People are SCUM!!!

[markblair]

OK, here's the deal. Some good family friends lost their 15-year-old daughter almost two years ago in a very bad automobile accident. For the past year I've been running a website in her memory which is meant for people to understand who she was and to share their thoughts of this girl. As with most memorial sites, it's customary to have a guestbook for people to sign. Lately, I've been having to police the guestbook more and more. Messages like the one listed below have been posted in the past but today alone I had to remove five of them. casabona
e-mail casabona@netmar.com
URL: http://family-reunion-themes.manie.olawa.pl
Location: condormayllana
Mon, June 6, 2005 17:20 IP: 81.255.88.3 Hello and congratulations! Very interesting & professional site! It forced me to temporarily remove the guestbook so I could find one that allows me to review each new entry before allowing them. I had been using the Advanced Guestbook (http://www.proxy2.de/) script but the admin area is very basic. I now have the pain staking task of moving all of the previous 60 or so comments to a new guestbook once it has been fully customized.

What bothers me the most isn't the fact that these loser Spammers do this crap (and that does bother me), it's that they do it on sites like the memorial site for this deceased girl. It's really pathetic that they think they can actually get people to their sites this way. I've also already blocked several IP's from even viewing the site. It's very sad...

Has anyone else experienced something like this? What steps did you take to prevent it? I was hoping the current guestbook would allow the admin to moderate new posts but it doesn't. That's why I'm moving stuff over. By the way, the one I'm going to be setting up is the ViPER Guestbook (http://www.vipergb.de.vu/) script. Does anyone know of something better or maybe you have a suggestion on ways to reduce this from happening (outside of what I'm already doing)?

[bd2003]

I don't bother with guestbooks any more... I've taken to using (and recommending) forum software as a guestbook alternative...

And you're right - that person is scum.

[Chicken]

"Hello and congratulations!" -congratulations on your daughter dying?

I don't think spammers really care one way or another about very much. If it's wrong or annoying, they'll do it. They'll gladly send porn spam with images to anyone with an email address, even a 12 year old. They don't care, so my advice to you is to not get worked up over it and just do what you're going to do (put something in place to prevent it).

[markblair]

I don't bother with guestbooks any more... I've taken to using (and recommending) forum software as a guestbook alternative... Well, I tried that once with one site and it didn't go over well at all. Plus, forums take much more time and tweaking to setup properly. I understand they have some more options for banning and such but people can still post the same crap. The only thing I'm really looking for is a feature that allows me to review posts before they become live. Thankfully that's also available in at least one guestbook script I found. :) ...so my advice to you is to not get worked up over it and just do what you're going to do (put something in place to prevent it). I totally agree. The majority of my original post was just to vent. ;) The rest was merely to make sure I'm thinking straight and not missing some golden script that will solve all of my problems. I just know that if I ever bump into the scum that posted those messages, the sight wouldn't be pretty. And saying "People are SCUM!" is probably too mean to regular people. I should have said "Spammers are SCUM!" as that's more realistic.

[Chicken]

I'd actually think the forum idea would work out pretty good. Takes a few minutes to set up, but...

You could set up one forum, with the URL directly to that forum, like this...

Link to Guestbook (http://hosthideout.com/forumdisplay.php?f=32)

Or even to a single thread (users wouldn't be able to create threads, just reply to existing ones). Or users could create threads and not reply to other threads, etc.

Seems to be much more flexibility there, plus admin section has got to be better than guestbook scripts. Banning, censorship, IP blocking, etc.

[bd2003]

I'd actually think the forum idea would work out pretty good. Takes a few minutes to set up, but...

You could set up one forum, with the URL directly to that forum, like this...

Link to Guestbook (http://hosthideout.com/forumdisplay.php?f=32)

Or even to a single thread (users wouldn't be able to create threads, just reply to existing ones). Or users could create threads and not reply to other threads, etc.

Seems to be much more flexibility there, plus admin section has got to be better than guestbook scripts. Banning, censorship, IP blocking, etc.

That's actually what I did. I set up a "Guestbook" link that points to the only thread guests are allowed to post in, having it going directly to a new posting screen... using SMF, wasn't too bad to set up at all... guests can only start threads, can't reply to any (only mods can)...

another advantage is that most of the guestbook spam scripts can't handle posting to a forum (so far, I think, maybe)...

If you like, you can see what I'm talking about by going to getawayband.net and clicking on the Guestbook link...

But please don't judge me by the site itself... ;)

[Chicken]

That's pretty much it. The only thing that strikes me as odd is that the first thing you see is a place to submit an entry. For some reason I like to see this page first, with a button to post a thread instead...

http://getawayband.net/smf/index.php?PHPSESSID=b967650107b866924d72131800f722 58&board=20.0

Maybe I guess I like to read a few first, shows signs of life, etc.

[bd2003]

That's pretty much it. The only thing that strikes me as odd is that the first thing you see is a place to submit an entry. For some reason I like to see this page first, with a button to post a thread instead...

http://getawayband.net/smf/index.php?PHPSESSID=b967650107b866924d72131800f722 58&board=20.0

Maybe I guess I like to read a few first, shows signs of life, etc.

That's really not a bad idea... I'll run it past the owner and see what he has to say... thanks for the feedback...

[RaDay]

Good Luck, I'm not sure if its available but image verification to post would get rid of your spammers....they use autmoated scripts to scan google and such and post to the simple things like guests books that have no authorization or verification procedures.

