What countries do you ban, totally

Im fed up with the idiots that join and then mass pm members asking them for their details because they are some drop dead gorgeous woman or just lost a dear father worth several million dollars, add to that the countless mobile phone adverts.

Just taken the chance on banning four complete counties via the htaccess file using a file created on the following site
Country IP Blocks Select Formats

Result is 95% reduction in spam members

So far I have banned India, Pakistan, Senegal and Nigeria

Any other countries that should be added to this list

I don't block any countries... It's basically a "racist" thing to do blocking everyone for the sake of the few who are out to cause trouble. My greenhorn group stops 99% of my spam. until a user has 15 posts, they have no access to pm's, attachments, avatars, sigs, polls, blogs, etc. All they can do is post threads/post replies. This also probably kept me safe in the last exploit... new users couldn't upload profile pics... and we would have cought BS posts to 15 + the hour wait until the scheduled task runs for group promotion. I'm very happy i set this up and recommend everyone do the same.

It's very easy to set up.

I made a new usergroup, GreenHorns, and set permissions appropriately to have rights to basically nothing. Then, i set it to auto-upgrade using vb's built-in promotion to the standard registered users group.
Then, to make sure new registrations go to this group and not the Registered Users group by default, i made a simple plugin to re-direct registrations to that group ID.

Add new plugin:
product: vBulletin
hook: register_addmember_process
title: Change Default Reg Group
exe order: 5

plugin code:

Code:

$newusergroupid = 16;

$userdata->set('usergroupid', $newusergroupid);

Obviously change 16 to the actual Id of your greenhorn group ID.



I then have spam tools that only apply to this group.

I have the catch spam tool which flags posts based on actual content to be sent to the mod queue:
Prevent Spam Posts - vBulletin.org Forum
and i use the following list:

Code:

ipod
buy
desiblogz
[url
[img
free
DVD
dvd
rip
gold
ripper
mp3
flv
convert
mp4
m4a
sex
pharmaceutical
ringtones 
Bullet-Proof
wow
gold
Cialis
Ciallis
Credit/Debit_card_update
OEM_Software
xrun
Pharmacy
Popular_soft_-_very_low_price
Rolex
Softtabs
SouthTrust
Valid_Marketing
Viaagra
Viagra
Viccodin
Xannax
antidotes
l8OO_0rder_N0W
pharmaceutical_
vaigra
viagra
cell
phone
ababa
alprazolam
ariset
blackjack
buspar
butalbital
carisoprodol
casino
celexa
cialis
citibank
cyberturf
didrex
dosage
dx1
ejaculation
ejactulation
fioricet
foreclosure
forex
freemegavideo
gambling
hochulexus
holdem
hollyvalance
homeloan
horny
insurance
keno
mortgage
nasonex
nfsautoloan
penis
phentermine
poker
porevo
prequalify
prozac
refinance
ringtone
ringtones
slots
sperm
straponclub
tramadol
ultram
viagra
xanax
yasamohuel
yigan99
nokia
motorola
apple
nike
jordan
shoe
sneaker
xrunner

This catches most spam based on keywords, and if not, any new user posts who use images or url BBcode get flagged. The spam stays moderated until deleted... usually by:

I have the spam decimator installed for my mods to use
http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=183244


Very little spam makes it public on my board with this, and i'm not blocking any potential users just because they live in a bad area with spammers as neighbors.

I was running a few anti-spam mods on NZB, they worked really really well.

Only one false positive (that I know of) in the whole lot.

We do not block any countries, we have a dedicated resource allocated to track spam members, IPs, domains, etc.

If we find huge amount of spam from specific IP and domains we report the same to official authorities via various services.
(this is a time consuming process for sure, but if you follow the same for few months, you get best results).

Brian the saver! I'm not racist but I was about banning Russia due to the heavy spam bots..until I found this thread. I will def follow your models. set up the new usergroup, it's safer that way.

Thanks again.

Can the racist guy show his face on here again.
In my own defence, my forum is aimed at a very narrow margin of users.
Hence why to a certain extent I can get away with banning specific countries and not be racially motivated. Think that sounds about right.

But once again, what Brian has said, has made a lot of sense and I will be implementing a lot of the ideas.

How long have I been trying to beat the Brian and every time fail miserablee. Yes the spelling mistake was intentional

I used 'racist' in quotes for a reason... it's not exactly the word i'm looking for, but can't think of a better one.

There's almost ALWAYS a better way... even for what i'm doing. I'm sure someone has come up with something more efficient.

Originally Posted by Lee G

Im fed up with the idiots that join and then mass pm members asking them for their details because they are some drop dead gorgeous woman or just lost a dear father worth several million dollars, add to that the countless mobile phone adverts.

