Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Blogging

The Menace Of WordPress Registration Spam

The threat of spam is one that we all have to deal with one way or the other. Spam emails, SMS text messages, Web comments, are just some of the different type of spam that people have to deal with on a daily basis. Whilst these types of spam are somewhat common, registration spam-types particularly in relation to WordPress blogs is a different ball game as there are only present in blogs that allow guest authors or contributors to register. Furthermore, registration spam is only visible in the back-end and not to ordinary users.

How To Identify Spam User Registrations

If you decide to invite others to register on your blog, then you might not notice registration spam immediately. From our experience, they only begin to appear as more and more people become aware that you are accepting user registrations and then wham! you gradually become overwhelmed. There are two major ways to know if you are a victim of registration spam. First, there is an unusual increase in the number of user sign-up you receive per day. For example, from 7 per week to around 60 per day. The second sign is the number of error delivery messages in your inbox will go up dramatically,  particularly if automatic verification emails are sent out to those who register.

Stopping Spam User Registration

As this is a new experience for us, we are trying out various ways and still looking for the best solution. However, there are three possible ways of managing the situation effectively. Firstly, install security and anti-spam plugins such as, Akismet and Sabre. Secondly, ask registered users to confirm they are real people by sending you a private email to signify their intentions (as you may have observed on here). You could even ask them to quote a particular word or sentence just to be double sure. Last but not least, disable registration entirely.

Consequences Of Spam User Registration

At the moment, there are no fatal consequences of user-registration spam if those who register do not possess more than basic user roles such as subscriber or contributor. However, the major problem lies in the difficulty and confusion that is caused when it comes to separating fake registrations from authentic ones. Also, if false registrations are not removed or deleted, you stand the risk of overloading or clogging up your database although there are various plugins that can deal with this by removing users who do not verify their accounts in X number of days.

Talking Point

Can you suggest other ways of removing spam user registrations?

Written By

Thanks for reading this article. If you're new here, why don't you subscribe for regular updates via RSS feed or via email. You can also subscribe by following @techsling on Twitter or becoming our fan on Facebook. Thanks for visiting!

14 Comments

14 Comments

  1. SeoDezin

    May 25, 2011 at 3:46 am

    Akismet blocks some human beings comments and some spams slips from this plug-in.It is my experience

  2. aurea

    May 25, 2011 at 8:29 am

    Hi there, these are really great tips to block spam registrations. 🙂 It’s just now that I’ve known about Akismet and Sabre, thank you for this info! Very very useful 😀

  3. Khan

    May 25, 2011 at 11:53 am

    You have informed us a good way to identify the spammers.Sure we will apply the same methodology to diagnose them.

  4. kuptan

    May 26, 2011 at 3:47 am

    These spammer plays role of viruses in blogging and Akismet of of the best tool.

  5. reeha

    May 27, 2011 at 6:33 am

    great tips and suggestions for stopping spams. your post is very useful from top till the end

  6. joe

    May 29, 2011 at 12:41 pm

    From what that I know, has the AKISMET that I use it, and he succeeds to avoid 95% of spam that you get to your blog. I do not know who the idiot that using these methods. There are still people who believe it can work for them
    ?

  7. STM

    June 8, 2011 at 11:57 am

    First, there is an unusual increase in the number of user sign-up you receive per day. For example, from 7 per week to around 60 per day. The second sign is the number of error delivery messages in your inbox will go up dramatically, particularly if automatic verification emails are sent out to those who register.

  8. smss

    June 29, 2011 at 10:47 am

    The major problem lies in the difficulty and confusion that is caused when it comes to separating fake registrations from authentic ones. Keep on sharing.

  9. Mike

    July 12, 2011 at 3:41 am

    I’m just wondering what’s the point… what do the spammers have to gain.
    I run a shopping cart website for my employer and we are getting around 200 new user signups per day.
    I have had to turn off “Membership Anyone can register”
    and just have to post an apology on the signup page….

  10. Jona

    September 6, 2011 at 5:51 pm

    The reason you are getting all of those automated spams is because you do not have the Growmap Anti Spambot Plugin installed. If you also install the KeywordLuv plug-in, then people who comment can be rewarded for contributing to your blog (just as this site is doing now.). Install the GASP plug-in and you will see a dramatic decrease in comment spam. AKISMET is not a good plug-in. It blocks a lot of legitmate posts. It is recommended to stop using that service. You will lose a lot of great content by having that plug-in.

  11. John

    November 17, 2011 at 4:59 pm

    Cartpauj Register Captcha has worked well for me: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/cartpauj-register-captcha/

  12. Alex Johnson

    February 11, 2013 at 12:53 pm

    You’re quite right to take these steps to secure your site. It’s the responsible thing to do in these times and no-one wants to fall foul of Google.

  13. Adam Prattler

    September 8, 2013 at 2:04 am

    Registration spam is a true menace indeed… Due high its high increase, people who are eager to publish some actual quality guest content cannot register as guest contributors at inflicted websites anymore.

  14. Sharifa Sanderson

    July 10, 2014 at 12:55 am

    The method that you have now seems to be a good alternative. If I come across any plugins that work better than Askimet I’ll share here.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

You May Also Like

Design

Are you looking for the best blog theme for your blog? However, there are many free and premium WordPress blog themes available in the...

Web

We started with one assumption while preparing this list of SEO strategies: you’re busy. So, these are approaches that you can use right now...

Web

Making sure you are receiving the appropriate WordPress theme for your requirements is crucial when buying one. A WordPress theme is a great place...

Digital Marketing

Among 7.7 billion people on the planet today, an estimated calculation says 3.5 billion of them use the internet on a regular basis to...