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New anti-spam software implemented - Aug 2021

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VeganOstomy
(@veganostomy)
Admin
Joined: 11 years ago
Posts: 4372
Topic starter  

Spam forum user registrations, spam comments, spam newsletter signups, spam "contact me" emails... guys, one thing you probably don't see (I hope) are the dozens of spam garbage that I've had to moderate every day for the past few years. 

It was never "bad" until the last year where it seems like I'm spending at *least* an hour a day deleting fake accounts, manually removing flagged comments, etc. 

Now, I don't do this because I enjoy it. I've had some of the best anti-spam software, "Are you a human" verification, and server-side protection for some time, but these bots seem to be bypassing them with relative ease. 

So today I've started using new software to make the process more automatic. In less than four hours it's flagged over 60 spam comments and fake users... yeah, the ones I either missed or they just came through in the last 12 hours. 

While the system is designed to target spam, I realize that this might inadvertently block legitimate users. 

If this happens to you, please send me an email if you are unable to log onto the forums. 

I am able to see a log of the blocked accounts/users, so I can easily whitelist you if this happens, but I don't plan to sift through hundreds of blocked spam entries unless I'm looking for something specific. 

Crossing my fingers that this is the right solution... at least until the bots get smarter. LOL 

Just your friendly neighborhood ostomate.
~ Crohn's Disease ¦ Ileostomy ~


   
EcoOsto, sjlovestosing, Tigerlily and 1 people reacted
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(@john68)
Joined: 7 years ago
Posts: 2058
 

Hi Eric, That’s absolutely wild! Its up to us members to report any thing we see. I really hope the new software helps. Internet brings out the best and the very worst of society. 

ileostomy 31st August 1994 for Crohns


   
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Tigerlily
(@tigerlily)
Joined: 4 years ago
Posts: 421
 

Oh good grief! That is an insane workload for you, Eric! Thanks for doing this, and here’s hoping that this will save you some trouble.

 

Laurie

Just a semicolon


   
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(@squeakyandliza)
Joined: 6 years ago
Posts: 1036
 

Every now and then I see a post that is obviously not from one of us, but rather someone trying to sell something. But they always disappear pretty quickly, so I know how hard you are working and that you are on top of things!!

Thanks, as always, for all you do to keep this site going, and all you do in general to help us ostomates!!  

-Liza
Ileostomy 6/18/2018
“May your day be bright and your bag be light.”


   
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GoatHerder
(@goatherder)
Joined: 4 years ago
Posts: 162
 

Oh darn, I kind of miss the Viagra ads!

Just kidding. Moderating a forum is a rough job, I know I do it as well. Thanks for all your hard work on this wonderful resource!

Retired engineer, now goatherd
Ostomate since 2015: Mid transverse after cancer
Our goats always live at GoatsLive.com


   
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VeganOstomy
(@veganostomy)
Admin
Joined: 11 years ago
Posts: 4372
Topic starter  

FYI, since posting this the spam blocked went from 60 to 180 and I haven't had to do anything 😁😁😁 I'm liking this so far.  This includes all forms of spam, not just comments.  

Just your friendly neighborhood ostomate.
~ Crohn's Disease ¦ Ileostomy ~


   
GoatHerder, sjlovestosing, LLNorth and 1 people reacted
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(@squeakyandliza)
Joined: 6 years ago
Posts: 1036
 

@veganostomy 

That is great!!  Not that you are getting that much spam, but that you didn’t have to do anything about it.  🙂

-Liza
Ileostomy 6/18/2018
“May your day be bright and your bag be light.”


   
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 LK
(@dlkfiretruck)
Joined: 7 years ago
Posts: 1557
 

@veganostomy ... Wow, Eric a huge thank you from me too!! I have left you a pm. & hope you get it! Lol! 

Linda


   
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sjlovestosing
(@sjlovestosing)
Joined: 7 years ago
Posts: 651
 

Hi Eric,

Wow! I didn't realize all the work that goes into keeping a website spam free! Thank you for all your work. It sounds like your program is doing it's job. 

Stella


   
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VeganOstomy
(@veganostomy)
Admin
Joined: 11 years ago
Posts: 4372
Topic starter  
Posted by: @dlkfiretruck

I have left you a pm. & hope you get it!

I didn't get one, but I did send you a message to test. I hope you got it. If not, there may be a problem. I did just (like these past few minutes) update the forum and private message software so maybe it's fixed now. 

Posted by: @sjlovestosing

I didn't realize all the work that goes into keeping a website spam free!

I wouldn't have believed so either. At my peak content output (several articles a week + videos), I'd easily be pulling full-time hours on top of my full-time work. I wish I had the time and energy to do the same as I still enjoyed it. 

Just your friendly neighborhood ostomate.
~ Crohn's Disease ¦ Ileostomy ~


   
LK reacted
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(@stella)
Joined: 4 years ago
Posts: 82
 

Thanks very much Eric


   
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(@varg55)
Joined: 4 years ago
Posts: 53
 

Hi Eric,  I had no idea you would have to spend so much time dealing with this kind of thing.  All your efforts are much appreciated by so many, myself included.  I'm glad you have found a pretty good fix.  Fingers crossed it lasts.

 

Terry


   
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LLNorth
(@llholiday)
Joined: 6 years ago
Posts: 562
 

Thank you so much, Eric. I didn’t know this mean mischief was so extensive. I greatly appreciate VeganOstomy, and I hope this does the trick and makes things easier for you. LL

Colostomy 4/30/18.
I love the smell of coffee in the morning. It smells like .... victory.


   
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VeganOstomy
(@veganostomy)
Admin
Joined: 11 years ago
Posts: 4372
Topic starter  
Posted by: @llholiday

I didn’t know this mean mischief was so extensive.

It's quite ridiculous. With the number of big tech companies controlling the internet, you'd think they would have found a solution to this problem by now. 

Between online spam and scam telemarketers, I lost my patience years ago. LOL 

Just your friendly neighborhood ostomate.
~ Crohn's Disease ¦ Ileostomy ~


   
GoatHerder reacted
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 LK
(@dlkfiretruck)
Joined: 7 years ago
Posts: 1557
 

@veganostomy...okay Eric, I got your message when I checked in here & left you another p.m.

I'm hoping it was just my secretaries error. She often forgets to send messages after writing them! Lolol! 

I'll double check at my email again but service interruptions with out forrest fires has apparently happened & I was not aware of them. 

 

Linda


   
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