#1 2019-08-02 5:23 pm

Dudley

Member

From: Ontario

Registered: 2011-02-08

Posts: 11

Spam Monitoring Service Error

Hi folks, I am using IPB 3.4.9 forum for r***.com†. Just within the last few months, I have been getting this error message "Spam Monitoring Service Error" it's suppose to report spam to IPB.

In fact most other Arcade owners are getting the same error message.

I did some checking and I found one solution, remove the license number and reinstall the license number, doesn't work..

No sense in asking IPB support for help, they stopped supporting this 3.4 version some time ago. Even though we have to pay the License fee all the time. Not sure if this is the reason for the error, maybe they shut something down or what?

I did check the forum to see if any others are posting this..

Anyone have any solutions I can work on to clear this up..

Thanks

Ronald

† url obscured by Mod

Papa Parrot

Member

From: Mexico

Registered: 2011-08-19

Posts: 1,826

Website

Re: Spam Monitoring Service Error

Upgrade your IPB version, and get the support you pay for. Using a outdated commercial software, that is no longer supported
puts all your users at risk, and as you are all ready seeing, it is wide open to spammers, and maybe even worse.

I did some checking and I found one solution, remove the license number and reinstall the license number, doesn't work.

That is not a solution, trying to hack the license number, if it did work, would just be a temporary work around. There are security risks you need to deal with, and upgrading to a supported version is really the only solution I can think of, besides changing forum software, use some open source software, that is "free", up to date and supported,  migrate the site to the new forum software

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Everything is for the Birds

And now, Papa Parrot and his kids

Dudley

Member

From: Ontario

Registered: 2011-02-08

Posts: 11

Re: Spam Monitoring Service Error

That is not a solution. I know IPB 3.4.9 is outdated and no longer supported, but do you know just how many of these forums are still in use..

Upgrading is out of the question, this is an Arcade forum, for playing flash and html5 games, no one is at risk, and never will be..

This arcade is built for the older IPB forums, and doesn't work on the new IPB forums.. The original developer of the arcade is no longer with us, he passed away a few years ago, so we maintain the arcade ourselves and do minor updates.

To upgrade this to work on the new IPB forums is a slow process, you need to be a excellent coder for this, and there is no one around to do this task.

Thanks for your advice..

Ron..

Maikuolan

Member

From: Perth, Western Australia

Registered: 2011-08-09

Posts: 799

Website

Re: Spam Monitoring Service Error

Just to clarify: Is this "Spam Monitoring Service", specifically relating to Stop Forum Spam, or something else? I don't know anything about the software you're using, or about your "Spam Monitoring Service", so I can't really say anything about that. But, if all you need is a way to check IP addresses or email addresses against the Stop Forum Spam API, there are various other more generalised solutions out there that might work for you maybe.

Papa Parrot

Member

From: Mexico

Registered: 2011-08-19

Posts: 1,826

Website

Re: Spam Monitoring Service Error

Have you looked at, or tried this ?: http://invision-virus.com/forum/index.p … -spam-100/ I think it is intended for the IPB software, but you would need to ask them or the author about it, at the above link.

From :Resouces, Mods and Plugins >> Invision Power Board
Stop Forum Spam 1.0.0 [IPS4]
by "Castiel"

Allows registration checks to be made against Stop Forum Spam
download links

    Mod at Invision Virus

you need to be a excellent coder for this, and there is no one around to do this task.

More so since it is closed source, commercial software, if you don't have a admin that has the skill needed, you might need to hire some one, some one here might be able to help , with a php script or something that could work, but with out even knowing what Operating system the server uses, and more details, IS your site hosted by a hosting company ? Or is it your own dedicated server ? If it is a hosting company, their tech support should be able to help you,...In a nut shell, a server that is set up correctly, can be configured to block most of the known spammers, and bad bots. Then the few, that still manage to register and either post spam, or just cause trouble, can be easily handled with a team , 4 or 5 moderators, that are in different parts of the world, so that there usually is at least 1 moderator watching , at any given time.
Not so much that one needs to be a expert coder, but it does require someone that is knowledgeable and knows how to use the resources available, most of the "coding" really is just a matter of copy/paste the right snippets, into the right places.
If you are not qualified, you will need to give some one full administrative access, the trust factor could be the biggest obstacle, that is why especially if the site is hosted by a hosting company, they would have the persons that are trustworthy and have full access to the server and site.
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A thought I have, and it is a little complicated but not really, but to some one with no experience in administrating a server and websites, it will sound complicated.
In a nut shell, you re-direct your registrations to a "sub forum", something easy to configure and modify , I use FluxBB myself,
and FluxBB has some really nice,simple spam control extensions, so any way, if the registrant is able to register, they would then also be able to access a board that only registered members can view,and post on.  A script/mod would need to be made, that forwards the information needed, and activates their account at the IPB board, where they can modify their profile as needed/desired, IE change password,etc,...this might not make sense to the OP (you), but I think some other members here will understand what I am saying, I don't explain things very well, and am not sure on the script part,.... what I do , is if they successfully register and post on the Fluxbb forum, I then manually activate a account on the other board, that has no good anti-spam plugin or extension,the forums I manage are very low activity, so it is pretty easy.

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Everything is for the Birds

And now, Papa Parrot and his kids

Papa Parrot

Member

From: Mexico

Registered: 2011-08-19

Posts: 1,826

Website

Re: Spam Monitoring Service Error

Also, the links in Maikuolan's signature, are use full,  and if you look at : https://zb-block.net/zbf/index.php  Zbblock, or something similar can be used to keep most of the known spammers from ever getting to the registration page. I used it some time back on some sites, and combined with the captcha, spammer registrations were almost 0, you can get more detailed, and specific information at the above link.

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Everything is for the Birds

And now, Papa Parrot and his kids