please help me my forums getting spammed

Posted: Sat Sep 09, 2006 2:16 pm

the last few weeks my forums have been getting spammed by people advertising vitamins and drugs and stuff how do i stop them?

please help me its very annoying.

thanks in advance

george

Nuke Cadet Joined: Sep 02, 2006 Posts: 3

Are they registering and then doing it? or as annonymous? if as annonymous, then simply change permission.

Posted: Sat Sep 09, 2006 4:37 pm

well at first it was as anonymous as i didn't set the permissions on my site as it hasn't been online that long but then i set the permissions to where users have to register to post and now their registering names and doing it.

it's pretty lame.

Nuke Cadet Joined: Sep 02, 2006 Posts: 3

You know this may sound wierd, but just make them a spam forum and ask them to spam that. loool Just see if that works lol

You could also set permissions manually by giving users a special ranks which would allow them to post in the forums.

Posted: Sat Sep 09, 2006 5:03 pm

Grab their ip addresses and ban them from the website.

Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2006 4:40 am

You should also active the security codes login.

It's specifically designed to stop bots from creating accounts and spamming your site

Sergeant Joined: Jul 11, 2004 Posts: 104 Location: Athens

We keep a guest only forum and that cuts down on a lot of spam. Granted every morning I have to nix about 2-3 spam post but it's not that bad. Trying to ban the IP's is a waste of time since the given IP is spoofed.

Posted: Sat Sep 23, 2006 4:16 am

I've found it very effective to ban spammers by a variety of methods.
Here is a script I wrote (checkspammer.php) which works well for most people for resolving spam issues.

Edit the script to suit your needs, save it to your root nuke directory as checkspammer.php, then include it in your header someplace.

Code:

include('checkspammer.php');

Contents of checkspammer.php ....

Code:

<?php

//
// checkspammer.php ©2005 JasonLau.biz
// License located at http://jasonlau.biz/?mode=software_license
//

global $admin, $adminmail, $nukeurl, $sitename;

//
// add common spam words or phrases (seperated by comma) to the following array ...
//

$filter_words = array('rolex','replica','seadweller','submariner','rolex oyster','cheap rolex');

//
// email address to send alert to ...
//

define("EMAIL_ALERT_TO","$adminmail");

//
// Where to forward spammers, e.g., About:Blank or http://sesamestreet.com ...
//

define("SEND_SPAMMER_TO","http://www.FBI.gov");

// End config

global $rop, $file, $db, $prefix, $sid, $comments;
if($rop == "savecomment" || $file=="comments"){
if(!$_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] == "POST" || !isset($_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT'])){
$is_spammer = "true";
}
}

$badcookie = $_COOKIE["Spammer"];
// The next line is specifically for the news comments. Remove comment slashes to use for news module.
// if (($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] == "POST" && !is_admin($admin)) && ($rop == "savecomment" || $file=="comments")) {
// The next line is for general use. Comment out when using the previous line for news module.
if ($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] == "POST" && !is_admin($admin)) {
if(!isset($_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT'])){
$is_spammer = "true";}
foreach($_POST as $stuff){
   foreach($filter_words as $filter){
   if(eregi($filter,$stuff)){
   $comment = "no one likes a spammer";
   $comment = base64_encode($comment);
   setcookie("Spammer", $comment, time()+60*60*24*365);
   $is_spammer = "true";
   $trigger = "$filter";
   }
}
}
}

if(($is_spammer || $badcookie) && (!is_admin($admin))){
unset($_POST);
   unset($sid);
unset($comments);
   $ip = $_SERVER["REMOTE_ADDR"];
   $useragent = $_SERVER["HTTP_USER_AGENT"];
$date = date("M d, Y");
$time = date("g:i A");
   $text = "Spammer";

   // Add to admin ip block if exists
   if(file_exists("admin/modules/ipban.php")){
   $thedate = date("Y-m-d");
   $reason = "Comments spammer";
   $db->sql_query("INSERT INTO ".$prefix."_banned_ip VALUES (NULL, '$ip', '$reason', '$thedate')");
   }

   // Add to Sentinel if exists
   if(file_exists("admin/modules/sentinel.php")){
$db->sql_query("insert into ".$prefix."_nsnst_ips (ip_addr, username, user_agent, date, notes, remote_addr, expires) values ('$ip', '$username', '$useragent', '$date', '$text', '$ip', '0')");
}

