User pruning

[Allen Walker]

Hi,
Due to increasing numbers of spam attacks, I've had to deactivate all users with zero posts. Inevitably, some innocent users will get caught up in this, but if you think you've been deactivated incorrectly then send me an email at webmaster[at]triumph2000register[dot]co[dot]uk.
Cheers,
Allen

[Steve Knight]

What a great unseen job you do. How or what do spammers infiltrate with ? What are they after and could they access our email if you weren't so clever; is it just to send us a load ( more ) junk. I'm sure we are all generally interested in the scams and games they play, and to be wary of just about everything.

[Allen Walker]

Basically they use automatic 'spambots' to mass-register on the forum, then on the profile of the bogus user they've created they put a web link which can be link to anything from illegal organ transplants to hard core porn.

If it's not that then the bogus user will actually create a topic or a post advertising something.

The vast majority originate in Russia. I've deleted around two hundred such 'users' in the last couple of weeks.

[David Withers]

Interesting (and a bit worrying!).

A forum elsewhere that I administer myself has now been on-line for just over four weeks, but no undesirables have registered to it to date. (I hope I'm not tempting fate here!).

I set up a Question & Answer control for registration, the Answer being very obvious for anyone having a genuine interest in the subject matter of the forum but difficult for many others (especially foreigners) and, I believe, near-on impossible for automated spambots.

Incidentally, Allen not only looks after our Register forum well, he has helped me overcome setting-up problems in the one that I'm responsible for! Thanks again, Allen!

[Allen Walker]

I've just changed to a Question and Answer security thingy. I hoping it will stem the tide a little.