Just taken the chance on banning four complete counties via the htaccess file using a file created on the following site
Country IP Blocks Select Formats

Result is 95% reduction in spam members

So far I have banned India, Pakistan, Senegal and Nigeria

Any other countries that should be added to this list

Just add Asia and you should be 100% in the clear.

I have completely wiped a country before. Total reduction in spam.

Therefore I must be TEH RACIST

Originally Posted by Brian Cummiskey

I used 'racist' in quotes for a reason... it's not exactly the word i'm looking for, but can't think of a better one.

There's almost ALWAYS a better way... even for what i'm doing. I'm sure someone has come up with something more efficient.

"locationist" maybe?

It's not like I can IP Block ^whitepeople.

</SPAN>I just tried IP Block ^idiot


And banned myself

Been looking at some of the search engines that are bashing the server, no doubt more incoming flack, but China is one of the worst for this lot.

Trying every trick going to reduce the server load at present.

This is my present bot ban list on my htaccess file and no doubt there will be a lot of wrong bits in there.

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^BlackWidow [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Bot\ mailto:craftbot@yahoo.com [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^ChinaClaw [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Custo [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^DISCo [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Download\ Demon [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^eCatch [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^EirGrabber [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^EmailSiphon [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^EmailWolf [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Express\ WebPictures [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^ExtractorPro [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^EyeNetIE [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^FlashGet [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^GetRight [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^GetWeb! [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Go!Zilla [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Go-Ahead-Got-It [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^GrabNet [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Grafula [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^HMView [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} HTTrack [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Image\ Stripper [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Image\ Sucker [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} Indy\ Library [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^InterGET [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Internet\ Ninja [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^JetCar [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^JOC\ Web\ Spider [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^larbin [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^LeechFTP [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Mass\ Downloader [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^MIDown\ tool [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Mister\ PiX [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Navroad [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^NearSite [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^NetAnts [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^NetSpider [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Net\ Vampire [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^NetZIP [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Octopus [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Offline\ Explorer [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Offline\ Navigator [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^PageGrabber [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Papa\ Foto [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^pavuk [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^pcBrowser [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^RealDownload [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^ReGet [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^SiteSnagger [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^SmartDownload [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^SuperBot [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^SuperHTTP [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Surfbot [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^tAkeOut [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Teleport\ Pro [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^VoidEYE [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Web\ Image\ Collector [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Web\ Sucker [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebAuto [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebCopier [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebFetch [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebGo\ IS [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebLeacher [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebReaper [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebSauger [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Website\ eXtractor [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Website\ Quester [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebStripper [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebWhacker [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebZIP [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Wget [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Widow [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WWWOFFLE [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Xaldon\ WebSpider [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Zeus [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^AESOP_com_SpiderMan [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Alexibot [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} Anonymouse.org [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^asterias [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^attach [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^BackDoorBot [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^BackWeb [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Baiduspider [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} Bandit [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^BatchFTP [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Bigfoot [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Black.Hole [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^BlackWidow [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^BlowFish [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Bot\ mailto:craftbot@yahoo.com [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^BotALot [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} Buddy [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^BuiltBotTough [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Bullseye [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^BunnySlippers [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Cegbfeieh [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^CheeseBot [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^CherryPicker [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^ChinaClaw [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} Collector [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} Copier [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^CopyRightCheck [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^cosmos [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Crescent [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Curl [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Custo [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^DA [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^DIIbot [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^DISCo [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^DittoSpyder [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Download [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Download\ Demon [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Download\ Devil [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Download\ Wonder [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Download.*Demon[NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} Downloader [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^dragonfly [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Drip [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^EasyDL [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^ebingbong [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^eCatch [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^EirGrabber [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^EmailCollector [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^EmailSiphon [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^EmailWolf [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^EroCrawler [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Exabot [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Express\ WebPictures [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} Extractor [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^ExtractorPro [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^EyeNetIE [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^FileHound [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^FlashGet [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^flunky [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Foobot [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^FrontPage [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^GetRight [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^GetWeb! [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Go!Zilla [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Go-Ahead-Got-It [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^gotit [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} Grabber [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^GrabNet [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Grafula [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Harvest [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^hloader [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^HMView [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^httplib [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} HTTrack [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^HTTrack [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^humanlinks [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^ia_archiver [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Image\ Stripper [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Image\ Sucker [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} Indy\ Library [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^InfoNaviRobot [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^InfoTekies [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Intelliseek [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^InterGET [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Internet\ Ninja [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Iria [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Jakarta [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^JennyBot [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^JetCar [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^JOC [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^JOC\ Web\ Spider [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^JustView [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Jyxobot [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Kenjin.Spider [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Keyword.Density [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^larbin [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^LeechFTP [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^LexiBot [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^lftp [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^libWeb/clsHTTP [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^likse [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^LinkextractorPro [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^LinkScan/8.1a.Unix [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^LinkWalker [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^LNSpiderguy [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^LWP::Simple [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^lwp-trivial [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Magnet [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Mag-Net [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^MarkWatch [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Mass\ Downloader [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Mata.Hari [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Memo [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Microsoft.URL [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Microsoft\ URL\ Control [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^MIDown\ tool [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^MIIxpc [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Mirror [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Missigua\ Locator [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Mister.PiX [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Mister\ PiX [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^moget [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Mozilla.*NEWT [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Mozilla/3.Mozilla/2.01 [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^NAMEPROTECT [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Navroad [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^NearSite [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Net\ Vampire [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^NetAnts [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Netcraft [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^NetMechanic [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^NetSpider [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^NetZIP [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^NextGenSearchBot [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^NG [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^NICErsPRO [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^NimbleCrawler [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Ninja [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^NPbot [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Octopus [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Offline.Explorer [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Offline\ Explorer [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Offline\ Navigator [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Openfind [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^OutfoxBot [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^PageGrabber [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Papa\ Foto [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^pavuk [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^pcBrowser [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^PHP\ version\ tracker [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Pockey [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^ProPowerBot/2.14 [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^ProWebWalker [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^psbot [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Pump [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^QueryN.Metasearch [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} Recorder [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^RealDownload [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} Reaper [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^ReGet [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^RepoMonkey [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^RMA [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} sitecheck.internetseer.com [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^SiteSnagger [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} Siphon [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^SlySearch [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^SmartDownload [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Snake [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Snapbot [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Snoopy [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^sogou [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^SpaceBison [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^SpankBot [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^spanner [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Sqworm [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} Stripper [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} Sucker [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^SuperBot [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^SuperHTTP [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Surfbot [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^suzuran [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Szukacz/1.4 [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^tAkeOut [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Teleport [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Teleport\ Pro [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Telesoft [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^The.Intraformant [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^TheNomad [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^TightTwatBot [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Titan [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^toCrawl/UrlDispatcher [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^True_Robot [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^turingos [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^TurnitinBot [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^TurnitinBot/1.5 [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^URLy.Warning [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Vacuum [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^VCI [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^VoidEYE [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Whacker [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Web.Image.Collector [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Web\ Image\ Collector [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Web\ Sucker [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebAuto [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebBandit [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Webclipping.com [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebCopier [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebEMailExtrac [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebEnhancer [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebFetch [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebGo\ IS [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Web.Image.Collector [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Web\ Image\ Collector [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebLeacher [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebmasterWorldForumBot [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebReaper [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebSauger [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebSite [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Website\ eXtractor [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Website.Quester [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Website\ Quester [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Webster.Pro [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Webster [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebStripper [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Web\ Sucker [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebWhacker [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebZIP [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Wget [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Widow [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WISENutbot [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^[Ww]eb[Bb]andit [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WWW-Collector-E [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WWWOFFLE [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Xaldon [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Xaldon\ WebSpider [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Xenu's [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Xenu [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Zeus [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} sogou [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} sogou-spider [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} sogou-web-spider [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^MJ12 [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Zyborg
RewriteRule ^.* - [F,L]
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^baiduspider [NC]
RewriteRule .* - [F]

