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Why I Get Comment Spams Despite Captcha? Help!

Posted by theconsciouslife • 4/16/09 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: blogging, comment, spams

Hi everyone,

I am getting comment spams despite using visitor verification and captcha.

I wonder how do the spam bots get through these verification gates? Surely there must be a way to stop them from coming?

Although Akismet does a good job of filtering the spams, it's still annoying having to go through and clear the spams. What can I do to prevent getting spams at all?

Any advice is very much appreciated.

User Comments

4/16/09

greencurmudgeon

If your CAPTCHA isn't strong enough, spammers can "read" it and put in comments regardless.

You probably want to put in Bad Behaviour, which is also very good at catching spam - between that and Akismet, that should stop the majority of spam.

[reply]
1. 4/16/09
  
  theconsciouslife
  
  Thanks, greencurmudgeon! I'll give Bad Behaviour a try.
4/16/09

PetLvr

Have your akismet clear itself every 30 days and on your "About" or "Contact" page make a note that you have spam filters in place, and do not moderate any comments .. and if readers feels that their comments have not yet been moderated or deleted by these spam filters - to contact you immediately!

[reply]
1. 4/16/09
  
  theconsciouslife
  
  That's a good advice too, PetLvr. Thanks a lot!
4/17/09

JP2112

Like others have suggested, use multiple anti-spam methods. In some cases, CAPTCHA has been cracked or solved. And some spammers are even employing real people to go onto websites and manually fill out forms, defeating the CAPTCHA images with real human labor.

[reply]
1. 4/19/09
  
  theconsciouslife
  
  Thanks, Jimmy. I've tried out Bad Behavior suggested by greencurmudgeon and I must say it's working like a charm. So far no comment spam after installing it. I am keeping my fingers crossed. But, there's always the trusty Akismet to catch any slip-up.
2. 4/19/09
  
  PetLvr
  
  Yeah ... "Bad Behavior" and akismet usually does the trick. Some think that CAPTCHA's are not worth it and it prevents handicap people from commenting, and people with eye disease or computer vision problems have problems reading them as well (like some of us, who can never see those 3D images in the sunday comics)
3. 4/20/09
  
  timethief
  
  @perlvr
  Thanks for mentioning that captcha is very hard for visually challenged people like me to use.
4/20/09

theconsciouslife

You've a point, PetLvr. Come to think about it, Captcha is really not friendly to the disabled. I don't think specialized web readers can read those numbers and letters in a captcha image yet. I may disable my captcha then. You got me thinking. Thanks!

[reply]
4/20/09

borzack

I have hundreds spam comments everyday, it's getting worse Akismet and Spam Karma just doesn't cut it anymore. Bad Behaviour eh? I shall give it a try. Thanks

[reply]
1. 4/20/09
  
  theconsciouslife
  
  After testing it out, do let us know whether it has helped you in any way. Thanks!