WANTED: Spammers

[Yoshi648]

Seems that with our growing popularity, we have been getting A LOT of spammers recently. They have been creating new accounts and then proceed to either post their garbage on the forum or PM their garbage to members (yet not admins or mods, I can't imagine why).

While we have been watching the new members come in and deleting the ones that make it very obvious they are spammers, there are still some that still get through. The ones who don't make it obvious they are a spammer just PM their junk to members of the forum where mods/admins can't see.

That's where you come in. If you receive a PM from a spammer and their account hasn't been deleted yet, please notify me or Cat through PM/Profile comment so that we can delete the account and they won't pester anyone else. Likewise, if you see the spam account has already been deleted then just simply delete the spam PM and move along. Thank you for your cooperation.

[Magmaster12]

Why couldn't you just make a mass PM for this?

[OMGITSJAD]

Originally Posted by Magmaster12

Why couldn't you just make a mass PM for this?

I say do this^ and I've noticed the spam accounts pop-up with firstnamelastname### A LOT. If you see a user w/ a name like johndoe222, fredrickgeorge22, sarahparsins111, etc. then alert us, please. =D

[LoPun]

*whistles innocently*
*gets stared at* WHAT?!

Ok, I'll try to post slower ok? I'm not going extremely off topic though.>w> Well, just like other forums, when forums get bigger and bigger with more and more people joining, there will always be spammers in that big group.DX Do you guys do one of those "No spam" questions in the registration? Sometimes that works.

[Yoshi648]

Originally Posted by LoPun

*whistles innocently*
*gets stared at* WHAT?!

Ok, I'll try to post slower ok? I'm not going extremely off topic though.>w> Well, just like other forums, when forums get bigger and bigger with more and more people joining, there will always be spammers in that big group.DX Do you guys do one of those "No spam" questions in the registration? Sometimes that works.

I'm not referring to people like you who are actual members here for conversation, I am referring to spammers who come here trying to sell us cheap drugs, timeshares, porn, etc.

[LoPun]

Originally Posted by Yoshi648

I'm not referring to people like you who are actual members here for conversation, I am referring to spammers who come here trying to sell us cheap drugs, timeshares, porn, etc.

Cheap drugs, rofl! XD I had to laugh on that.
I was just joking around.xP But really, do those weird NoSpam! questions work against those lousy spammers?

[Yoshi648]

Well we have a captcha set up. While that does get rid of the bots, the humans with nothing better to do still get through.

[Cat333Pokémon]

There is currently a ReCAPTCHA, one of those image puzzles where you have to tell what the words say, presented at login.

We were discussing the possibility of adding simply math equations in the mod board, but you can see how that turned out:

Originally Posted by Cat333Pokémon

I added a new question to the registration. "2+3="

Originally Posted by Shadow

Oh, good. Now our forums also sharpen your Maths skills

Originally Posted by Will

Haha but a maths question these days will not stop spam bots - they are very advanced these days.

Originally Posted by Shadow

Do you mean we should put a up such a question instead:

"3x + 5 = x - 3" - What is 'x' ?

Originally Posted by FreezeWarp

3x + 5 = x - 3
2x = -8
x = -4

...That was too easy.

f(x) = x^2 + 12x + 27
g(x) = 3x + 4

What are all of the real solutions to f(g(x))? (Candy for whoever gets this.)

Originally Posted by Cat333Pokémon

All real solutions? Well, that means I have to get the minimum first.

Domain = ℝ (All real numbers)

f(g(x)) = (3x + 4)² + 12(3x + 4) + 27
f(g(x)) = (3x + 4)² + 36x + 48 + 27
f(g(x)) = (3x + 4)² + 36x + 75

f(g(x))' = 2(3x + 4)(3) + 36
f(g(x))' = 18x + 24 + 36
f(g(x))' = 18x + 60
0 = 18x + 60
-60 = 18x
-10/3 = x

MIN = (3(-10/3) + 4)² + 12(3(-10/3) + 4) + 27
MIN = (-10 + 4)² + 12(-10 + 4) + 27
MIN = (-6)² + 12(-6) + 27
MIN = 36 - 72 + 27
MIN = -9

Range = [-9, ∞)

Can I have my candy now?

Originally Posted by LiteTheIronMan

That math problem made my brain shoot out of my head, grow legs, and run away saying "YOU CAN'T MAKE ME!"

Originally Posted by FreezeWarp

Don't ya love math? (<-- not a sarcastic/rhetoric question - I really do love math , figuratively)

Originally Posted by Winter

My god. Math was my worst subject so you are all running circles around me.

Originally Posted by Shadow

What the hell is all that?
I honestly have no clue from where to start 0_0

Originally Posted by Yoshi648

First you take the g() function and put it in place of x in the f() function and then simplify. Next, take the derivative of that function and you get x=-10/3. Then to find the minimum value you take that -10/3 and plug it back into the original equation. That gives you the minimum value of -9. Since the original domain was all real numbers, and your new minimum value is -9 your range of numbers is [9, ∞).

