22 replies to this topic

[ale_lang]

I have talked about this in another topic, but since I've seen some comments about spammers tonight, and given the fact that for some reasons mods cannot reply to nor post status updates, I thought I would write a post here about the problem.
As a moderator, I'm doing my best to kill spammers. I almost check every 20-30 mins daily..but of course I can't check 24/7 (I guess anybody has to sleep sometimes.. ;D), even if, believe me, I'm checking like 18/7 Actually, I think you've never seen that much spam like tonight lately, but just so you know, there's A TON every day..much of the spam is actually deleted while you aren't checking the boards (I'm on +1 GMT being in Italy) but clearly there are some hours of the day (for you, since here is night/morning) where I can't check, So far this has never been a big deal: I simply killed those 1-2 spammers after waking up...instead today when I woke up spammers were EVERYWHERE (cit. Michelle )
I already talked to Sarah about this, because it has become a real problem in the last period; as far as I know, they're trying to find some kind of solution;  for example, yesterday MBMB was down for a while and I saw a tech was logged later.
Meanwhile, I will continue doing my best to delete spam, but of course if you happen to find some (hopefully not as much as today), be sure I'll delete instantly as soon as I wake up

Thanks!

[SpiritedAway]

Thanks Ale! I noticed the forum was down too. I think I tweeted you about it.

[ale_lang]

SpiritedAway, on 17 February 2012 - 09:30 PM, said:

Thanks Ale! I noticed the forum was down too. I think I tweeted you about it.

Haha so it was you!
I'd asked you on Twitter what was your screen name here on MBMB, now I know

[TMF]

thanks Ale_lang for everything you do on these boards! we really appreciate it! i'm wondering if it wouldn't be a good idea to have someone else who would have the moderator status and who lives on another time zone but it isn't that big a problem anyway. I'm just curious why spammer come here and not somewhere else

[aco99]

I really really wanted to volunteer since my timezone is completely opposite of most of the admins and mods. But with April on the loose, (end of the fiscal year 2011), I'm terribly busy with work

I'll try to summarize certain security measures for iPB boards that we can suggest the admins so that we may lessen or eradicate too much spamming 0_0

[ale_lang]

TMF, on 18 February 2012 - 03:50 PM, said:

thanks Ale_lang for everything you do on these boards! we really appreciate it

Oh thank you! I'm just trying to be of some help as much as I can. After all, I love Michelle so much that - as "someone" says in a certain song.. - "it's the least that I can do"

IANVARIVS, on 18 February 2012 - 04:25 PM, said:

I'll try to summarize certain security measures for iPB boards that we can suggest the admins so that we may lessen or eradicate too much spamming 0_0

That would be really helpful I guess! Thanks!

[TMF]

I still find it weird that there isn't someone paid by the label to keep these boards 'clean' but with everything we're going through with the album release I guess we're lucky to even have these forums.

[sarah]

If you find any suspicious posts, the best thing you can do it help report it.  That will flag it for mods & admins right away, especially if we're not online at the moment.  Thanks!!

[Karissa]

Agree with Ale and Sarah. We're doing our best to keep up with the spam. As Sarah said, the best thing you can do is report the spam so we get notified of it. Also, feel free to send the mods a private message if you have questions/concerns. Thanks!

[ale_lang]

Seems spammers are counter-attacking today...I've already killed 5 in less than an hour!

[ale_lang]

Spam is back in action...I've been deleting an incredible amount of spammers' posts in these last 2 days. As mentioned before, I'm doing my best but of course there are some hours of the day when I can't check (bedtime ) so if you happen to see some spam (which is likely to happen since it seems to show up on an hourly basis), you can be sure I'll delete it as soon as I get back online.

[michaelw]

looks like they're still at it
http://www.michelleb...weet-looks-afte

[ale_lang]

Thanks! I'm constantly deleting but some spammers post like 20 or more messages in a row..!

Anyways, off to bed now..hoping I won't find tons of spam when I woke up!

[np6s4x]

looks like the spammers found a way through haven't seem this much in a while...

[ale_lang]

I have been tracking down a lot of more spammers IPs and will send them to Sarah/Rachel to block them..this seems to be the only way. These last weeks have been incredible..tons of spam every day to remove

[ale_lang]

Spammers are incredibly aggressive lately..it only takes a few hours without checking the board and they're Everywhere (oh no, they don't really deserve to be associated with such a great song.. ).
As always I'll be doing my best to try to delete everything asap

[KobeAnd24]

Well something definitely has to be done about the spams, especially when the album comes out. It's just annoying that we get more spam post than actual Michelle fan posts. I've been reporting every spammer that has posted a spam post (it's pretty obvious who the spammers are) but I don't know if anything is being done about it. I know certain sites uses a security verification code to prevent these types of spams so anyone who post a comment would have to enter a random security code and that would allow the comment to be posted. This is 1 suggestions. Just please do something about it or else we might end up having to go on a NO SPAM campaign.

[ale_lang]

KobeAnd24, on 10 January 2013 - 03:49 AM, said:

Well something definitely has to be done about the spams, especially when the album comes out. It's just annoying that we get more spam post than actual Michelle fan posts. I've been reporting every spammer that has posted a spam post (it's pretty obvious who the spammers are) but I don't know if anything is being done about it. I know certain sites uses a security verification code to prevent these types of spams so anyone who post a comment would have to enter a random security code and that would allow the comment to be posted. This is 1 suggestions. Just please do something about it or else we might end up having to go on a NO SPAM campaign.

As I said before, I'm doing my best to ban every spammer and so remove their posts. Believe me, I check almost every hour, but of course there are some moments if the day (f.e. when I'm sleeping.. ;D ) when I can't do it; but be sure that the spam you get to see when you log on the board is maybe just 1/4 of the total daily spam which is invading the forum every day.
I am still tracking down their IPs, I used to send them to Sarah so that she could ban them..that used to work since most of the time it's just the same IP who generates a great numbers of spammers/users, so banning an IP would result in preventing them from accessing the board, thus reducing their total number.
Some time ago the board was hacked and it seemed that, when it was brought back online by WBR techs, all the list of the IPs we had banned in the previous months (there was a SUPER LONG LIST, believe me) just vanished...so spam (which was greatly reduced that way) started to come back at full throttle.
Unluckily I as a mod don't have the ability to ban IPs, I just can flag users as spammers but that doesn't prevent the same user to register with a different username...
I see what I can do now.
The sad truth is that apparently no one from WBR seems to care much of this board too..
I'll try to speak again to Sarah (even though honestly she shouldn't be the one to fix this, since she is no longer working at this project...but she's still a MB fan ) and we'll see.

And meanwhile, my  "Spammers' IP list" grows larger and larger..

[KobeAnd24]

Oh okay, I see. Anyway, if there's anything I can do just tell me because like you and I assume everyone who uses this forum as well, I do not want to see anymore spam posts.

[Wednesday_Morning]

start leaking unreleased tracks by Michelle on this board and WBR will care about it