TR Forums

InTeGeR13 wrote:

UberGerbil wrote:

It would be amusing to have a sort of virtualized TR message system, such that anybody signing up with a username fitting alpha-alpha-digit-digit-digit never has his messages delivered but instead gets responses randomly generated by the server to look like something vaguely insulting that appears to be coming from the user he mailed. He then responds to those, and around it goes in a little isolated circle of insanity, while no one else even notices (except perhaps the mods who get to watch this midget-vs-Eliza battle).

Instead of random, we could pick messages sent by others in that clan.

Better yet, have the server generate a username with the same format as the spammer's and have the return messages sent from the new random name. This could eat bandwidth, of course. It's not very practical, but it's mildly amusing.

mh635


sent me a couple pseudo violent PM's..

Banned.

RX6550 has been banned.

kj6650 has been banned.

KK6350 has been banned.

yv6550 has been banned. This is getting old.

Anyone have experience tracking IPs back to specific proxy sites or anonymizer services? Send me a PM if your interested. Serious inquires only please.

lk7550

Is it possible to disable PMs until at least one post is made? This could discourage non-bot spam, though it still doesn't "solve" the problem.

scare wrote:

Is it possible to disable PMs until at least one post is made? This could discourage non-bot spam, though it still doesn't "solve" the problem.

There doesn't appear to be a way to do that automatically with the default install.

lk7600

Somehow I get the feeling that this is from a frequent user of this site.

I got three PMs today from user lk7600. Here's an excerpt :

lk7600 wrote:

Die painfully okay? Prefearbly by getting crushed to death in a garbage compactor, by getting your face cut to ribbons with a pocketknife, your head cracked open with a baseball bat, your stomach sliced open and your entrails spilled out, and your eyeballs ripped out of their sockets. *beep* bitch

It goes on. Is it a coincidence that I get these three PMs the same day, nay, nearly the same hour I make a remark about Asif1924 in the Diamond ATi 38xx news post...

mods, can something be done about that?

kl5600

I haven't got any PMs but my suggestion is to use an email address verification procedure, and if an address is verified, and that user gets banned, then ban any account from attempting to use that email.
but make the error message so useless that they won't know what's going on, and will have to contact an admin to get it fixed.

firstly, if they are stupid (and all trolls are inherently stupider than a .. well they aren't smart), they will try to get it resolved and the admin can lead them further astray (or help if he deems this a legitimate attempt to get onto hte TR forums)
Secondly, if they are a little more intelligent than a .... well, smarter, then they will make new email addresses alot, and register with those, however, suddenly google or yahoo or microsoft are making lots of emails for boneheaded trolls, and if they don't like it they can make lots of fancy technology to track these guys and maybe stop them... at the very least, the scumbag filth spreader has a longer road to travel each time he registers.

I think its a flawed idea, just cause no-one else thought of it already.

ssidbroadcast wrote:

mods, can something be done about that?

Many people have gotten these messages. I ban accounts and IPs when someone complains about a particular message. It seems doubtful that this new poster is involved. If you've got other evidence to the contrary, I suggest sending me a PM.

balzi wrote:

I haven't got any PMs but my suggestion is to use an email address verification procedure, and if an address is verified, and that user gets banned, then ban any account from attempting to use that email.

phpBB already uses e-mail verification and any e-mail address can only be associated with one account.

balzi wrote:

Secondly, if they are a little more intelligent than a .... well, smarter, then they will make new email addresses alot, and register with those

This is what is being done and it doesn't slow anyone down.

kl5600
mv7600

This toolbag is busy today.

Oddly enough it does seem connected with the front page thing.

Last time I got messages like this it was after another ATI/NVIDIA debate.

Could just be a coincidence.

They are bots most likely, so I don't really need to get personal with them.

PRIME1 wrote:

kl5600
mv7600

What are the timestamps of those messages? Are they before or after the time I posted here in the thread yesterday? I banned them around that time and just want to make sure that the messages were sent earlier.

Kevin wrote:

PRIME1 wrote:

kl5600
mv7600

What are the timestamps of those messages? Are they before or after the time I posted here in the thread yesterday? I banned them around that time and just want to make sure that the messages were sent earlier.

I deleted them, sorry.

ok530 has been banned.

I've banned a pretty good sized IP range that was coming up quite a bit. Also, several people have pointed me towards some proxy blacklists. I'm trying to figure out the best way to ban such a large number. I'm not sure what the impact on the forum would be if I did so using the built in ban interface.

Kevin, you could try running one of those TR polls and see how many people access the site via anonymous proxy to get a sense of where your regular viewers are at. That might give you some idea of any chaos / diminished hits you'd be looking at.

PeerGuardian 2 or MoBlock (depends on server type). I have had good experience using that style of software for ip range bans.

Maybe try a "midnight experiment" on Monday at 2:00 a.m. EST or something.

"gl6350" just sent me about 4 notices, and his choice of words leaves me to believe I'm popular and loved.

Meadows wrote:

"gl6350" just sent me about 4 notices, and his choice of words leaves me to believe I'm popular and loved.

Yeah I got a few as well. This is now leading me to believe it's some sort of ATI fan behind this. As they always show up after such debates. I would not be surprised if it's one of the regular posters either... I won't name names but, I would not be surprised.

I banned gl6350/rx450 and his IP address, so... yeah. Winner.

PRIME1 wrote:

Meadows wrote:

"gl6350" just sent me about 4 notices, and his choice of words leaves me to believe I'm popular and loved.

Yeah I got a few as well. This is now leading me to believe it's some sort of ATI fan behind this. As they always show up after such debates. I would not be surprised if it's one of the regular posters either... I won't name names but, I would not be surprised.

I think it's just your imagination.

Damage wrote:

I banned gl6350/rx450 and his IP address, so... yeah. Winner.

Cool!
How about ck6650 too?

Done. Took care of ar6700 as well.

kj4350

What a sad little person this must be.

PRIME1 wrote:

What a sad little person this must be.

The way they always say the exact same things (often to the last letter) leads me to believe they may be automated.

Meadows wrote:

PRIME1 wrote:

What a sad little person this must be.

The way they always say the exact same things (often to the last letter) leads me to believe they may be automated.

Yes, seems so... [Google]