Persistant Spammers

[Dilip]

How do you handle if a spammer group adds you to their list? What if they automate everything smartly that they can bombard you with spam all the time?

I have seen automated spam with humans involved. They are kind of impossible to stop.

[Sofia]

17 minutes ago, Dilip said:

They are kind of impossible to stop.

Why do you think so? If you consequently delete their content or set everything to pre-moderation, then you can.

Spammers do not spam to just annoy you. That is not their goal. If their content is not seen or just for a short period of time, they will stop. As this will not make sense for them. They have to be “efficient” too.

You just have to be a little more persistent as them. 😉 

Edited February 9 by Sofia

[Dilip]

I switched to admin approval only for new members. It is effective but I lost a lot of people who wanted to register and start immediately.

[Sofia]

In fact, I would choose this method as a last resort.

It is much better to use Spam Defense if you have an active license. Or Cleantalk plugin if your license has expired. That kills 90% of spammers. Then use the link filter and set all posts that contain links to pre-moderation.

This is a robust concept that will easily and effectively keep spam out of your community.

[Nomad]

In the past, I used to put 20 posts in moderation for new members and once I did not see any issue I auto approved posts. However, sometimes spammers are smart they will credit good posts for their first 20 posts than then start spamming. These days, I approve registration manually, and allow the member to post for a couple of days. If I see any issues related to spamming. I will block their accounts.