Dealing with forum spam can feel like a never-ending battle, but I've picked up a few tricks over the years that've made a significant difference. My primary approach has always been to employ multiple defenses simultaneously. I always include tough CAPTCHA challenges when people sign up and when they post, and I also have strict moderation queues for new users and any posts that contain links. One approach that has been surprisingly effective is the use of honeypot traps. These are hidden fields on registration forms that only bots would try to fill out, and they catch automated spammers without bothering real users. I'm also a big believer in letting the community help out; empowering trusted members to flag suspicious activity gives you an extra set of eyes. And finally, it's crucial to keep your anti-spam plugins and modules up to date and properly configured, as spammers continually find new ways to bypass them.
What has been your go-to for forum spam prevention?
- Thread starter FraudClient
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Jason
Member
Forum spam is easy for me to stop. All I do is ask a certain question during user registration. It's a question where I ask users to spell a word backward. It works very well.
Has anyone tried that? What might be some pitfalls to that method. Well, one might be not changing the question occasionally. Bots could be smart enough to adapt to things, kind of like how bacteria adapt to antibiotics.
Has anyone tried that? What might be some pitfalls to that method. Well, one might be not changing the question occasionally. Bots could be smart enough to adapt to things, kind of like how bacteria adapt to antibiotics.
The ole backwards word was an original back in the day. I was surprised to see it when I registered on your forum.
However, if it still works for you, then that's great! With new tech nowadays, it's simple to get around this check.
Jason
Member
I've heard of the honeypot method. I've seen a WordPress extension using that. Has anyone on here tried it? I haven't tried it.The ole backwards word was an original back in the day. I was surprised to see it when I registered on your forum.
I always like it when security questions are asked at registration. Asking some very simple and forum-specific questions that bots can't answer works well. This will help filter a surprising number of automated signups. A manual approval for first-time posters also works. This saved me a lot of headaches.