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spam from .ru domain

  1. jdferrell
    Member

    Akisimet ought to automatically ban any posts or comments coming from the domain .ru. Virtually 100% of everything sent from there is spam. Not 99.999%, but 100%. Completely banning that domain (at least until they get their act together) would cut down on a great deal of spam. Kinda like automatically filtering any message that contains the term "Nigeria", or "make money fast", or "this is not a scam". Block whole domains until they can prove they've got a handle on outgoing spam.

    The blog I need help with is davestuff.wordpress.com.

  2. dangerish
    Member

    I wish Akismet would block all comments coming from .ru or an email that ends in @mail.ru as well. I have been getting ridiculous amounts of spam from the past 2 weeks from those addresses, as well as other Russian spam, and I'm tired of dealing with it. It's getting to the point where I'm considering just going back over to Blogger, although I've been at WordPress(.com) for a year now. I never had to deal with this much spam (or people ripping off my posts for that matter) when I was at Blogger.

  3. tellyworth
    Staff

    Two things:

    1. Russians are real people too. There are actually a lot of legitimate comments that come from those domains.

    2. If Akismet did block those domains, the spammers would simply switch to gmail or other addresses.

    You can expect to see improved results for this type of spam soon.

    In the meantime, if Akismet does miss a spam comment, please use the Spam button to report it - it will help Akismet to learn and adapt.

    If you'd like to completely block an email domain, you can add something like this to your Comment Blacklist (Settings / Discussion):

    @mail.ru

    Don't be tempted to add a short string like "ru" or you'll block "truth" and "fruit" by mistake.

  4. dangerish
    Member

    I blocked @mail.ru the other day, and it hasn't helped. Today, I had to block an entire string of addresses where it's the same username and a numeral behind it, then @mail.ru - I blocked numerals 1-30. Does it just take a few days to kick in or what?

  5. tellyworth
    Staff

    dangerish, the effect is immediate. If you add "@mail.ru" to your Blacklist, any comment containing "@mail.ru" in any field will be moved to your Spam folder.

    It doesn't *block* comments. Perhaps you're expecting it to?

  6. dangerish
    Member

    Okay, I used the wrong word. Sorry.
    I meant "block" as in "anything ending in @mail.ru is caught by Akismet and I don't have to delete it myself". That has been the main problem. Akismet is not catching as much as it used to, and I've had to delete at least a couple of dozen spam comments a day on my own. It is definitely not catching much ending in @mail.ru since I added that to my Blacklist the other day.

  7. thesacredpath
    Member

    @dangerish, spammers are constantly changing the way the do business, and the spam filters, Akismet and the others, have to adapt to keep up with them. I'm sure if they had a crystal ball and could see the spamming future, they would use it.

    ...and I've had to delete at least a couple of dozen spam comments a day on my own.

    I HOPE you are not just deleting the ones that Akismet misses, but marking them as spam. If you just delete them, then Akismet cannot learn that they are spam.

  8. tellyworth
    Staff

    I meant "block" as in "anything ending in @mail.ru is caught by Akismet and I don't have to delete it myself". That has been the main problem.

    I think this thread is going off the rails because of problems with terminology.

    Akismet doesn't normally block or delete comments. It puts the spam comments it catches in your spam folder.

    The Comment Blacklist doesn't block or delete comments either. It puts them in your spam folder too.

    When you say "not catching", what exactly do you mean? If things are appearing in your spam folder, that means they were caught. If you're expecting them to be blocked or deleted for you, they won't be - that's not how it works.

    If your spam folder is filling up with spam, it's not because Akismet is failing - it's because Akismet is doing its job.

    You can delete all the spam from your spam folder by clicking the Delete All Spam button. If that's too much trouble, you can simply ignore it - WordPress will remove it for you after 15 days.

  9. wellcraftedtoo
    Member

    I too have suddenly started receiving a significant amount of comments--in my spam box--that appear to be in Russian and end in .ru.

    I have been blogging with WordPress for only several months, really enjoying it, but the appearance of this spam, having to deal with it, and not having the slightest idea what is being said in the comments (perhaps a good thing??) is starting to bug me.

    It's interesting to me that the spam started only after alpahainventions.com picked up one of my recents posts (and I received a sharp increase in hits for a day).

    Have no idea if two events are related, but sure seem to be.

  10. wellcraftedtoo
    Member

    Just reread the comments above, tellyworth, and they are helpful--it's reassuring to remember that the spam folder is holding the confounding comments, and that one really can just let them sit, or delete en masse. I've been deleting one by one.

    Any thoughts on a possible connection to alphainventions.com?

  11. 1tess
    Moderator

    Doubt that it has anything to do with apahainventions.com except for the timing. serendipity. synchronicity nothing more.
    Mark it as spam.
    Askimet will learn.
    It does not show up in published comments.
    Just mark it as spam.

  12. tellyworth
    Staff

    The Russian spammers are professionals, any connection to alphainventions is coincidental.

  13. wellcraftedtoo
    Member

    Thanks for your replies...

    "Russian spammers"! Has an ominous sound, no??

    (Hee hee, just a nod and a joke to those of us who are boomers.)

    Re alphainventions.com, I was following for awhile one of the forums tossing ideas around it...interesting. Not sure if I fully understand it, but it seems basically harmless. It's just weird when one's hits suddenly hit the sky, and trying to understand if those are hits in the same sense as others is a bit tricky.

  14. foreverdns
    Member

    hey guys!
    as I live in a ex-USSR country, my blog receives a lot of comments from guys who have @mail.ru e-mails, Akismet marks them all as spam even tho they are not spam lool.. it works fine, it's not so difficult to click "Approve". Greetings!

  15. wellcraftedtoo
    Member

    Sounds frustrating, foreverdns!

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