# Why do the spam attacks come in the middle of the night? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [October 29, 2014, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-spam-attacks-come-in-the-middle-of-the-night/702876 "2014-10-29T07:26:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-spam-attacks-come-in-the-middle-of-the-night/702876/1 "2014-10-29T07:26:03Z")
We have a few spam attacks lately where somebody is posting a spew of threads. And I’ve noticed that they’re occurring in the middle of the night. (I realize it’s only the middle of the night here in the United States but this is a generally American board.) Is there a reason for this? Do spammers hope to catch message board administrators off duty? Or is it just a coincidence? The attacks appear to be coming out of India so it’s the middle of the day for them. ---
**Author:** ![jimbuff314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@jimbuff314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbuff314)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-spam-attacks-come-in-the-middle-of-the-night/702876/2 "2014-10-29T07:29:39Z")
I was going to answer with the same thing you said in your last sentence. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-spam-attacks-come-in-the-middle-of-the-night/702876/3 "2014-10-29T07:58:57Z")
These current spam attacks are apparently coming from India or at least the number being posted is in India. It’s not the middle of the night there. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-spam-attacks-come-in-the-middle-of-the-night/702876/4 "2014-10-29T08:58:35Z")
It’s the middle of the day in India. It’s the middle of the night in the US. Something that makes it convenient for the Indian spammers to do their thing, and something that makes it inconvenient for the mostly American mods and admins to do their thing are coming at the same time (in fact, they ARE the same time). Seems like a recipe for spam, to me. ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-spam-attacks-come-in-the-middle-of-the-night/702876/5 "2014-10-29T09:05:41Z")
Seems that they post as frequently as one minute apart. Perhaps there is a separate setting for “can start a new thread every x minutes” that could be increased to maybe 10 or 15 minutes? ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-spam-attacks-come-in-the-middle-of-the-night/702876/6 "2014-10-29T10:44:51Z")
> [@Mops](#): > > Seems that they post as frequently as one minute apart. Perhaps there is a separate setting for “can start a new thread every x minutes” that could be increased to maybe 10 or 15 minutes? Seconded. Such measures were suggested when we had the previous thread on this topic, and the response then was that this kind of attack is rare. Well, I’ve personally seen 4 or 5 instances of GQ being bombarded, and this is clearly the work of one guy / group. With the current configuration, just a few copycats could make the board completely unusable for an indefinite amount of time. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-spam-attacks-come-in-the-middle-of-the-night/702876/7 "2014-10-29T11:40:41Z")
Spam attacks may come at any time. The mods catch many and delete them quickly. However, the majority of mods on this forum live in USA. An attack at night, USA time, might catch most mods asleep. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-spam-attacks-come-in-the-middle-of-the-night/702876/8 "2014-10-29T11:44:52Z")
The longer the previous stuff stays, the more attractive the place is to spam. Unfortunately, all the things I think would help would require admin access. (Put all new posters a group with more restrictions would be a good one. The new thread delay is a good one. It’s hardly a restriction for most people.) ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-spam-attacks-come-in-the-middle-of-the-night/702876/9 "2014-10-29T12:53:30Z")
With apologies to Mr Sandburg. The spam comes on little cat feet. It sits looking over harbor and city on silent haunches and then moves on. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-spam-attacks-come-in-the-middle-of-the-night/702876/10 "2014-10-29T13:57:23Z")
As always, automation helps. > **[Spambot](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spambot)** > > A spambot is a computer program designed to assist in the sending of spam. Spambots usually create accounts and send spam messages with them. Web hosts and website operators have responded by banning spammers, leading to an ongoing struggle between them and spammers in which spammers find new ways to evade the bans and anti-spam programs, and hosts counteract these methods. > Email spambots harvest email addresses from material found on the Internet in order to build mailing lists for sending unso... In the past we’ve had night owls/people in other jurisdictions other than the US, they were online while the other moderators slept. The active roster is currently top heavy with Eastern/Central time zoners. I’m thinking some of these people obviously have to move. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-spam-attacks-come-in-the-middle-of-the-night/702876/11 "2014-10-29T14:01:53Z")
In the current version of vBulletin there is no “post delay” available. The only real control over this would be to make all new posters have to pass a human moderation check before they would be allowed to make a posting. Not only would this be onerous on the staff but it would also be annoying to legitimate posters who have signed up in the heat of the moment and have something to say. If they have to wait while their content is screened, chances are in today’s environment they’d just abandon the whole deal and not come back to us. That’s not good for business. So we have to put up with the occasional spambot to allow people access. It’s not a perfect solution but it’s better than the other choices available. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-spam-attacks-come-in-the-middle-of-the-night/702876/12 "2014-10-29T22:21:07Z")
