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+----- Thread: Users that don't have their accounts activated yet? (/thread-24436.html)
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Users that don't have their accounts activated yet? - E-Man - 01-14-2014
When I look down into the "Who's Online" bar, I sometimes see users who haven't had their accounts activated for a long time, such as CorkUncooke. Considering that a few new users would really spice the place up, I was confused by why they were not yet registered yet; however, when I remembered my question about the users with wonky user names that got banned, I started to think that someone like CorkUncooke could actually be a bot.
Is my hunch correct and this is part of a system that prevents bots from wrecking havoc? I think this is the case because the link in CorkUncooke's Homepage bar on the profile is very wonky.
RE: Users that don't have their accounts activated yet? - Petie - 01-14-2014
All new accounts have to be activated by confirming the email address that was entered at registration. It can help to prevent spam as users who aren't activated can't post but most decent bots can check for and confirm those emails anyway so it's only a small part of the larger puzzle. Generally, bots are going to get through and then it just becomes a game of manual removal.
RE: Users that don't have their accounts activated yet? - Candel - 01-14-2014
He is.
Time spent online
http://www.vg-resource.com/member.php?action=profile&uid=23930
1 Month, 2 Weeks, 3 Days, 10 Hours, 34 Minutes, 7 Seconds
RE: Users that don't have their accounts activated yet? - Random Talking Bush - 01-14-2014
Gibberish e-mail address? Check.
Questionable IPs (how can this guy be logging in from both the Ukraine AND China simultaneously)? Check.
Completely idiotic website address? Check.
I'm banning him. Lurk he will no more. I'm always tempted to just prune the "unactivated" accounts that lurk around, but I won't as I don't know how many of those are actually real users and not bots. But since they can't be arsed to get proper e-mail addresses / verify them, then they obviously must not care. Speaking of which, just checking now we've got 1598 users that are still in the "Awaiting activation" group.
(And another thing I've noticed, most spambots seem to have "birthdays" between 1975 and 1985. I don't know if that means anything or not.)
(EDIT: Words, words.)
RE: Users that don't have their accounts activated yet? - Vipershark - 01-14-2014
Can I ban Brolveevatt then?
He (it?) Is /always/ online, usually on the "Don't have access" page.
RE: Users that don't have their accounts activated yet? - Random Talking Bush - 01-14-2014
(01-14-2014, 05:38 PM)Vipershark Wrote: Can I ban Brolveevatt then?Yep! Quick research shows that it's a duplicate account of CorkUncooke, follows the same three checks that it went through (e-mail gibberish, IP ranges, idiotic website). Although I have a feeling that they'll still linger even when banned, so I'm actually just gonna up and delete those two accounts.
He (it?) Is /always/ online, usually on the "Don't have access" page.
(EDIT: There we go. No more fake users taking up space.)
RE: Users that don't have their accounts activated yet? - E-Man - 01-15-2014
Guys, it looks like CorkUncooke is back.
http://www.vg-resource.com/member.php?action=profile&uid=26077
He/it doesn't look too much like a bot this time (i.e. no bizarre homepage address), but would you mind checking it out to make sure?
RE: Users that don't have their accounts activated yet? - Random Talking Bush - 01-15-2014
(01-15-2014, 08:48 AM)E-Man Wrote: Guys, it looks like CorkUncooke is back.Not if I have anything to say about that. It's using the same IP addresses that it used on the old account, so just to make sure that bugger isn't coming back, I'm banning all of 'em.
http://www.vg-resource.com/member.php?action=profile&uid=26077
He/it doesn't look too much like a bot this time (i.e. no bizarre homepage address), but would you mind checking it out to make sure?
RE: Users that don't have their accounts activated yet? - E-Man - 01-15-2014
Great job, RTB!
Now, what about this one?
http://www.vg-resource.com/member.php?action=profile&uid=21832
If this member was going to be a registered user, then why didn't he/she do so back in 2013?
RE: Users that don't have their accounts activated yet? - Random Talking Bush - 01-15-2014
I can't confirm if that person is a spambot or not, so I'll have to leave 'em alone.
RE: Users that don't have their accounts activated yet? - E-Man - 01-15-2014
Okay, fair enough. I'll let you know if I find any other suspicious users, RTB.
RE: Users that don't have their accounts activated yet? - E-Man - 01-16-2014
http://www.vg-resource.com/member.php?action=profile&uid=26089
It looks like some spam bots can't stay down.
Considering that CorkUncooke is pulling a Terminator on us, got any other strategies with dealing with the spam bot, RTB?
RE: Users that don't have their accounts activated yet? - Dazz - 01-16-2014
The account is unactivated; it really isn't a big deal...
RE: Users that don't have their accounts activated yet? - E-Man - 01-16-2014
Ture, but I just wanted to point it out in case RTB wanted to do anything about it.
I wouldn't blame him if he doesn't give two hoots about a bot that keeps coming back over and over again no matter what he does.
RE: Users that don't have their accounts activated yet? - Random Talking Bush - 01-16-2014
(01-16-2014, 07:49 AM)E-Man Wrote: Considering that CorkUncooke is pulling a Terminator on us, got any other strategies with dealing with the spam bot, RTB?Easy, delete the bot again, ban the bot's username so he can't register with that anymore.
