Seiko 7A38 - by the numbers

The new website and this forum finally went live overnight, having taken exactly one month from when I first initiated the transfer of the domain name from the previous Webs host. Our first new member to register around 2:00am this morning was a Russian spammer, touting various SMS services, who racked up 23 very similar posts (now deleted).


They are permanently banned, but their user ID Arianabaf still shows in history ! Edit: Now permanently deleted !

Another particularly nasty variety of Russian spammer similarly bit the dust this morning !

Well at least this incompetent spammer posted his contribution in the correct thread. Goodbye and good riddance.

Boring much resurrected topic, so the spammer posted this one in the eBay forum section, to add a little variety.

In response to the continued onslaught of SPAM attacks, most of which appear to emanate from the Russian federation, I've become more proactive, by gradually implementing further anti-SPAM countermeasures. These include forcing all newly registered users to add a location at registration. Signing up to Stop Forum Spam has also proven extremely beneficial in helping to weed them out, while they're still inactive.

Yesterday evening, I rapidly despatched 6 new potential spammers in quick succession. They all gave different locations (worldwide) and used a variety of different email addresses (some of which actually sounded plausible), but all shared a common IP address, which was a Russian domain server with a proxy IP in France.

The odd spammer is still getting through the net and managing to create a post, before I can zap them. I've got to sleep sometime. This post appeared just after Midnight. They gave their false location as United States, but an IP location check showed Russia - then there's the ever so tiny giveaway of using Cyrillic script.


The Russian topic title translates literally as: Removal of Spoilage. Consider it removed.

Привет, спамер, прощай, спамер, и скатертью дорога. А теперь отвали.

This almost made a refreshingly honest change (for a Russian spammer - a.k.a. 'Viktor'):


Thing is, his IP address (which had already been reported multiple times) actually showed as Frankfurt, Germany.

This is getting boring. Yet another Russian spammer whose recent activity has been reported 8400 times. Now deleted.


Although they also conveniently stated their location as Russia, the IP address is a proxy server in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Hmm. A Google search on 'Russian spammers' reveals this not a new problem on phpBB. Got some reading to do.


More helpful information on this Wikipedia page. Noted these couple of sentences under the paragraph heading Effects:
Spam prevention and deletions measurably increase the workload of forum administrators and moderators. The amount of time and resources spent keeping a forum spam-free contributes significantly to labor cost and the skill required in the running of a public forum.

Another concerted attack by a Russian spammer this afternoon. 17 Cyrillic posts in one thread. Now all deleted.

Some of these spammers aren't very original. Dennis the Russian Menace has been using the same first name, IP and email address (to spam dozens of other websites) since the first week of October last year. Dennis duly despatched.

I haven't recorded every spammer that I've banned and deleted recently, but while I remember, there were a couple more who newly registered late last night. No great surprise, the IP addresses were located in the Russian federation:


They claimed to be 'on holiday' in more exotic locations. They're now taking a rather more permanent vacation.
For the record (to remind me), including the 2 above, that's now a total of 39 I've banned and deleted in one week.

It's been disconcertingly quiet on the spammer front today (compared to yesterday). Not a peep. Nada. I'd like to think that with the additional counter-measures I've put in place over the last couple of days, I'm finally starting get ahead of their game, but I suspect this brief respite may just be the calm before the (next) storm.

Aaaaw, I really wanted to download those Mp3 songs!

Strike spammer #40 (and incidentally ex-forum user #100). Melvin gets his marching orders at short notice. Gone.

Another Russian spammer gets a black mark. On permanent vacation, not in 'The Bahamas', but exiled to Room #101.

The frequency of their appearances seems to be gradually diminishing, so perhaps I'm winning the war on spammers, on the Russian front. They're not the only culprits. This one, whom I've just deleted seemed to be 'Lost in France'. Their IP address location showed otherwise: Naaldwijk in the Netherlands. They had previous form, so are now history.

A spammer a day keeps the Russians at bay.


Although this newest registrant kindly provided his location as Russia, his IP address was a proxy server in Lichtenstein.
Now he's just another brick in the wall. Strike spammer #43.


And now, for a brief musical interlude - or if you prefer: the Spamish rendition. (As explained by Business Insider).

Evidently, the Russians don't actually like Spam. Its distribution was vetoed by Stalin during World War II. Instead they consume Tushonka - a kind of canned stewed meat, which looks about as appetizing as dog food.

Seiko7A38 wrote: ↑Wed Apr 21, 2021 3:09 pmSpam prevention and deletions measurably increase the workload of forum administrators and moderators.

I'm not sure I can cope with all this spamming activity. Another one caught taking an afternoon siesta, bites the dust.


Note the unusual choice of false location given: 'Gibraltar'. Conflicting IP address location showed as the Seychelles.

Another Russian (sorry Ukrainian) spammer, promoting a dubious online gaming service, played his hand late last night and got lucky. In a brief 15 minute winning streak, he racked up the perfect score of 21 posts. He's busted and since been escorted from the floor by the house management.

These Russian spammers are a damned nuisance, but very easily despatched while they're still inactive, like this one:


Note the false stated location of 'Zimbabwe'. Makes a change from Ghana or Nigeria (traditional home of scammers).
The actual IP location (used by a multitude of different spam email addresses) was a proxy server in Switzerland.