MyBB Community Forums

FYI...

  I turn my Forum back on a few days ago and started getting 20+ email spams.
Just turned it back off (right before posting this thread).
I'm sure they will stop (or be reduced by 3/4).
Last time it stopped the spam completely.

  I'm amazed the MyBB forums can be compromised so easily.
Please don't try and tell me "spammers can't hack into MyBB forums" because you'd be wrong...

  I'm not a "forum" coder and it was hard to get everything working the 1st time I installed it.
Can't get myself to try the upgrade because it seems like more work than I want to do for a forum that spammers can hack into.
I understand ther's a "spam" mod that is supposed to help stop it.

Does anyone know if I can turn email off completely in the forum?
If so could you please tell me where it is?

Just thought I'd let everyone know about the spam...
D

Which version are you running? Is it 1.8? Do you have any of the anti spam measures enabled? If so, which (security questions, recaptcha, StopForumSpam, hidden registration fields, timed registrations)? Out of the box, a lot of the features aren't enabled or aren't set to optimal settings (the default security questions for example are extremely simple).

Like Euan T said, make sure you're actually using anti-spam plugins and the built-in features of MyBB. Another thing is they're not "hacking" into your forum. They just have a simple program that fills in HTML forms and submits them.

How are the spammers getting your email? Are you posting it on your forums or using the email [email protected]?

Quote:Please don't try and tell me "spammers can't hack into MyBB forums" because you'd be wrong...

You're wrong. There's no "hacking" involved. The bots aren't doing anything which a human can't do. Saying spammers are hacking MyBB forums is akin to saying spammers are hacking your email by sending you spam.

(2016-01-27, 09:45 PM)Nathan Malcolm Wrote: [ -> ]

Quote:Please don't try and tell me "spammers can't hack into MyBB forums" because you'd be wrong...

You're wrong. There's no "hacking" involved. The bots aren't doing anything which a human can't do.

By contrast - just to make this clear for OP: Humans can do things bots can't do; like hack. 

Filling out a form on a website does not constitute hacking, no matter how much you think it does. It's like saying someone hacked your facebook account when you've left your phone around with no passcode on it. It's stupid.