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Trackback/Comment Spam
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jn
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 01, 2005 5:02 pm    Post subject: Trackback/Comment Spam Reply with quote

John, I'm seeing some weird trackback type spam, but not sure exactly what was happening. Hoped you could elaborate.

If you check recent trackbacks tab on my site http://www.tryontheglasses.com you'll see:

recent trackbacks
texas holdem
online poker
online poker
online poker
online poker
texas holdem
online poker
online casino
BIG DOG's WEBLOG
The Debate Zone

Weird part is that the trackbacks are in the list, but don't seem to exist. They don't show up in the articles or in the dashboard.

Almost as if their little hacker script is only half processing their trackbacks?
Is there any way to get rid of them completely?

Any help appreciated.

Thanks.

jn
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john
Site Admin


Joined: 16 Mar 2004
Posts: 3434

PostPosted: Tue Feb 01, 2005 11:16 pm    Post subject: Re: Trackback/Comment Spam Reply with quote

I checked your blog; the BIG DOG's WEBLOG and The Debate Zone trackbacks appear to be genuine trackbacks from real people. You can delete them if you wish, but they don't appear to be spam.

The others were indeed spam and removed by our administrators.
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jn
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 12, 2005 8:21 pm    Post subject: phantom trackbacks Reply with quote

John, I'm still getting some of those "phantom" tracksbacks.
They show in my "recent trackbacks" list, but do not show up in the list in the dashboard so I can't delete them.
Please assist.
Thanks!
http://www.tryontheglasses.com
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john
Site Admin


Joined: 16 Mar 2004
Posts: 3434

PostPosted: Sat Feb 12, 2005 8:45 pm    Post subject: Re: phantom trackbacks Reply with quote

I don't see any "phantom" trackbacks... The stats in your dashboard match those from your recent trackbacks component... Did you know that your dashboard shows only the 5 most recent trackbacks until you change the number on the dropdown list and click Display?
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msl
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 12, 2005 9:14 pm    Post subject: I see them Reply with quote

My mistake, they are in the dashboard, sorry.
(They did exists that phantom way before though, and I think someone else here experienced it the same way, they showed in recent, but not in the dashboard)

phentermine

texas holdem

online poker

online poker

texas holdem

Any luck stopping this stuff yet? I've been getting more and more from exactly the same ones. Is there any defense?
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john
Site Admin


Joined: 16 Mar 2004
Posts: 3434

PostPosted: Sat Feb 12, 2005 11:09 pm    Post subject: Re: I see them Reply with quote

We're working on eliminating these spam using a couple of different techniques and developing some systems that will prevent these from arriving in the first place. We're doing a purge of these spams each business day, so there's no need for you to do anything at this time.
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cr
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 28, 2005 7:29 pm    Post subject: comment spam Reply with quote

John,

Thanks for doing that for our blogs. That is great news. we have been getting bombarded with spam when allowing anonymous comments. we have spent several hours of time over the past couple months in just deleting spam and looking out for it. Thanks for doing that, we really appreciate it. These guys change their ip addresses every time so we can't just ban them. Just to be clear, you are purging both trackback spam and comment spam right?
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john
Site Admin


Joined: 16 Mar 2004
Posts: 3434

PostPosted: Tue Mar 01, 2005 9:20 am    Post subject: Re: comment spam Reply with quote

We are only purging trackback spam. Your best protection against comment spam is to disable anonymous commenting... We can purge batches of comment spam when the spammer uses a user account to post the spam, but we cannot do batch purges of comment spam by anonymous guests.
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Wood



Joined: 30 Oct 2004
Posts: 21

PostPosted: Thu Sep 22, 2005 10:00 pm    Post subject: Arrrrrrgh! Reply with quote

Is there any way to implement some sort of "Yes, I am a human" verification system, similar to what Blogger has? I know it isn't perfect, but I think it's safe to say that most comment spam comes from a spam bot and not a real person, right?

I've gotten a lot of complaints from people who would like to comment but don't want to have to go through the various steps of creating a reader account--and for a one-time comment, I can't say as I blame them. In order to accomodate those folks, and get some feedback, I enabled anonymous comments again and in the last three hours I've deleted 30 comment spams.

There's got to be some middle ground, please!
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john
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Joined: 16 Mar 2004
Posts: 3434

PostPosted: Thu Sep 22, 2005 10:22 pm    Post subject: Re: Arrrrrrgh! Reply with quote

Is there any way to implement some sort of "Yes, I am a human" verification system, similar to what Blogger has?

Our "Yes, I am a human" verification system is our Reader Account system.

I enabled anonymous comments again and in the last three hours I've deleted 30 comment spams.

We can not stress enough that allowing anonymous comments will only bring you pain. It is not recommended and you will receive comment spam, and that amount of comment spam will only increase.

There's got to be some middle ground

Perhaps there could be someday, but at this time we highly advise you disable anonymous comments.
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HarryM



Joined: 03 Apr 2005
Posts: 10

PostPosted: Fri Sep 23, 2005 3:01 pm    Post subject: RE: Comment Spam Reply with quote

John, per the email suggestion that went out today I have disallowed anonymous commenting. I haven't had any problem with spammers, other than some minor referrer spam which you all have eliminated as far as I can tell. But I have no desire to spend hours cleaning out garbage.

I suspect, with no real way to confirm it, that adding robot exclusion meta tags to my template has kept me under the spammers' radar. Is that possible? That's not an option for people who need to have their blogs available to search engines. It seems to have worked for me.
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john
Site Admin


Joined: 16 Mar 2004
Posts: 3434

PostPosted: Fri Sep 23, 2005 6:35 pm    Post subject: Re: RE: Comment Spam Reply with quote

I suspect, with no real way to confirm it, that adding robot exclusion meta tags to my template has kept me under the spammers' radar. Is that possible?

It could be possible, but I can't say definitively either way...
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tcccoach



Joined: 08 Aug 2005
Posts: 41
Location: Florida

PostPosted: Sat Feb 10, 2007 9:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The comments section is something I want to improve somehow.

First, I notice that the only comments I get are clearly spam. The subjects for most of them are too nasty to even discuss here. The Spam filter really helps, and I use it. Some make it through but not many.

However, this protection seems to keep out real live interested comments. Is there a way to encourage live people to submit comments that exclude the automatic spammers? (Of course, I have to take responsibility for maybe not having a blog that attracts many comments, but only one in a year is a bit low, even for me.)

I comment a lot on other blogs and there seems to be a pattern on other blogs, where a spam blocker screen pops up that has letters and numbers that are not readable by computers that must be typed in to weed out computer spam.

I also agree that I would always want to review comments first.

I have rambled on, and shall now let John advise me as he always does so well.
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Bill Dueease
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tcccoach



Joined: 08 Aug 2005
Posts: 41
Location: Florida

PostPosted: Sat Feb 10, 2007 10:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

John,

I tested the submission of a comments section after I wrote my question. (not good form, but at least I did it) I discovered you do have the section with the funny letters and numbers.

So I have now answered my own question and hope to save you from doing so.

Is there an option to allow commenters to add their web site URLs as well?

Bill
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Bill Dueease
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john
Site Admin


Joined: 16 Mar 2004
Posts: 3434

PostPosted: Sat Feb 10, 2007 10:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Is there an option to allow commenters to add their web site URLs as well?

That's there too... Right at the bottom of the form is a heading labeled Contact information and below that is a text area with the label URL:.
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