   // Send email alert and redirect spammer
   if(!$badcookie){
   $message = "A potential spammer has been blocked at $nukeurl using the following filter word - $trigger\n\nIP: $ip - Query this IP at http://whois.sc/$ip\n\nUserAgent: $useragent\n\nDate: $date\n\nTime: $time";
   } else {
   $message = "A previously blocked spammer has been blocked again at $nukeurl via cookie ID.\n\nIP: $ip - Query this IP at http://whois.sc/$ip\n\nUserAgent: $useragent\n\nDate: $date\n\nTime: $time";
   }
$subject = "Spammer blocked at $sitename";
   $to = "".EMAIL_ALERT_TO."";
$from = "$adminmail";
   mail($to, $subject, $message, "From: $from\nX-Mailer: PHP/" . phpversion());
   Header("Location: ".SEND_SPAMMER_TO."");
   exit;
}

?>

How it works (in theory):
First, it checks the user's system to see if it has spammed you before.
Next, it checks the user agent to see if the info being posted was actually posted by a bot.
Then, it checks the contents of the post against your filter words to see if any of the filter words exist in the post.
If there is a match an everlasting cookie is placed on the spammer's computer, the user's ip is added to admin's banned ip list and Sentinel (if it exists), the post is cancelled, and the user is redirected away from your website.
Then, it sends an email to you about the incident.

Good luck! Very Happy

Nuke Cadet Joined: Sep 23, 2006 Posts: 4

You can ban people from the Forum using the Forum Administration panel (the link at the bottom of the main forum page)

Once you are in there click on 'Ban Control' there you can ban users from the forum. You can ban them using their username, IP address or even their email address. That permanently bans them from the forum but not the rest of the site.

If you want to ban them from the wholw site you need to use a protecter program such as sentinal.

Hope that helps!

Nuke Cadet Joined: Jan 21, 2007 Posts: 4

Prophet wrote:

I've found it very effective to ban spammers by a variety of methods.
Here is a script I wrote (checkspammer.php) which works well for most people for resolving spam issues.

Edit the script to suit your needs, save it to your root nuke directory as checkspammer.php, then include it in your header someplace.

How it works (in theory):
First, it checks the user's system to see if it has spammed you before.
Next, it checks the user agent to see if the info being posted was actually posted by a bot.
Then, it checks the contents of the post against your filter words to see if any of the filter words exist in the post.
If there is a match an everlasting cookie is placed on the spammer's computer, the user's ip is added to admin's banned ip list and Sentinel (if it exists), the post is cancelled, and the user is redirected away from your website.
Then, it sends an email to you about the incident.

Good luck! Very Happy

Thank you for posting this.
Having issues with anonymous news submissions and hoping this will end it. Getting 10-20 submissions a day and is just annoying.
Thanks again, this really looks brilliant!
lol
Can't wait to implement it.

Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2007 6:41 am

You might find a newer version at my website (http://jasonlau.biz).

Nuke Cadet Joined: Jan 21, 2007 Posts: 4

The newer file at your site was easier to install and I am sure it will be a great tool to stop the unwanted sex aid links...

But the issue I have with these guys is the anonymous posting of news links that involve penis enhancement drugs and devices.
Is there a way to stop anonymous news submissions by making a guest log in to submit an item?

I know there is something out there because I have been to several phpnuke sites that require you to log in to submit a news item.

Any help would be greatly ppreciated, even if it is a snippet of code.
Thanx

Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 2:19 pm

There is a setting to disable anonymous posting in Admin>Preferences.

Just in case, I added the ability to block anonymous posts to the checkspammer.php script. Download a new copy from my website and edit the config section in checkspammer.php. You'll see the new setting.
Very Happy

Nuke Cadet Joined: Jan 21, 2007 Posts: 4

Thank you for your help and for the invite to your site.

Will post the results here.
I really liked the last checkspammer and think it is great!

I am using phpnuke 7.8 and the admin/preference/anonymous post was disabled and yet it still allowed anonymous users to submit news.

Thanks again.

Site Admin Joined: Aug 17, 2003 Posts: 12403

Make sure the Submit_News module is set to Registered Users only