You should also consider that having a big .htaccess file may have negative effect on your server perfonmance.

I knew I should have left that ban idiot in place

Some of the Chinese search engines, baiduspider for one, were hitting every three seconds, with multiple ip addresses

At least I have killed to too many connections on the sql data base error for the last 24hrs. Thats been happening about once a day for five minutes at a time.

Back to the drawing board

Originally Posted by Brian Cummiskey

There's almost ALWAYS a better way... even for what i'm doing. I'm sure someone has come up with something more efficient.

But not everyone freely shares the things they come up with. So for that -a big thank you!

Exactly what I was looking for after spending a few hours failing to code it myself.

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Will the new usergroup - with restricted access not be allowed to add a "Homepage" into their profile? I am not seeing a setting anywhere for this option

Under the usergroup permissions, set "can edit profile" to no, and then they can't change anything until they've been promoted to the regular users group.


Here's my complete settings:

Just trying another mod in my own fight against spam. This one does not exclude countries from registering, so Im not totally racist.

What it does do, is place new members with your defined country IP´s into the moderated user group. One of my own registration fields is location. A lot, place false locations in that. The good thing is, its also ported over to VB4 as well as being VB3.8. So it is presently future proof.

Both versions VB3 series
Moderate New Registrations Based On IP Geographical Origin - Page 4 - vBulletin.org Forum

And VB4 series
Moderate New Registrations Based On IP Geographical Origin - vBulletin.org Forum

I get hit with a lot of spam registration over night. But with several mods running, most is now under control. This just adds the extra icing to the cake, so to speak.