We Know That You're Getting Spam Private Messages

[Richard Kaufman]

Folks, we're sorry this is happening, and we are well aware that many of you are receiving spammed private messages. Do NOT click on anything in the message.

We are in the process of installing additional anti-spam software to take care of the problem. Thanks.

[I.M. Magician]

What happens if you click on anything in the message?

[Richard Kaufman]

You might download a virus.

[I.M. Magician]

OK, good to know. Thanks!

[HFZNSR]

Have you checked the permissions for the "Guest" and "Anonymous" groups? The permission to send/receive PMs for these groups should be set to No.

[Richard Kaufman]

Where would I find those located?

[Chris Aguilar]

@ Richard,

As a temporary fix, there are some very easy to set limits on private messaging that you could use.

Check out this link to see the admin panel area to find them.

You'll find options to limit PM's so they cannot be sent to groups or multiple users.

And also an option to put a hard limit on how many recipients a private message is allowed.

[Richard Kaufman]

Thank you! Done.

[Leo Garet]

Excuse me being thick, but can these spam-mails be deleted, as with "regular" spam e-mail stuff?
If so, how?
Thanks.

[Richard Kaufman]

No sure what you mean, Jack. You can just delete it whether it's a private message or a regular spam email in your inbox.

[Leo Garet]

Jack...?

I think it was me that just couldn't find the correct "buttons".
Actually, there's no "Think" about it. It was me. Found it, done it.

Thanks!

[Richard Kaufman]

Sorry about that, Leo.

[HFZNSR]

Where would I find those located?

In the Admin Panel that Chris mentions in his post, see the Permissions tab at the top. It's usually easiest to never set permissions by forums or by users, only by groups. You can set different permissions for your Admins, Registered Users, Guests, Bots, etc., including turning PM permissions completely off except for your Registered Users and Admins.

[Chas Nigh]

Clicked on it but thank God for Bit Defender. I was half awake when I clicked.

[Richard Kaufman]

I've banned the bot that was sending the private messages. With our new spam software in place, that should be the end of it.

[Chris Aguilar]

I've been testing the "Stop Forums Spam" phpBB extension in conjunction with the "sortables" captcha and so far so good. Spam registrations have now dropped to near zero (compared to several a day that I would have to delete).

It's a good combination, because, even if the captcha is solved, the "stop forums spam" extension checks e-mail, IP address, etc. against a very large, current database of spammers and stops the registration.