Extra Spam

Freeway
1

I have freeway Pro 5.5 on Mac 10.7.5.
I have been receiving an increased level of spam. My server is on fat cow. I have some settings set to catch spam and it catches some of it but I’m getting spam every day in boatloads(the spam has many numbers and web links). I am using the PHP feedback form. I also have the spam settings set as high as they could go.

I am trying to understand what my options are. I am looking for the easiest way to add a better filter or blocker for spam. If I have to use third-party software I was hoping it was easy to use with easy instructions. I rather just add it to the PHP form , but if I can not then I am hoping for simple instructions on how to change the PHP form.

Thanks for any help you can offer!

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2

Hi Suez, I’m not sure this is exactly a Freeway PHP form related question, as I’m also suddenly getting tons of spam (probably about 250 or so a day) through my 3 email accounts - 2 of them nothing to do with Freeway sites.

It seems as though there’s a fresh wave of spamming going on at the moment, I’ve just ‘taught’ Mail to put them into a junk folder, which seems to work fairly well at the moment and then I have a cursory glance down the list to see if there are any there that shouldn’t be. The odd one slips through, but all in all, not too bad.

Trev

On 6 Aug 2013, at 14:21, suez wrote:

I have freeway Pro 5.5 on Mac 10.7.5.
I have been receiving an increased level of spam. My server is on fat cow. I have some settings set to catch spam and it catches some of it but I’m getting spam every day in boatloads(the spam has many numbers and web links). I am using the PHP feedback form. I also have the spam settings set as high as they could go.

I am trying to understand what my options are. I am looking for the easiest way to add a better filter or blocker for spam. If I have to use third-party software I was hoping it was easy to use with easy instructions. I rather just add it to the PHP form , but if I can not then I am hoping for simple instructions on how to change the PHP form.

Thanks for any help you can offer!

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3

Hi Suez,
If you haven’t done so already then switch on the Spam Trap and Track IP address features in the Action. The spam trap will filter out a lot of automated scripts that blindly fill out forms with content spam. If you still receive a lot of spam from your forms check the IP addresses that should now be listed at the foot of each of the resulting emails and if they appear to be from the same address (or range of addresses) then you can simply add these to the Action to block them the next time they strike.
Regards,
Tim.

On 6 Aug 2013, at 14:21, suez wrote:

I am trying to understand what my options are. I am looking for the easiest way to add a better filter or blocker for spam. If I have to use third-party software I was hoping it was easy to use with easy instructions. I rather just add it to the PHP form , but if I can not then I am hoping for simple instructions on how to change the PHP form.

FreewayActions.com - Freeware and commercial Actions for Freeway Express & Pro - http://www.freewayactions.com

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4

Trev, It seems that much of my mail will go into the junk folder but I can see it, it’s just that it’s a different color. Is there a way to get it into a junk folder that I don’t have to actually see it on the Mac? Thanks!

Tim, thanks, I do have these things set up already. It appears that the IP addresses are all very different. These functions have not stopped the mail from coming . There is something set up on my server, that groups many of them together as one email to come to me once a week. However there are still countless others getting through.

Has anyone ever tried this ?
http://easibase.com/freeway/freeway_captcha.php

Is it easy to install to the form? I’m curious if it really helps a lot if so it sounds like possibly the best way to go. It makes sense to me I hardly get any spam sent to my blog I think it’s because this makes it hard for those spambots to get through.

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5

You may still be in Apple Mail’s spam “training” mode, where the messages are just flagged, but not moved. I personally use Spam Sieve on my Macs, it’s totally worth the money. With that, the offending messages are moved into a separate folder when they cross the threshold into spamminess. But I am certain that Mail will do that as well.

Walter

On Aug 6, 2013, at 11:12 AM, suez wrote:

Trev, It seems that much of my mail will go into the junk folder but I can see it, it’s just that it’s a different color. Is there a way to get it into a junk folder that I don’t have to actually see it on the Mac? Thanks!

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6

CAPTCHA can only help you with certain types of spam. There is no way to completely get rid of it, and ironically, you end up pi**ing off all of the very people you WANT to contact you. Many spammers now use a room full of barely-paid humans to do their evil work, and so any sort of logic puzzle that a customer is liable to be able to solve will also fail to keep them out.

Walter

On Aug 6, 2013, at 11:12 AM, suez wrote:

I’m curious if it really helps a lot if so it sounds like possibly the best way to go. It makes sense to me I hardly get any spam sent to my blog I think it’s because this makes it hard for those spambots to get through.

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7

+1 for Spam Sieve ~ used it for years, very good.

But seriously you should consider not to make your spam problem your potential future clients problem by using CAPTCHA’s

David Owen { Freeway Friendly Web hosting and Domains }

http://www.ineedwebhosting.co.uk | http://www.PrintlineAdvertising.co.uk

On 6 Aug 2013, at 16:15, Walter Lee Davis email@hidden wrote:

I personally use Spam Sieve on my Macs, it’s totally worth the money.

