Spam bots are getting ridiculous again

[Den]

Not sure if it’s just me, but the spam on my forum has been way worse this week. Same junk signups, same weird links, same bot-looking usernames. I’ve tightened a few things already, but it still feels like whack-a-mole. Anyone else dealing with this lately?

[pixelwitch]

Honestly, Well, yeah, same here. Feels like every time I clean it up they just come back with slightly different usernames and the same garbage links. I’ve had better luck with slowing signups down than trying to block every bot outright. Still a pain though. That’s how I look at it.

[Den]

To be fair, kind of feels like yeah, it’s been ugly this week. I’ve seen the same pattern too — junk signups, random link spam, then they tweak the usernames and keep going. Slowing registrations down usually helps more than trying to play whack-a-mole with every single bot. At least lately.

[hankroot]

Yeah, same crap here. It’s not even clever anymore, just endless junk accounts and the same lazy link drops. Slowing signups down helps a bit, but honestly it just buys you time. These bot swarms always seem to come back once they sniff out an easy forum.

[Pike]

Yeah, same here. It’s like they found the most boring way possible to be annoying. Slowing signups helps a bit, but it never really stops it, just makes it less stupid for a day or two.

[Pike]

Yeah, same here. It’s been that gross little wave of junk accounts that all look like they came out of the same script. What’s annoying is half the time they’re not even trying to be sneaky, they just keep hammering the same weak spots until you patch one and they move to the next. Slowing reg helps a bit, but yeah, it’s just buying time like hankroot said. I’ve had better luck making the signup flow just annoying enough that the lazy stuff dies off fast. Not perfect, obviously. But if you’re seeing the same usernames and link patterns, it’s probably one of those bot batches that’s been recycled across a bunch of forums again. Honestly,

[meloncrash]

Yeah, “lazy bot batch” is right. That’s what it feels like lately — same garbage usernames, same nonsense profiles, same dumb links nobody asked for. I’m honestly getting tired of playing defense on this stuff every few weeks. You patch one hole and they just keep poking around like they’ve got all day.

[meloncrash]

Well, yeah, same junk here. Feels like they’re running the exact same script across half the internet and just swapping usernames. I’ve had a little luck with making signup a pain in the ass, but it’s still whack-a-mole like you said.

[hankroot]

Yeah, it’s been ugly. Same pattern here — junk signups, a couple link dumps, then they vanish and come back under a different name like it’s some thrilling hobby. Honestly half the battle is just making it annoying enough that they move on to an easier target. Not glamorous, but it works better than chasing every single one after the fact Usually,.

[axelrowan]

Yeah, same here. It’s like they’ve all got the same crappy playbook and just keep rotating usernames until something sticks. Honestly the only thing that’s helped much for me is making signup/signup-posting annoying enough that they bail. Not perfect, but at least it cuts down the garbage a bit.

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