Spam

[Eric]

I'm sorry about all of the trouble we're having with spam at the moment, and wanted to let you all know that it's not limited to us. Many other forums and blogs are having the same trouble right now.

I'm going to shut the forum down for a couple hours tomorrow to make a few changes. After that, unfortunately, I'll be gone for the weekend without much in the way of internet access.

I'm thinking about suspending new forum registrations during that time to keep the filth out... what do you folks think?

[Edward]

erc - you are running the show, do what you feel has to be done to keep the board clean. Appreciate your efforts and concern along with the outstanding job you're doing.

[JohnH]

Eric:

I have noticed some of the same trash posting on the Tax Book board, so for some reason these perverts do seem to have taken an interest in accounting & tax forums. (Somebody has way too much time on their hands).

Seems like a reasonable to suspend new registrations until it's convenient for you to address the problem.

[michaelmars]

i agree but lets keep the board working for the rest of us with only 15 days left to file i am sure many people will need the forum to lean on.

[Eric]

Eric:

I have noticed some of the same trash posting on the Tax Book board, so for some reason these perverts do seem to have taken an interest in accounting & tax forums. (Somebody has way too much time on their hands).

Seems like a reasonable to suspend new registrations until it's convenient for you to address the problem.

A group of people in Russia have released a new version of their software which allows spammers to bypass spam protections in all kinds of websites.. even Google and Microsoft's spam protections have been cracked. This allows an automated process to go and register for forums and blogs and email accounts to spread enormous amounts of garbage very quickly.

I've banned 9 IP address ranges and a few e-mail domains which has blocked many, but not all of them.

The company who makes the forum software has released an update tonight that will hopefully fix the mess, which I will install tomorrow. Not sure if it'll do the trick or not, we'll just have to wait and see.

[Lion EA]

Thank you for everything.

[Eric]

I just thought of an additional method to keep out automated spam bots, and possibly even human spammers from other countries.

I could add a question to the forum's registration form, such as

"What four digit number is associated with the federal individual income tax form?"

People registering for this forum wouldn't have any trouble getting the answer right, but automated bots wouldn't know what to put there.

[barosser]

sounds logical to me. I heard that they have figured out how to read the words that are scambled that individuals have to input to get in. Appreciate all your help.

[TAXBILLY]

Erc, you are a genius!!

taxbilly

[bstaxes]

Thanks for keeping this board clean. I like the tax question to register. Enjoy your weekend.

[Eric]

I've added the extra question to the registration form. Do you think that the wording above is clear enough?

[Don in Upstate NY]

"What four digit number is associated with the federal individual income tax form?"

1776? 1492? e^j(pi)? Can I use one of my lifelines? :unsure:

[kcjenkins]

Lucky for you, you are already a member, Don, so you don't need a lifeline. Good thing, huh?

[taxxcpa]

I could add a question to the forum's registration form, such as

"What four digit number is associated with the federal individual income tax form?"

That four-digit number must be 1913, the year the income tax law was passed.

[Gail in Virginia]

Right about now I think it is either 2210 or 4868, because everybody is waiting is long as they possibly can because they owe money, and I am pretty sure that as soon as I can finally get them to bring in their stuff for us to file their return, they will start yelling about "where's my stimulus check!" Some days, I wonder why I ever decided to go into this business.

:rolleyes:

[JohnH]

Tell them the government is now holding all remaining stimulus checks to help pay for the $700 Billion bailout - they procrastinated too long before deciding to file.