08-01-2008, 07:39 AM
Something you should always be on the lookout for at your forum are spam accounts. Spammers like to use spam accounts to do a few different things..
Spam posts
Once registered they have posts already created so they can just copy and paste right into their new posts. Some Spammers have bots that can do this. Bots are really bad because they can post a lot of messages really fast.
Spam PMs
Sending spam PMs to registered users is something else you have to watch for. For this, you should create a normal account and check that accounts PMs daily.
Spam Links
Within the profile or bio page Spammers put their spam links there. You should check all accounts to make sure they don't contain links that you do not approve of.
Spam Username
Putting the URL to a spam site as the username is another trick used. Check all usernames to assure they do not contain spam.
Email Harvesting
Once registered Spammers will use your members page, calender, posts, and other info on your forum to gather the email addresses of your members from their profile page (if it is displayed). Creating a fake account and checking that accounts email address is one way to help catch this problem.
In general if you check your forum daily you will catch the spam accounts pretty fast. You should be warned... If you don't! Spammer communicate quickly and your forum will be getting spammed very fast. Its a lot harder to stop spam then to prevent it.
Spam posts
Once registered they have posts already created so they can just copy and paste right into their new posts. Some Spammers have bots that can do this. Bots are really bad because they can post a lot of messages really fast.
Spam PMs
Sending spam PMs to registered users is something else you have to watch for. For this, you should create a normal account and check that accounts PMs daily.
Spam Links
Within the profile or bio page Spammers put their spam links there. You should check all accounts to make sure they don't contain links that you do not approve of.
Spam Username
Putting the URL to a spam site as the username is another trick used. Check all usernames to assure they do not contain spam.
Email Harvesting
Once registered Spammers will use your members page, calender, posts, and other info on your forum to gather the email addresses of your members from their profile page (if it is displayed). Creating a fake account and checking that accounts email address is one way to help catch this problem.
In general if you check your forum daily you will catch the spam accounts pretty fast. You should be warned... If you don't! Spammer communicate quickly and your forum will be getting spammed very fast. Its a lot harder to stop spam then to prevent it.