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8

Thank you for the feedback!!! I found the setting in my Mac mail that will put the spam into a folder. I will try that first. Then it sounds like I should try the Captcha and the Spam Sieve.

What do you all love about Spam Sieve?

It sounds like captcha can help a little but as for those people who are actually sitting in filling everything out, obviously they will still be able to send spam.

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9

+1 for Spam Sieve ~ used it for years, very good.

Ditto here - #1 choice for me.

What do you all love about Spam Sieve?

Very trainable, frequent updates, unobtrusive.

David

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10

David…Thanks !
So far mac mail putting the spam in the one folder is a little better. I might also try Captcha and then Spam Sieve.

Thanks for all your help!

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11

Suez,

Personally I find the best way to stop web form generated spam with Freeway or most of it anyway is to use the ‘Badwords’ option that is in the easiForm action, that is why I added that option to the action. Spam is a pain and changes slightly depending on the user and the cycle it seems to go through so you might find you need to set the Badwords filter up a couple of times to get it to filter the type of spam you get, my advice is to use the following line of text in the Badwords extra field: http,[url,[link

That should stop what most spammers send out although you could add other words to this depending on your spam, maybe: http,[url,[link,pills,viagra but in all honesty the spam I found I have had to block in the past related to people sending through web addresses in the emails and for me this stops most spam.

You can use the easiCaptcha if you want but the CAPTCHA will only stop bots where most spam is not send by people sitting at a computer, the image CAPTCHAs unfortunately also stop a lot of genuine people from sending a message so if you want to add a CAPTCHA with easiCaptcha then select to use the Math type as that just offers up the user a simple math question to answer such as here:
http://www.econpool.com/contactus.php

You can set your form up using easiForm and test it but you will get an alert untill you add the license file to the same directory as any forms you have created using the action on the licensed domain, there is a small license fee to pay for each domain you will want to use the action on although you can use as many easiForms on a licensed domain as you want, so you cn set it all up and try before you purchase.

You will need to be on a server that is ioncube friendly, most are now but if you are unsure you can check with your hosting support or simply add a test file to your ioncube folder you place on your hosting account and that file will tell you if you have ioncube available.

This is a short turorial on how to use easiForm, the form in this is not put together using a table which I would recommend although on the main easiBase actions page there is a PDF tutorial that walks you through the whole process os using a form with Freeway:
http://easibase.com/freeway/freeway_form.php

Actions page on easiBase, you can also download the action with the ioncube loaders from this following page:
http://easibase.com/freeway/freewayactions.php

HTH

On Aug 7, 2013, at 2:35 PM, suez wrote:

David…Thanks !
So far mac mail putting the spam in the one folder is a little better. I might also try Captcha and then Spam Sieve.

Thanks for all your help!

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12

Interestingly this just popped up in my newsreader regarding Captcha use and spam…

What do you think?

David Owen

On 6 Aug 2013, at 16:55, “suez” email@hidden wrote:

Thank you for the feedback!!! I found the setting in my Mac mail that will put the spam into a folder. I will try that first. Then it sounds like I should try the Captcha and the Spam Sieve.

What do you all love about Spam Sieve?

It sounds like captcha can help a little but as for those people who are actually sitting in filling everything out, obviously they will still be able to send spam.

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13

Got the same problem with the php feedback form and tons of spam (pharma stuff). Obviously filled out by hand. After a warning of my webhoster (they lastly denied to deliver the emails send by the form) i’ve added the action “validate extras” to every form field and the spam flood was over. Tom

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14

Mike B, most of my spam doesn’t actually have bad words. I get a different kind of spam. I’m going to try Captcha, I don’t mind if people have to take a little longer filling that out. I need to review the instructions. I can just add that to what I have already? I already have an easy form so I just want an EASY way to add Capcha. Can I do this easy?

Does any one know if Fatcow is inoncube friendly?

Tom what does that mean “validate extras” is this in the easiform action ? I need to try something.

Thanks!

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15

Can you send me a sample of the spam you are getting?

What do you mean you already have an easy form, do you mean you are using the easiForm action?

On Aug 13, 2013, at 3:41 PM, suez wrote:

Mike B, most of my spam doesn’t actually have bad words. I get a different kind of spam. I’m going to try Captcha, I don’t mind if people have to take a little longer filling that out. I need to review the instructions. I can just add that to what I have already? I already have an easy form so I just want an EASY way to add Capcha. Can I do this easy?

Does any one know if Fatcow is inoncube friendly?

Tom what does that mean “validate extras” is this in the easiform action ? I need to try something.

Thanks!