> [@TubaDiva](#): > > As always, automation helps. > > [Spambot - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spambot) > > In the past we’ve had night owls/people in other jurisdictions other than the US, they were online while the other moderators slept. The active roster is currently top heavy with Eastern/Central time zoners. > > I’m thinking some of these people obviously have to move. 🙂 I am willing, I am an east coast US insomniac. [URL=“[http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/](http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/)”] ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-spam-attacks-come-in-the-middle-of-the-night/702876/13 "2014-10-29T22:47:11Z")
So…calling in a team of mercs to have the spammers terminated with extreme prejudice is off the table? Just sayin’. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-spam-attacks-come-in-the-middle-of-the-night/702876/14 "2014-10-29T23:14:44Z")
We’re still waiting on those purple helicopters we requisitioned. (Black is so last century.) ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-spam-attacks-come-in-the-middle-of-the-night/702876/15 "2014-10-29T23:51:44Z")
They seem to be posted under several distinct user-names. Are they all coming from one IP, or perhaps from several similar IP’s? Time for some IP bans? ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-spam-attacks-come-in-the-middle-of-the-night/702876/16 "2014-10-30T00:12:05Z")
> [@TubaDiva](#): > > As always, automation helps. > > [Spambot - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spambot) > > In the past we’ve had night owls/people in other jurisdictions other than the US, they were online while the other moderators slept. The active roster is currently top heavy with Eastern/Central time zoners. > > I’m thinking some of these people obviously have to move. 🙂 > [@aruvqan](#): > > I am willing, I am an east coast US insomniac. > [URL=“[http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/](http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/)”] While you’re a cool poster/volunteer, we actually have two East Coast insomniac mods. The are on duty about 80% of the nights. That’s the best we can do right now. People have to understand that this new bot/spam poster type from India has only been plaguing us the last 6 months-year or so. It’s really only a minor thing. Yeah, when they get lucky they get in anywhere from 10-30 posts in an hour or two. But it’s not really that bad a thing. I really don’t consider them bots. If it takes you two hours to post 30 posts, you’re NOT a bot. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-spam-attacks-come-in-the-middle-of-the-night/702876/17 "2014-10-30T00:15:22Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > They seem to be posted under several distinct user-names. Are they all coming from one IP, or perhaps from several similar IP’s? Time for some IP bans? Here’s the poop on that approach. Imagine a US spammer using AOL as an IP. We can’t ban an IP address as that would be useless–ban thousands of posters. Most Indian spammers use the Indian equivalent of a generic AOL-type provider. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-spam-attacks-come-in-the-middle-of-the-night/702876/18 "2014-10-30T00:27:17Z")
We have one particular troublemaker, the guy who posts the +91 baba tantric voodoo love nonsense. He is in India and posts from a variety of IP addresses on different Indian ISPs. We would have to pretty much IP ban all of India to stop him. He posts several times per week, anywhere from midnight to noon (my time, which is Eastern Standard Time) and keeps changing his phone number and the wording of his posts to avoid keyword bans. The only reason you don’t see much more of him here is that most of the time we catch him fairly quickly. Every now and then he catches us without coverage and then we have to clean up 40 or 50 spams that he’s done. We have a few other spammers who mostly come in through one particular ISP in India, but we can’t IP ban that ISP because we have legitimate users on that ISP as well (it’s one of the bigger ISPs in India). Most of the watch free movie spams come from Romania. Again, we’d have to block the entire country to stop those. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-spam-attacks-come-in-the-middle-of-the-night/702876/19 "2014-10-30T01:09:12Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > Most of the watch free movie spams come from Romania. Again, we’d have to block the entire country to stop those. Not that we don’t fantasize about that possibility. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-spam-attacks-come-in-the-middle-of-the-night/702876/20 "2014-10-30T01:57:42Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > Not that we don’t fantasize about that possibility. 😃 For a while there our biggest heroine was Una, who we hear once banned the entire continent of Australia. Now that’s showing 'em who’s boss! But we want to see good stuff from everybody, so we’re more judicious. It does mean we (briefly) see more spam but we also see more posters so it’s not all bad. Wait a minute, let me think about that … (I kid Australia, I kid.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-spam-attacks-come-in-the-middle-of-the-night/702876.md?page=2)