[markblair]

I suppose using a forum wouldn't be the worst option and could work quite well as long as it is streamlined quite a bit. Basically only one or two (max) forums would be needed and then as others have said, have a direct link to that forum. The only issue then is that forum software tends to require more updates due to security issues than guestbooks do. So you'd have to keep on top of that.

Staying with the guestbook idea, image verification would be ideal. The scripts I've been looking at unfortunately don't have that though. :( My big dilemma right now is customizing this ViPER Guestbook. It's not as simple as the last one which is positive and negative at the same time. Thanks for all the comments and suggestions everyone. ;)

[tranz]

Mark,

Find a PHP script and a sep image verification script and I'll have my lead developer integrate the two. The other option would be to use a flash based solution. Being coded in flash it would work the same but bots wouldnt know how to follow the submit paths.

[markblair]

Thanks tranz. I'll look for several alternatives and if I find something that I think would work best, I'll let you know.

[johncesta]

You need to get one of those guest books or modify the one you have to force the "guest" to enter in the displayed code. I would think that most of the spammer stuff you see is created by an automated process. I have the same problem with my helpdesk form.

[Gnitsoh]

I dont bother with guestbooks now either. It seems people will do anything now a days to get the word out about their company.

[markblair]

I was able to find one of the lead guys that has a big part to do with Advanced Guestbook has created his own guestbook that allows for the admin to review all new messages. I now have that guestbook in place and am in the process of installing an image verification script to really help with the spam. It seems others (no surprise) had the same problem and finally someone did something about it. ;) Thanks for all the tips and suggestions.

[LetsFly]

We use Active Guestbook on our website, it has some great anti-spam features, which include email verification and number verification etc

http://bethelak.com/cgi-bin/guestbook/guestbook.cgi

[SergioC]

I use a very simple but effective way to have guestbook spammers out of my guestbook... and my website :uzi:

1. Let the Spammer wrote in your guestbook.
2. Look the IP of the spammer and made a WHO IS on the IP, and wrote what is the starting and ending IP numbers
3. Delete the entry.
4. You will see that most of the Guestbook spammers IP cames from China.
5. Go to your control panel and use the IP DENY MANAGER function.
6. Block the entire IPs.
7. You will never see that spammer again in your website.

As an example, one of the IPs that I have blocked is:

inetnum: 61.48.0.0 - 61.51.255.255
netname: CNCGROUP-BJ
descr: CNCGROUP Beijing province network
descr: China Network Communications Group Corporation
descr: No.156,Fu-Xing-Men-Nei Street,
descr: Beijing 100031
country: CN
admin-c: CH455-AP
tech-c: SY21-AP
mnt-by: APNIC-HM
mnt-lower: MAINT-CNCGROUP-BJ
changed: **********@apnic.net 20031017
status: ALLOCATED PORTABLE
source: APNIC

So, in my IP DENY MANAGER, I have added to block the following IPs:
- 61.48
- 61.49
- 61.50
- 61.51
and with adding this I have blocked the entire IP addresses from 61.48.00 to 61.51.255.255

I have about 25+ blocked IPs, and since I did that I have never seen a spammer again.

Regards,
- Sergio

[markblair]

Hi SergioC, thanks for the tips. I actually have been doing that but I didn't find it as effective. Plus, someone posted from an IP that was already banned. :uhh: I can only guess that they somehow faked the IP that they were posting from. Not sure how but the IP was banned and yet a second post came through. Anyway, I found an updated guestbook that resolved my problems. I haven't had any spam posts in quite some time. Plus, I still approve all new posts so even if one gets through, it won't be seen by others. ;)

[SergioC]

Hi Markblair,
well it is not possible to "Plus, someone posted from an IP that was already banned. I can only guess that they somehow faked the IP that they were posting from." using my method it is impossible that an IP that is blocked at the server not at the admin/guestbook could even enter into your website.

I mean, my method to work has to be done at the CPanel of your server, not at the admin panel of the guestbook. Give it a try.

Regards,
Sergio

[markblair]

That's what was done. It was blocked at the server. Exactly how you mentioned initially. Like I said, for most it worked but one got through. I can't explain it but it did happen. I know some people might respond saying that isn't possible. I understand that. All I know is I blocked the IP and less than a day later a new post was made by the same IP. That IP by the way is 66.246.218.49. It's still blocked via the IP Deny Manager in CPanel for the specific domain.

[SergioC]

mmm, very weird how that IP get thru.

I have made a WHOIS on that IP and found the following:
NetRange: 66.246.0.0 - 66.246.255.255
CIDR: 66.246.0.0/16
NetName: NAC-NETBLK06
NetHandle: NET-66-246-0-0-1
Parent: NET-66-0-0-0-0
NetType: Direct Allocation
NameServer: NS1.NAC.NET
NameServer: NS2.NAC.NET

So, in my case I will not DENY a single IP, but I would DENY the hall range. I mean at IP DENY, I would wrote 66.246.

If you have some IPs of spammers to exchange, I could give you what I have.

Regards,
Sergio

[markblair]

You know I was thinking... :uhh: :D I wonder if I got that e-mail from the same IP later than the actual post was made. Maybe the e-mail just never got to me before I banned the IP and then I eventually received it later in the day. It was the same day but of course I don't keep those e-mail messages. I just check them out when they arrive. Hmm...

Anyway, I sent you a PM with a list of all of the IP's I've denied via CPanel. Let me know if any of them match up to what you have. Thanks!

[Brian S]

This might help with Guestbook SPAM:
http://www.dvorak.org/blog/?p=2904

Brian