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16

I get allot of spam like this below. I have the php form that freeway suggests to set up. I thought it was easiForm action? How can I tell? thanks

name: ANotsNoumsbuh
email: email@hidden
item1: 「勘違いしちゃいけない」Sports Watch ンピオン、シャルケ・内田篤人。から17時、レイバン サングラス16日深夜の番組内で放送した「多分、て思いま、あんまり自分のことになると、とない。他の人が評価するものだと思ってますから、でどうっていうのはなてきますし」と素っ気無く答えのが苦か、人前に出るのが嫌なので、http://www.eecotec.org/ レイバン メガネ気にしなかなっていうのはすごペースをでウチダは発音し辛いため）“ウシダ”、ゃないですよ。レイバン ティアドロップらイラッ気はします」と話し峰の舞台、<a href=http://www.eecotec.org/#&#12524;&#12452;&#12496;&#12531; メガネ>レイバン クラブマスター日本サッカーの現状には、いって思、世界のレベルもすげえなって思います。本人いない、勘違いしちゃいけないのは、レイバン メガネはいけな。レイバン ティアドロップこと」。

記事で誤報 年内の活動を休止Sports Watch <a href=http://www.eecotec.org/#&#12524;&#12452;&#12496;&#12531; ウェイファーラー>レイバン ウェイファーラー、その『「」の記事でおわび』出しを載せ、「年内の活動を休止」載したこと、年内の大会開催を休。 は「」を運営。http://www.eecotec.org/ レイバン メガネには中量。株式会社と格闘技大会「」けしたこ。【毎日編集部】。レイバン メガネれは、の業に、“会見内容がの活動休止である”の誤った、その骨格を作成していたものが誤ってストラリア予選を開催りだった、レイバン 偏光ファンや関係者の連リンクテイシェイラ覚醒!!

IP address: 198.2.204.149

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17

If you didn’t pay for the Action, then you don’t have EasiForm. This sort of spam could be easily trapped by comparing the length of the string to the length of it converted from entities. Tim, if you’ll watching this thread, you could add this:

if(strlen($message) > strlen(html_entity_decode($message))){
	// drop in the bit bucket
}

Walter

On Aug 13, 2013, at 10:11 AM, suez wrote:

I get allot of spam like this below. I have the php form that freeway suggests to set up. I thought it was easiForm action? How can I tell? thanks

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18

Well, you could go to your form page and look to see what action you are using that would tell you.

If you where using easiForm then you would open the advanced option then add the following into the Badwords extra field: href,http

Make the message textarea you have not given a name to a required item then that would have stopped the example message from being sent.

HTH

On Aug 13, 2013, at 4:11 PM, suez wrote:

I get allot of spam like this below. I have the php form that freeway suggests to set up. I thought it was easiForm action? How can I tell? thanks

name: ANotsNoumsbuh
email: email@hidden
item1: 「勘違いしちゃいけない」Sports Watch ンピオン、シャルケ・内田篤人。から17時、レイバン サングラス16日深夜の番組内で放送した「多分、て思いま、あんまり自分のことになると、とない。他の人が評価するものだと思ってますから、でどうっていうのはなてきますし」と素&
#12387;気無く答えのが苦か、人前に出るのが嫌なので、http://www.eecotec.org/ レイバン メガネ気にしなかなっていうのはすごペースをでウチダは発音し辛いため）“ウシダ”、ゃないですよ。レイバン ティアドロップらイラッ気はします」と話し峰の舞台、<a href=http://www.eecotec.org/#&#12524;&#12452;&#12496;&#12531; メガネ>レイバ&
#12531; クラブマスター日本サッカーの現状には、いって思、世界のレベルもすげえなって思います。本人いない、勘違いしちゃいけないのは、レイバン メガネはいけな。レイバン ティアドロップこと」。

記事で誤報 年内の活動を休止Sports Watch <a href=http://www.eecotec.org/#&#12524;&#12452;&#12496;&#12531; ウェイファーラー>レイバン ウェイファーラー、その『「」の記事でおわび』出しを載せ、「年内の活動を休止」載したこと、年内の大会開催を休。 は「」を運営。http://www.eecotec.org/ レイバン メガネには中量。株式会社と格闘技大会「」&#12369
;したこ。【毎日編集部】。レイバン メガネれは、の業に、“会見内容がの活動休止である”の誤った、その骨格を作成していたものが誤ってストラリア予選を開催りだった、レイバン 偏光ファンや関係者の連リンクテイシェイラ覚醒!!

IP address: 198.2.204.149

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19

Thanks Walter. I’ll try and take a look at adding this to the PHPFBF Action tonight if I get a chance.
Regards,
Tim.

On 13 Aug 2013, at 15:21, Walter Lee Davis wrote:

If you didn’t pay for the Action, then you don’t have EasiForm. This sort of spam could be easily trapped by comparing the length of the string to the length of it converted from entities. Tim, if you’ll watching this thread, you could add this:

if(strlen($message) > strlen(html_entity_decode($message))){
// drop in the bit bucket
}

Experienced Freeway designer for hire - http://www.freewayactions.com

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20

Strange my spam was in English and it changed when I shared it. I am sorry I do not understand code.
I am happy to purchase your form if it can help me. I guess I do not have that for I just used the standard one.

What is the easiest way to change what I have? Is yours fatcow friendly?

I am dyslexic . I purchased Freeway for it was easy to set up compared to others. Thanks for your help!

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