MAINTENANCE NOTICE

[mystic]

The database has been serviced to reduce the site downtime and the high amount of spammers. As a consequence of this, many accounts that were used for spamming have been terminated. A stronger registration procedure has been implemented, to prevent further attacks.

If somebody is experiencing any issue, please, post it in this thread or contact the administrator.

If you think that your account was wrongly terminated, please, simple register again and post a notice here.

It would be great if everybody could help track if there are any downtimes again, so that we can further improve the service. Thank you!

[jadegil6]

Everyone should thank mystic for the services that he has volunteered and accomplished. The forum was on the verge of being cancelled by the site's hosting company due to the volume of spammers who were overwhelming the site, and causing problems with the server that the site is hosted on. Mystic knew what to do to remedy the problem, and to clean the database, and restore the usability of the forum. In other words...he saved this ship from sinking.
Thanks for your invaluable work, Sir, because without your input and knowledge, the forum would have ceased to exist.
God bless you!

Michael

[Smiley]

Good job dude. For your services you get one well deserved "attaboy"!!

I kinda wondered if the site was being tweeked yesterday when I tried to log on a few times with no success,Lets all hope for some smooth sailing now.

[mystic]

Thanks. No, yesterday there was an almost 1 day downtime. That's what moved us to take action. All the work was done today, and no other downtime so far.

[Smiley]

In any case. . . Great job! I hope the forum continues to run well now thanks to your efforts.

[Edwin]

Thank you, mystic! We have had lots of trouble off and on, getting the forum to work, and Sir Michael told us it was the spammers causing the problems. That is very good news that you found a solution, because we want this site to continue! Thanks again!

[mystic]

The identification of spammers and fake account continues. As we learn their tactics, new rules are implemented. Currently, we have also an hourly trigger that gets rid at once of all new fake accounts.

Finally, the forum is becoming very stable!!

[mystic]

I am sorry for BigBlastGuy, but the last antispam rules caught him. His account was disabled due to suspicious activity. Just to show that everything is done with correctness, I will show how he was caught.

He always connects from 64-37-61-39.static.lvnoc.com, which is blacklisted in 2 antispam lists (tornevall, spamcannibal). Through reverse name resolution, that IP address resolves to the following active domains, which are all caught by Micro-Trend antivirus:

hadipranoto.info a 64.37.61.39
blackstreamline.info a 64.37.61.39
myobx.info a 64.37.61.39
glypeproxy.us a 64.37.61.39
maxiplus.info a 64.37.61.39
secureglypeproxy.info a 64.37.61.39
glypeproxylist.info a 64.37.61.39
turbogaming.info a 64.37.61.39
ptr 64.37.61.39
64-37-61-39.static.lvnoc.com

As you can see, he connects through proxies and dangerous sites, which means suspicious activity. It makes me think that he was previously banned and cannot use his true connection.

So, BigBlastGuy, no problem to reactivate your account. You just need to identify yourself and prove that your connection is genuine. You can write me or Michael. Once verified, we will put an exception and re-enable your account. Thank you for understanding.

[mystic]

Just an update for BigBlastGuy. Nobody sent you away from this forum. You only need to get in contact with us, identify yourself, and explain what internet connection you are using.

You don't need to register new accounts (which will be caught anyways) like yesterday and try to post contents hailing to yourself and shooting over Filipinas.

So far, no contact was made from BigBlastGuy.

[mystic]

Forum rules have been updated today again. Another 170 users were purged, as they were identified as spammers.

For the first time, all private messages (PMs) of the already purged spam users have been deleted. They were about 15,000.

Now, an hourly trigger deletes at once the accounts of new subscribers who are identified as spammers and send unsolicited PMs.