Drug Company Spammer

[Lora]

Hey All... :)

So I keep getting the same spammer over and over and for the same thing... a drug zyprexa.

I keep banning them and they come back with a new email from the same email service.

I have a profile questions in place and both Captcha and email verification.

They answer by placing a dot. How come they are not stopped from joining at this point?  Once they do not answer the question correctly, they should be stopped. Why isn't that working?

[Lora]

bumping this....

Shouldn't the fact that they answer with a dot and do not answer the required question with the set answer stop them? Otherwise what is the point in doing that?

I asked... what is this planet and gave only one choice but they answer with a dot. AM I doing something wrong???

[Writer Chick {Diane}]

Do you have member moderation turned on?  Meaning you have to approve all new members?

[Lora]

No and I appreciate the reply but I don't think that will help... :)

I will not recognize a spammer by their name or email... :)

I am hoping for an explanation as to why answering with a dot allows them into the site when I have it set up for them to give a specific answer. Shouldn't giving the wrong answer block them?

[Patrick Chappelle]

You can always recognize a spammer by their profile pic. The network I run now is the fifth I've had since joining Ning several years ago, and not once have I ever had a problem with spammers. I'm also adept at spotting and getting rid of spammers at other networks where I am administrator.

There's obviously something wrong with your profile questions, either they are too short, or too easy to respond to. Here are some ways to spot a spammer:

1) Profile pic. They love using those stupid pictures of plants, or some other kind of art (bowl of fruit, etc.). Some use cartoon-styled images. If you're not making it a requirement for prospective members to upload a profile picture, it's even worse.

2) If they respond to all of your profile questions "tell you later", that is a spammer.

3) They give short answers to your profile questions. Spammers are lazy and often give short or stupid answers.

I'd be willing to wager your profile questions aren't strong, and hence the reason these spammers are getting into your network. Moderating (as Dianne suggested) works, but only if your questions are strong, and you know what to look for.

[Lora]

I understand all that.... :) But to have to approve new members will really make an impact. I guess all I can do is to try it for a month.

[Lora]

So I changed my site to moderated membership and now I seem to have an issue with folks getting error messages saying the site can not be found and others having their security systems not allowing them to view the site.

Help!