Quote:
Originally Posted by RedRestoredRoadster
Is there a way some of could help rid the site of spammers?  A sorrow shared is half a sorrow ... |
Actually my programmer has come up with a very effective system to help block the automated spam robots, which helps a lot. But the only way to block real people engaging in spam is by setting it up such that every new registration has to be scrutinized closely. Generally speaking, all registrations from China, Pakistan, India, Polynesia, Africa, Russia, and a few other places can just be deleted immediately as being up to no good. That means checking the IP addresses for the true location they are coming from. Blocking IP addresses is an exercise in futility as the spammers seem to have an inexhaustible supply of them at their disposal. Plus blocks of IP ranges are traded like trading cards among the various ISPs, so just because an IP address block harbors spammers this year doesn't meant that will be true next year.
The problem, of course, with putting all new registrations in limbo before allowing them to post on a site, is that REAL members often get frustrated at the delay, and oftentimes will not return even after being approved. Apparently the attention span of many people is so short that they lose interest in participating in even that short of a time span.
So there is just not way to avoid a large manual labor component of dealing with spammers on a web site. And somewhat effective methods have their own risks associated with them.