Implemented Changes to Registration - Scammer Edition

[W.H.O.]

I'm all for the added security, but it might be better to have the protocols designed and ready to deploy if the scams start to become a larger issue than what could be dealt with by reporting. On that note, it might not be a bad idea to start vetting for moderators (tier 3?) to help with oversight of such issues.

 

[ikeo1]

I'm all for the added security, but it might be better to have the protocols designed and ready to deploy if the scams start to become a larger issue than what could be dealt with by reporting. On that note, it might not be a bad idea to start vetting for moderators (tier 3?) to help with oversight of such issues.

Changes are coming soon...

 

[L4Dtwo]

Missing "I like bacon" from the poll....too soon?

I say lock it down by any means necessary.
$1 (refundable?) for registration.
Minimum post counts for various features.
Tiered messaging volume

I have (had) to deal with bots and bot submission on my companies website. We implemented a paid solution (very cheap).
It hosts a large database of reported bots, uses learning and AI to recognize and block malicious activity. Since we implemented we basically went to 1 on a scale of 10 from malicious registrations and spam.

 

[ikeo1]

Missing "I like bacon" from the poll....too soon?

I say lock it down by any means necessary.
$1 (refundable?) for registration.
Minimum post counts for various features.
Tiered messaging volume

I have (had) to deal with bots and bot submission on my companies website. We implemented a paid solution (very cheap).
It hosts a large database of reported bots, uses learning and AI to recognize and block malicious activity. Since we implemented we basically went to 1 on a scale of 10 from malicious registrations and spam.

We're not going to do the refund option. It's kind of a hassle. We are also using a paid solution so that just went in. So we'll see what happens from here.

 

[Call_me_Tom]

I still feel a minimum post count would help weed out scammers, most scammers don’t have the patients to make 25 meaningful posts.

 

[NorCalBusa]

Changes are coming soon...

No reply needed, consider a "tell-a-friend" dealio where known/good standing members can send an invite to folks they know, allow such referrals to skip most of the qualifying stuff at sign up.

 

[Plenty_Pack_556]

Quite possible. The big guys have the paywall for a reason. ARF?

You mean Arfcom? They don't have paywall. Armslist have much discounted rates for Veterans.

 

[ikeo1]

We've put some challenges for Non-US traffic. If things continue to be a problem we'll block it outright. We're seeing some interesting results from the most recent update. We're planning to put in more layers of protection to the site.

Please keep reporting suspicious accounts. Thank you!

 

[OlderThanDirt]

I’m sure eventually I’ll show up as a suspicious account. I post from multiple devices, ISPs and VPN proxy servers. I noticed a significant time lag when initially accessing the site via VPN and am not sure how things will work when one of my networks uses WAN load balancing. Then there’s Starlink Roam…

 

[doser]

I’m sure eventually I’ll show up as a suspicious account. I post from multiple devices, ISPs and VPN proxy servers. I noticed a significant time lag when initially accessing the site via VPN and am not sure how things will work when one of my networks uses WAN load balancing. Then there’s Starlink Roam…

Hi, Welcome.. Yes your account was flagged, but when you interact its better. You also don't always visit with VPN and you've made a purchase which adds to your reputation. Our security here is in layers, so if your account is flagged and we get a report, we already have an idea. we have several things we look at. We'll get better over time with it too.

 

[OlderThanDirt]

Interesting.

 

[Vintagearms]

I'm the SME with tech, but people have many more decades than me on forums. I'm only a big user now, but once my other business gets going, I'll be more distant. I know what I want with the marketplace, but in this case I'm mainly asking so people understand what's happening behind the scenes. That way, when I ultimately do make modifications once I have some data, some people know what's going on, that helps me with people educating others in what's happening. Since more people know about the change. I mainly look for consensus as a starting point.


Quite possible. The big guys have the paywall for a reason. ARF, Snipershide, Armslist all have paywalls for specific features and they are top of their game and constantly upgrading the site.

They do Paywalls for added content, not regular use.

 

[DB>)>]

Scammers tend to have a fairly predictable MO, on EVERY platform that may potentially involve a financial transaction. Seller asks for "deposit", "friends and family", non-recourse online payment, etc.... 110% probability it's a SCAM. You get a contact from someone who says "they have a friend" that has what you're looking for.... 125% probability it's a scam. Just using simple common sense when making purchases online goes a long way (as does getting burned once or twice so ya know better!).

The requirement of a FTF PPT helps quite a lot when firearms are involved, but buyers should ALWAYS be on the alert when buying online, period! While it's certainly possible to create a system that can detect possible scams and scammers, it runs the risk of flagging legit users, and of course some "smarter" scammers can slip in... The "man in the middle" (where someone pretends to be the "seller", and tries to make a deal and get a deposit) scam was going around "the L" marketplace recently, partly due to the traditional "I'll take it" post, to which the scammer would reply via PM or other means.

There's a reason that cybersecurity is a fairly specialized niche - and it's a fight that is won day to day.

 

[ikeo1]

They do Paywalls for added content, not regular use.

It’s a combination of both. I’ve included the membership tiers for your review. You’ll see that you get a lot more for a lot less here. There is less though so it’s proportional.

ARFCOM STORE

www.ar15.com

Sniper's Hide

thehide.tv

Do I really need to include armlist? I think it’s well known they are a pay site.

Can you name a free site with no memberships that offers all features that’s independent?

 

[Warpspeed]

Can you name a free site with no memberships that offers all features that’s independent?

Brian Enos's Forums... Maku mozo!

 

[ikeo1]

Brian Enos's Forums... Maku mozo!

If you notice the size of the site and the features. You’ll see exactly what I mean

Quite possible. The big guys have the paywall for a reason. ARF, Snipershide, Armslist all have paywalls for specific features and they are top of their game and constantly upgrading the site.

Enos has 74k members and has been around since 2000’s. My point still stands the big guys have paywalls.

Enos also uses invision forums. There is absolutely no customization from the standard forum with the generic offering. vs here which is very customized.

Pricing - Invision Community

invisioncommunity.com

You are also required to enter your real name to post in classifieds.

There’s always a pro and a con

The search and classifieds feature alone cost the yearly subscription for invision not including the forum license or any of the extra security options we put in.

For the size, I put in a lot of enterprise features for a small community site. Typically tech like ElasticSearch is for the big boys. Once you start moving up the subscription ladder you get closer to the type of features we have even then we use best of breed.

 

[Warpspeed]

The biggest takeaway from BE is the fact there is very little, if any, scammer activity.

The 50 posts to get to post in classifieds plus the real name in profile to list something goes a long way.

SH has the requirement of a paid subscription to post. I haven't been scammed on either site but then I haven't been scammed on CG either.