match all images with a road' game or something similar. Bots shouldn't be able to solve those puzzles.

 

[Romero]

Some years ago I suggested that anyone registering should have to prove some knowledge on Resident Evil, but as I recall it now, Steve worried that someone wanting to join because of RE movies mabye would not have knowledge of game related stuff, or vise versa. It was maybe also not possible to implement.

I think the crowbar approach is superior to any other way of fixing the sources of the problems. (See my last thread, that was no joke.)

 

[MisterScott]

Some years ago I suggested that anyone registering should have to prove some knowledge on Resident Evil, but as I recall it now, Steve worried that someone wanting to join because of RE movies mabye would not have knowledge of game related stuff, or vise versa. It was maybe also not possible to implement.

I think the crowbar approach is superior to any other way of fixing the sources of the problems. (See my last thread, that was no joke.)

A test about Knowledge of Resident Evil is effective way to keep away bots (unless the Advertising Trolls come up with a advanced AI) but it could keep away a lot of legitimate users who are not Resident Evil experts, for example if I were to be tested on Resident Evil 1 or Resident Evil 4 I would pass without a single doubt but if the questions were related to Outbreak I would fail as badly as a 8 year old taking a University level exam because I never played Outbreak, I’d you were to quiz me on the other games I would still pass but barely because I haven’t played most of them in years and don’t remember all the details, many of us like myself are fans but not necessarily experts so if that test were to be put up it would have to be reasonably simple not encyclopaedic, and if you are a fan of Anderson’s films to such a extent that you are willing to discuss it on a forum I’d expect that you would have basic knowledge of the games if not too bad I guess watch a few walkthroughs and come back later.

 

[Springhosen]

@Romero is there any way to answer a question when you sign up, like what's your favorite movie/game and then answer a question related to the answer you put?

Or perhaps a way to mod new members? I know boards that you have to wait to be approved by a mod/admin before being able to post.

 

[KManX89]

@Romero is there any way to answer a question when you sign up, like what's your favorite movie/game and then answer a question related to the answer you put?

Or perhaps a way to mod new members? I know boards that you have to wait to be approved by a mod/admin before being able to post.

Nah, that would be too tedious for my taste. I've both been to and registered on forums that you need an account approved before posting, and it's a pain in the ass.

A question that you have to answer before registering would be a better way to go about it. I'm actually quite surprised they don't already have something like this in place, this is literally the first forum I've been to that doesn't have security measures against spam bots.

 

[Springhosen]

I'm actually quite surprised they don't already have something like this in place, this is literally the first forum I've been to that doesn't have security measures against spam bots.

And I'm not sure if it's the same for you, but it's been so long since I registered I don't even remember what security measures were in place back then. And to that extent, I have no idea what's in place now, you know? It's hard for me to speak on that which I know nothing about, haha.

I'm sure Grandmaster Steve will figure it out, though. We've gone through periods where there's been endless spam before and he always sorts it out so I'm sure he'll put a stop to it this time too.

 

[bSTAR_182]

I feel like anyone who is a fan of RE should know the 3 big names- Jill, Chris and Leon. Just have a picture of any one or those characters randomly and ask for them to name said character. I would think that would cut back on at least some of the bot traffic.

 

[Steve]

Hey guys, apologies for being late to the discussion. From memory here's what hurdles we have in place for spammers and spambots at present:

• IP Address and email is queried with StopForumSpam database during registration and flagged if either appear suspicious
• Not 100% sure on what criteria is checked, but something something query DNS Blacklist & Project Honey Pot during registration
• Akismet anti-spam also reviews registrations
• Google reCAPTCHA (v2?) something something
• For those that successfully register, anyone whom attempts to post a thread that includes even one of approximately 100 (haven't checked the list in a while) spam-orientated keywords is flagged; this also includes instances of 'www' or 'http' in the message body.

But clearly this is not enough and more needs to be done. @Romero I recall that discussion with you regarding the Q&A anti-spam, and while we did at one time have a very weak Q&A system in place, I am going to reinstate it now. I'll report back in a jiffy.

Edit: Okay, in order to enable a registration Q&A, it seems that we can no longer utilise Google's reCAPTCHA during registration (but will remain active elsewhere when required). I see no harm in switching over for the time being and seeing how we get on.

Edit 2: The newly revised and reinstated Q&A thingy is now active. If anyone wants to help test it all you need to do is visit this URL whilst signed out/Incognito: https://residentevil.org/register/

.. and at the bottom of the registration form should be the Q&A Captcha. Refreshing the page will generate a new one, but I've only set up three so far. I'll be taking it for a proper spin over the course of Morning morning in order to verify that everything is working correctly, but if anyone else wants to give it a whirl in the interim and report back it would be a big help.

Hopefully this will be a step forward in eliminating the spam and reducing the number of headaches for staff. When I am active, I can confirm that the spam is a huge nuisance, so it blows my mind that LFF and Romero are able to keep so on top of this. You guys rock!