Originally Posted by Cat333Pokémon

Well, the domain of sin(x) is also all real numbers, but its range is only [-1, 1].

Originally Posted by James

Why does the alphabet need to be involved in math? D:

[Ningamer]

Originally Posted by James

Why does the alphabet need to be involved in math? D:

My thoughts exactly.

[Azu]

*bursts out laughing*
Oh, that is too funny. I could have solved that, too.

But can bots really do something like the simple match questions? I don't suppose there's a way to ask, 'What's the name of this forum?' as a security question?

[Cat333Pokémon]

Originally Posted by Azu

*bursts out laughing*
Oh, that is too funny. I could have solved that, too.

But can bots really do something like the simple match questions? I don't suppose there's a way to ask, 'What's the name of this forum?' as a security question?

While that is a clever question, I believe we're dealing with human-activated bots. These are people who create/activate accounts on forums and then provide the login details to their bot programs. Unless we make the question something only fans of the forum topic would know, which is a common theme on many other forums, there is almost know way to stop them.

As an aside, I actually had to research the forum topic to join another forum so I could talk with the administrator. It was a Naruto forum, and I had to find the name of one of the main characters. I can honestly say that it worked well to keep folks who didn't know anything about Naruto off the site but kept it so even the most basic of fans would know. A human spammer wouldn't find it worth the effort and would just look for a new forum.

Of course, with Pokémon, many people know who Pikachu is. Heck, there are almost as many fans who would spell it wrong (I spelled it "Picachu" when I was eight.) as there are non-fans who know enough to get past that. Perhaps we could use something like "What were the first Pokémon games to be released? (Please only state the version name of one game.)" Answers "red", "blue", "green", and maybe "yellow" for the less knowledgeable would be accepted.

[Ayunnuya]

Why ban spam! It's so salty and canned!

[Yoshi648]

Because the spam I be talkin about is clogging the internet tubes.

[Ayunnuya]

Originally Posted by Yoshi648

Because the spam I be talkin about is clogging the internet tubes.

Oh, you mean this kind?

[isbragg]

Originally Posted by Ayunnuya

Oh, you mean this kind?

Don't turn into one yourself!

[Velociraptor78]

I recommend this; http://www.sporcle.com/games/pokemon.php
It's a game in which you must name all 151 original species of Pokémon. (the ones included in RGBY) While it may not help much, we can at least ask that they take the quiz, list how long it took them, and which Pokémon they missed (if applicable). Full completions and misses of up to 5 Pokémon will be accepted, all others will have to wait 28 days (4 weeks) to attempt again.

[Yoshi648]

Uh, that is WAY to much.

Besides, I found something that I showed Cat that he will probably add. Basically when a new member registers it checks their username/e-mail/IP adress against a major list of known spammers and does away with them.

[randoguy101]

I got a strange message from a user named "Yoshi648" should I delete it?

[Yoshi648]

Originally Posted by randoguy101

I got a strange message from a user named "Yoshi648" should I delete it?

nah yoshis a cool guy, eh deletes spammers and doesn't afraid of nothin

[alternateshadow300]

Man, I have no ideas to prevent these folks!

[Yoshi648]

Don't worry about it, I've been checking over the new accounts as they register and Cat will hopefully be installing something to prevent most of them from even signing up. I just want people like you to let me know if someone sends you PM spam, because they don't like sending it to admins (can't imagine why) so we can't tell they are spammers.

[randoguy101]

Well, you could check their forms and see if the Favourite Pokemon box is a non-Pokemon. For example, http://www.freemo isn't a Pokemon, but Riolu is. Additionally, see if any of the Friend Codes are entries with letters (tv movies fr).

Also, can't Admins see all the PMs ever sent?

[GronerTheGreatONE]

I got one called ethernity and his pm was:'I am a spammer. Delete this pm.'LOLZ fail

[Yoshi648]

Originally Posted by GronerTheGreatONE

I got one called ethernity and his pm was:'I am a spammer. Delete this pm.'LOLZ fail

That is because Cat went into the database and modified the text of those spam PM messages so you know it is spam and to delete it.

[Shadow]

After reading about the 'spam attack', I'm checking the Members List more often now, and I'm visiting the profiles of the suspicious members to make sure they're not spam bots. Currently, everything looks fine to me.

Originally Posted by Yoshi648

That is because Cat went into the database and modified the text of those spam PM messages so you know it is spam and to delete it.

That's quite helpful for members to spot spammers.

[GronerTheGreatONE]

thanks for telling me yoshi but what are they doing other than spam(which is oblivious)and what do they spam like crazy?Dont call me ignorant its my 1st forum and how can I know they are spammers?

[Ayunnuya]

Seeing as the title says Spammers are wanted, is there a reward offered for finding some? :3