What do you recommend for new user registration settings?

[cheesecrakr]

Hello, I recently upgraded my forum from 3.3.3 to 3.3.13 and moved my tons of data to another server.

Now I am dealing with lots of junk accounts loading up my post approval queue with garbage and porn links. My settings currently allow new users immediate access and do not require user activation through email. The email activation used to be our setting until that process stopped working and new users wouldn't get the email to complete registration. I think/hope that with the site upgrade, which consisted of a brand new fresh install of phpBB, that the email user activation might work now.

I think this would stop some of the junk accounts from signing up. Also I have post approval turned on for new members, to stop the spam from hitting the boards. I used to have a Q&A process for new members but that seems to have been recently turned off. I intend to turn that back on.

I was just wondering what protocol you guys use for your new member registration and if there are any recommendations for mine to help weed out the garbage. Thanks for any input and the input I have received here in the past... very helpful group here

Oh, my site is [removed]

[exemplary1]

I see you have Q&A turned on. That should stop the spams with hard to guess answer for bots. Do you still getting spam registrations ?
(And the latest version is 3.3.13).

[janus_zonstraal]

Q&A and I have to approve every first post of a new member.
And block with Cloudflare certain country's and bots.

[cheesecrakr]

I see you have Q&A turned on. That should stop the spams with hard to guess answer for bots. Do you still getting spam registrations ?
(And the latest version is 3.3.13).

Yes, I went back and edited it, typo. Thanks!
I am getting some spam registrations. I just banned two by IP today.

[Mick]

Your Q&A is probably too easy.

You’re making work for yourself with allowing guest posting, turn that off or allow it in one forum only.

Q&A works better if you have the Newly Registered User group active as well.

Get that email working, if you need help with that start a fresh topic and or speak to your host.

[janus_zonstraal]

[ I just banned two by IP today.

Pointless, spammers change there IP address very frequent.

[cheesecrakr]

You’re making work for yourself with allowing guest posting, turn that off or allow it in one forum only.

Guests can't post as far as I know. Were you given the option to post a reply?

[cheesecrakr]

My question for new registration is "what are the first three letters of this website". Is that something a bot is able to overcome? I just declined two posts from russia, trying to sell cocaine.

[janus_zonstraal]

Block Russia (and other spam country's) with Cloudflare or https://www.phpbb.com/customise/db/exte ... bycountry/

[Mick]

Guests can't post as far as I know. Were you given the option to post a reply?

No, I just took it from your post you did have, but, letting new users straight in free to post is no different really

Is that something a bot is able to overcome?

Yes, more than likely.

I personally recommend Q&A with an answer that can’t be Googled and an activated Newly Registered Group set to a threshold of one or more, two is usually enough.

[cheesecrakr]

They are free to post once they've created an account, but the posts don't show up until I approve them. The spammers submit one to three usually and figure out that their posts aren't making it through and give up, I assume. But when multiple spammers do that all in one day, it gets to be a lot of deleting and banning. Maybe that's all just part of it. Looking right now, we have seven disapproved posts by myself and my moderators in the past 24 hours. I need to figure out how to implement extensions (yeah, I'm that new to this sort of thing).

A question that can't be googled... can google answer "what are the first three letters of this website"? When I google that, I get unrelated stuff. I need the question to be foolproof for a real user, something they can see or is common knowledge. It used to be "spell the sum of fourteen plus two" and that CAN be googled, so I tried to make it harder for a bot. What's an example of the type of question you recommend if you don't mind?

We average almost 2.5 new users a day and a bit over 73 new posts per day.

[exemplary1]

These are probably automatic tools using AI, so as they are coming to your website, and they already have your website name, figuring out your website's first 3 letters is easy. Another question you mentioned is very easy too for AI.
Maybe you can ask a question related to your website.
There are few more discussions already here on how to fight spam, you might want to go through it.

[Mick]

Bots were doing what they do long before Ai, you can’t blame that although they are a pain. They’re very persistent too, we’ve had one just now that comes back every week or so and has done for months with no sign of relenting.

It’s always better to stop the bots getting in in the first place, How to configure Q&A CAPTCHA. may help with that. It sounds to me with Q&A & the NRU (presumably?) that you have it sussed. It’s a continuous process that never ends, welcome to the world of bulletin boards

[exemplary1]

I am talking about AI, because in my non-enlgish forum I dont see any attempt from bot to register due to Q&A.

[exemplary1]

I am talking about AI, because in my non-enlgish forum I dont see any attempt from bot to register due to Q&A.

OK, I got my first spam message (in a European language) as I removed Q&A from Contact Admin page two days ago.