Proliferation of alt accounts

ZeEa5KPul

Colonel
Registered Member
I've noticed for a while that a certain cohort of banned users repeatedly make alt accounts to continue trolling the forum. It's so flagrant that they don't even make a pretense of changing their posting style or mannerisms or the threads they troll - anyone who's spent some time on the forum can tell immediately who a "new" user is an alt of. I'm sure some of you remember a particularly egregious example who hangs around the semiconductor thread.

I've suggested before that new users have restricted posting privileges for a period of time so banned trolls can't spam their nonsense freely. There were other suggestions in the peer moderation proposal thread, but sadly nothing has been done. The banning policy for alt accounts by IP address is far too lax, as it's a trivial exercise to spoof an IP address. I'd like to elicit suggestions from members here about how the policy might be altered in light of this problem.
 

daifo

Captain
Registered Member
I think there is a covid / vaccine denier that even has a similar user name to a ban user :rolleyes:

I think these people get a kick out of people responding to them, the less people respond (reply or use funny smile), the less they will post. Some may be agitating old members to break rules and get ban (rip gatekeeper lol, enjoyed his commentary, didn't follow the thread that got him ban but he seem to get aggitated easily and would push the limits with his response)

There is a limitation of the software they are using, so someone would have to list out the usermanagement functionality before a solution can be suggested.
 
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9dashline

Senior Member
Registered Member
Post throttling... if say a new user (under 100 posts) start getting lots of thumbs down votes in a short period of time, then throttle his posting ability so that for the next 72 hours he can only post 3 times a day or something like that....

Likewise if the new user gets reported by several users, then have system automatically lock his account into readonly mode until which time it can be reviewed by moderator....

Also instead of just blocking specific ip address, block by range.... This site doesnt have facebook numbers, so false positives are limited... if a user gets ip banned, block his entire range (for example instead of 70.123.245.12, block 70.123.245.x )

Disallow VPN addresses, and Tor exit nodes, and addresses coming from Amazon, Azure, GCP, Rackspace, etc etc

For suspected dups, have a policy of work email address verification.. anyone can signup for a new gmail account, but its harder to fake a corporate email address

Also consider ID verification, have them take photo and video of government ID held right next to their face with them saying a phrase to get voice sample as well....

Also maybe set up a MFA solution where they have to do phone verification and get a code via sms everytime they sign in... and disallow google voice and other voip phone numbers so that its much more trouble to do dup account than simply getting another throwaway number.

Have a way to do permanent ban appeals... do Stripe credit card implementation so that banned user pays a certain amount to undergo appeal process... then its a tribunal best two of out three moderators voting on the appeal and if the ban is overturned on appeal then the reinstated end user gets his fee back
 
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texx1

Junior Member
Also consider ID verification, have them take photo and video of government ID held right next to their face with them saying a phrase to get voice sample as well....

Also maybe set up a MFA solution where they have to do phone verification and get a code via sms everytime they sign in... and disallow google voice and other voip phone numbers so that its much more trouble to do dup account than simply getting another throwaway number.

Have a way to do permanent ban appeals... do Stripe credit card implementation so that banned user pays a certain amount to undergo appeal process... then its a tribunal best two of out three moderators voting on the appeal and if the ban is overturned on appeal then the reinstated end user gets his fee back
That's non starter for privacy reasons. Most members are here for fun. Why would they diverge personal identifiable information to an unknown third party given doxxing is so common?

When you found someone breaking rules, just report them.
 

Overbom

Brigadier
Registered Member
Also consider ID verification, have them take photo and video of government ID held right next to their face with them saying a phrase to get voice sample as well....
I agree with all you said except the above. There are privacy, legal, and legal liability issues with what you wrote.

Imagine the mayhem if the website was hacked and the IDs were leaked. The administrator and possibly the moderators (depends on the implementation of the ID system) could be on legal hot water.

A good rule to go for websites us, if Government data are to be gathered, be 100% sure that you are legally covered.