 

[Springhosen]

Edit 2: The newly revised and reinstated Q&A thingy is now active. If anyone wants to help test it all you need to do is visit this URL whilst signed out/Incognito: https://residentevil.org/register/

.. and at the bottom of the registration form should be the Q&A Captcha. Refreshing the page will generate a new one, but I've only set up three so far. I'll be taking it for a proper spin over the course of Morning morning in order to verify that everything is working correctly, but if anyone else wants to give it a whirl in the interim and report back it would be a big help.

So I just checked it out and it seems like it should help, unless the bots know their Resident Evil characters, lol.

I also feel like throwing Wesker in there was a good idea seeing as how he's one character that looks similar to his movie counterpart. That way we won't alienate movie-fans while this is getting sorted out.

 

[Turo602]

Couldn't you just simply ask them to fill in the rest of the title of the franchise which this forum is dedicated to?

 

[MisterScott]

Hey guys, apologies for being late to the discussion. From memory here's what hurdles we have in place for spammers and spambots at present:

• IP Address and email is queried with StopForumSpam database during registration and flagged if either appear suspicious
• Not 100% sure on what criteria is checked, but something something query DNS Blacklist & Project Honey Pot during registration
• Akismet anti-spam also reviews registrations
• Google reCAPTCHA (v2?) something something
• For those that successfully register, anyone whom attempts to post a thread that includes even one of approximately 100 (haven't checked the list in a while) spam-orientated keywords is flagged; this also includes instances of 'www' or 'http' in the message body.

But clearly this is not enough and more needs to be done. @Romero I recall that discussion with you regarding the Q&A anti-spam, and while we did at one time have a very weak Q&A system in place, I am going to reinstate it now. I'll report back in a jiffy.

Edit: Okay, in order to enable a registration Q&A, it seems that we can no longer utilise Google's reCAPTCHA during registration (but will remain active elsewhere when required). I see no harm in switching over for the time being and seeing how we get on.

Edit 2: The newly revised and reinstated Q&A thingy is now active. If anyone wants to help test it all you need to do is visit this URL whilst signed out/Incognito: https://residentevil.org/register/

.. and at the bottom of the registration form should be the Q&A Captcha. Refreshing the page will generate a new one, but I've only set up three so far. I'll be taking it for a proper spin over the course of Morning morning in order to verify that everything is working correctly, but if anyone else wants to give it a whirl in the interim and report back it would be a big help.

Hopefully this will be a step forward in eliminating the spam and reducing the number of headaches for staff. When I am active, I can confirm that the spam is a huge nuisance, so it blows my mind that LFF and Romero are able to keep so on top of this. You guys rock!

Good Job Steve I’m glad you listened to our concerns, I would like to see the test expanded to include more characters and slightly different questions because I think it’s only a matter of time before they figure out the “password” on the picture of Chris, and I like Magnolias idea of the test being based on your preferred game because it can avoid genuine people getting unfairly excluded because they’re not familiar with a particular title, you should keep that idea in mind if you plan on expanding the test.

 

[MisterScott]

I

So I just checked it out and it seems like it should help, unless the bots know their Resident Evil characters, lol.

I also feel like throwing Wesker in there was a good idea seeing as how he's one character that looks similar to his movie counterpart. That way we won't alienate movie-fans while this is getting sorted out.

I got another Idea, add a picture of the movie universe versions of the characters next to their game versions, for example we have 3 pictures of the game version of Chris there should also be a picture of the Movie version of Chris, same with Jill, Wesker and Leon if they get added to the Q&A test.

 

[Romero]

@Romero is there any way to answer a question when you sign up, like what's your favorite movie/game and then answer a question related to the answer you put?

That sounds like an excellent idea Magnolia! If you have a favorite game/movie, you would know some basic facts about it. And if you could not remember the name of a character you could find it on Wikipedia. Spammers can use Wikipedia too, but they have many sites they need to spam so they will maybe skip a site that requires them to acquire knowledge.

I feel like anyone who is a fan of RE should know the 3 big names- Jill, Chris and Leon. Just have a picture of any one or those characters randomly and ask for them to name said character. I would think that would cut back on at least some of the bot traffic.

That was very similar to what I had in mind, nothing difficult to answer.

For those that successfully register, anyone whom attempts to post a thread that includes even one of approximately 100 (haven't checked the list in a while) spam-orientated keywords is flagged; this also includes instances of 'www' or 'http' in the message body.

Their spam is not stopped when they have the link in the topic title, that looks like an oversight.

 

[Steve]

I've been reviewing some premium modifications to lessen the spam. I have had one installed since Thursday and it appears that has eliminated the spam that has been exploiting links in the thread title. As far as I can tell that exploit has been completely sealed off, but I did remove a spam thread earlier today which turned up (although it appears that this spammer was not able to exploit the thread title issue, so I'm optimistic that that's working).

I am 99.9% sure that the spam that we receive is a result of actual human spammers. I can widen the net of keywords and key phrases that can be flagged, so there is still that area that can be bolstered.