Spam Bots and CAPTCHAs

While poking around the Internet I came across this article about ways to stop PHPBB spam. In it the author talks about 2 tools he believes everyone running a phpBB board needs. What’s nice about the article is that it isn’t a cleverly disguised plug for these products. Instead it’s an independent review so you can be sure these products really work.

It’s the reviewer’s feeling that most SPAM results from unchecked robots haphazardly posting links anytime there’s an opportunity. And he feels plenty of opportunities exist on sites that solicit posts from unregistered guests. But he also knows shutting down guest posts isn’t an option (more on that next time!).

So imagine how happy he was when he heard about Links Rejector, software that doesn’t kill the messenger – not at first anyway. Instead it focuses on killing the message by scanning incoming posts for contact information, the most common indicator of SPAM.

When found it pulls the message aside and sends a request to remove the contact info and resubmit the message. When robots don’t write back, which they won’t, Links Rejector kills that message. The reviewer says he even modified Links Rejector to look for other things that trigger his spam filter like foreign alphabet characters, and that’s reduced the amount of SPAM he receives down to zero.

The other product is Textual Confirmation. He swears by this program because he believes the other major problem with robots is automatic registration. In a nutshell, Textual Confirmation requires those attempting to register to answer a site-specific question before proceeding.

You and I can handle such a request but robots can’t. They aren’t intelligent enough to know answers to questions they’ve not heard before! As they stumble for an answer they’re flagged as unwanted and not allowed to register. As a result their messages don’t get through.

Read the article and see if these tools will work for you.