I am not sure that the Administrator would be willing to bear such a legal liability on his shoulders for such a small thing as this forum.

My 2¢
 
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ZeEa5KPul

Colonel
Registered Member
Post throttling... if say a new user (under 100 posts) start getting lots of thumbs down votes in a short period of time, then throttle his posting ability so that for the next 72 hours he can only post 3 times a day or something like that....

Likewise if the new user gets reported by several users, then have system automatically lock his account into readonly mode until which time it can be reviewed by moderator....

Also instead of just blocking specific ip address, block by range.... This site doesnt have facebook numbers, so false positives are limited... if a user gets ip banned, block his entire range (for example instead of 70.123.245.12, block 70.123.245.x )

Disallow VPN addresses, and Tor exit nodes, and addresses coming from Amazon, Azure, GCP, Rackspace, etc etc

For suspected dups, have a policy of work email address verification.. anyone can signup for a new gmail account, but its harder to fake a corporate email address

Also consider ID verification, have them take photo and video of government ID held right next to their face with them saying a phrase to get voice sample as well....

Also maybe set up a MFA solution where they have to do phone verification and get a code via sms everytime they sign in... and disallow google voice and other voip phone numbers so that its much more trouble to do dup account than simply getting another throwaway number.

Have a way to do permanent ban appeals... do Stripe credit card implementation so that banned user pays a certain amount to undergo appeal process... then its a tribunal best two of out three moderators voting on the appeal and if the ban is overturned on appeal then the reinstated end user gets his fee back
I don't know if all that is serious or if you're just having a go, but some of that stuff is just too outlandish. I like the post throttling idea but a government ID is definitely too much.
 

Maula Jatt

Junior Member
Registered Member
Post throttling... if say a new user (under 100 posts) start getting lots of thumbs down votes in a short period of time, then throttle his posting ability so that for the next 72 hours he can only post 3 times a day or something like that....

Likewise if the new user gets reported by several users, then have system automatically lock his account into readonly mode until which time it can be reviewed by moderator....

Also instead of just blocking specific ip address, block by range.... This site doesnt have facebook numbers, so false positives are limited... if a user gets ip banned, block his entire range (for example instead of 70.123.245.12, block 70.123.245.x )

Disallow VPN addresses, and Tor exit nodes, and addresses coming from Amazon, Azure, GCP, Rackspace, etc etc

For suspected dups, have a policy of work email address verification.. anyone can signup for a new gmail account, but its harder to fake a corporate email address

Also consider ID verification, have them take photo and video of government ID held right next to their face with them saying a phrase to get voice sample as well....

Also maybe set up a MFA solution where they have to do phone verification and get a code via sms everytime they sign in... and disallow google voice and other voip phone numbers so that its much more trouble to do dup account than simply getting another throwaway number.


Have a way to do permanent ban appeals... do Stripe credit card implementation so that banned user pays a certain amount to undergo appeal process... then its a tribunal best two of out three moderators voting on the appeal and if the ban is overturned on appeal then the reinstated end user gets his fee back
yo we out son...
 

Jiang ZeminFanboy

Senior Member
Registered Member
Why this forum has zero action? Zero action for new moderators and zero action to prevent alt accounts. We've been talking about it for two years. At least you can make things like new account can't post for 60 or 30 days. That's one line of code. Do sth.
 

Overbom

Brigadier
Registered Member
Why this forum has zero action? Zero action for new moderators and zero action to prevent alt accounts. We've been talking about it for two years. At least you can make things like new account can't post for 60 or 30 days. That's one line of code. Do sth.
Didn't the WebMaster/Administrator posted that he wanted to sell the website? These things you (and I) want require time and money, so I dont think it is fair for us to complain about that to him, who wants to sell the website.

IMO just the fact that he keeps the website online is enough. I know that if it was me, I would probably shut it down or sell it for cheap

Anyway, that Sleepy guy sure has plenty of free time. He is creating alt accounts every 3-4 days lol
 
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