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Keeping Bots and Scammers Out.

Luzifer

Strongman Moderator
Thread Owner
Chief Mechanic
Joined
May 10, 2024
Messages
1,169
I accidently logged out and I tested the registration form, I saw as a question how many cylinders does a Huracan have. @Sakura what a great idea!

I wonder how a few bots were able to register a few weeks ago, someone has to manually verify the question to let in their bots?
 

Sakura

Title Contender
Santa With A Violin
Joined
Mar 28, 2024
Messages
846
Yes, someone verified the question before they sent in their bots. They also used AI. The majority of the bots are from Chinese networks and 80% of them are Alibaba / Aliexpress. They ignore all network rules and are very persistent in breaching websites.

I may change the question into one that requires human judgement to answer and change the question periodically.
 

SmoothOperator

Race Driver
Lambo Professor
Joined
Jan 14, 2026
Messages
37
Bots be gone! although as Ai continues to get smarter I wonder if its just something we're going to have to just be more reactive to opposed to proactive.
 

SmoothOperator

Race Driver
Lambo Professor
Joined
Jan 14, 2026
Messages
37
The other question I had, since the forum is private, there is no way for Google or any of the other search engines to pick up keywords or topics from threads and posts.

How does new member traffic get driven to this site if they cant find it?

I understand this is a more private experience then lambo talk, but how does the community grow if we rely only on membership through invite.
 

Luzifer

Strongman Moderator
Thread Owner
Chief Mechanic
Joined
May 10, 2024
Messages
1,169
The other question I had, since the forum is private, there is no way for Google or any of the other search engines to pick up keywords or topics from threads and posts.

How does new member traffic get driven to this site if they cant find it?

I understand this is a more private experience then lambo talk, but how does the community grow if we rely only on membership through invite.


Bots be gone! although as Ai continues to get smarter I wonder if its just something we're going to have to just be more reactive to opposed to proactive.

I'll let Sakura chime in to explain the details but legit crawling bots like google and bing are allowed in to index the place.

Yep we are reactive, the bots that get in don't post, they are usually logged in 1-4 minutes from membership then they don't log back in like a real person would do. We delete them. I also noticed a pattern with usernames, I can usually spot fake usernames.

This place will not be as big as the other place for the main reason they have ten of thousands of fake accounts and I'm pretty sure they subcontract people to post. Look at all those new members that out of the blue start posting. Often times they disappear after a few posts. Then you have I think are intentional bots posting stuff that don't make sense yet they remain there forever adding to the membership count.

The owner(s) of that site is not really about operating forums but actually they are ads platforms to generate revenue for them. I was a mod at one of their other place and what I saw was incredible.
 

Sakura

Title Contender
Santa With A Violin
Joined
Mar 28, 2024
Messages
846
The other question I had, since the forum is private, there is no way for Google or any of the other search engines to pick up keywords or topics from threads and posts.

How does new member traffic get driven to this site if they cant find it?

I understand this is a more private experience then lambo talk, but how does the community grow if we rely only on membership through invite.

Yes, a forum needs traffic if it is engaged in commercial activities such as advertising and sponsorships. For that reason, a commercial forum is not a true community. They hide behind the word community, but in reality the members are being used as a source of income. If anything, that kind of forum should be paying its members, not the other way around.

On the other hand, this forum is built on the concept of a true community. There are no commercial activities, no advertising, and no sponsorships. It is intentionally private. The running costs are covered by genuine enthusiasts and are secured for decades to come. Because there is no financial incentive tied to traffic, participation is organic and authentic. We want members who genuinely contribute, not employees or employees' alternates or bots posting conversations solely to inflate activity.

Frankly, I think we are doing just fine, with many great members like yourself joining recently.
 

Luzifer

Strongman Moderator
Thread Owner
Chief Mechanic
Joined
May 10, 2024
Messages
1,169
I was a mod for them on another forum for 3 years. Every day I would remove at least 10 spam links. It was a forum for professionals with certifications so if they were not qualified they were removed. We had a good friendly group going. At first it wasn't so bad and they gave a $50 gift card at Christmas then they started to bash me taking the side of those who had no qualifications. One time I explained to admin if they let the one who filed a complaint on me, who had no licences and qualifications was risking the lives of over a 100 people, a real possibility of death and building collapse. They didn't a F, I was constantly scolded, they started to let anyone in to gain membership ignoring their own forum rules. You might of noticed how similar it is at the other place...

They stopped giving gift cards. I left the place. Last I checked there's more bot posts and spam links than member's posts, there about 3-5 members left posting only once or twice a week.
 

Sakura

Title Contender
Santa With A Violin
Joined
Mar 28, 2024
Messages
846
I was a mod for them on another forum for 3 years. Every day I would remove at least 10 spam links. It was a forum for professionals with certifications so if they were not qualified they were removed. We had a good friendly group going. At first it wasn't so bad and they gave a $50 gift card at Christmas then they started to bash me taking the side of those who had no qualifications. One time I explained to admin if they let the one who filed a complaint on me, who had no licences and qualifications was risking the lives of over a 100 people, a real possibility of death and building collapse. They didn't a F, I was constantly scolded they started to let anyone in to gain membership ignoring their own forum rules. You might of noticed how similar it is at the other place...

They stopped giving gift cards. I left the place. Last I checked there's more bot posts and spam links than member's posts, there about 3-5 members left posting only once or twice a week.

Greed and trolls, or greedy trolls, or grolls :) It is a little monster that stinks up everything good in its path. When a place smells like grolls, it is time to leave. You made the right decision. I did too.

9E47E25D-002B-495F-ABDD-545B5796FCE7.png
 

Raf

Reserve Driver
Lambo Professor
Joined
Jan 22, 2026
Messages
12
R8 talk is the same. It’s the vertical scope that owns it and hires a firm out of Lithuania to manage all their forums.

Hiding behind the word community is spot on description of what’s going on.

Happy to support you guys!
 

Luzifer

Strongman Moderator
Thread Owner
Chief Mechanic
Joined
May 10, 2024
Messages
1,169
I didn't know about Lithuania, wow!

If you look at the other place, allegedly they have something like 57 000 members. So you can see the extreme exaggeration.
 

Luzifer

Strongman Moderator
Thread Owner
Chief Mechanic
Joined
May 10, 2024
Messages
1,169
That forum AI over there I think it's people who are responding.
 

Raf

Reserve Driver
Lambo Professor
Joined
Jan 22, 2026
Messages
12
I didn't know about Lithuania, wow!

If you look at the other place, allegedly they have something like 57 000 members. So you can see the extreme exaggeration.
Yea couple times the so called admin forgot to set his USA vpn and was responding to people with Lithuanian flag and broken English. Once I called them out the now always have vpn on and use em dashes with responses indicating using ChatGPT at all times
 

Sakura

Title Contender
Santa With A Violin
Joined
Mar 28, 2024
Messages
846
R8 talk is the same. It’s the vertical scope that owns it and hires a firm out of Lithuania to manage all their forums.

Hiding behind the word community is spot on description of what’s going on.

Happy to support you guys!

I have had many bad experiences with companies based in Lithuania. In my experience, some of them seem to engage quite freely in infringement, such as copying content or products without permission. It is not limited to bots either. In several cases, real people were involved in deliberately causing trouble.

Bad people work with companies in Lithuania because they know enforcement under EU law is weak in practice. Courts and regulations exist on paper, but real accountability is slow, inconsistent, and easy to dodge, which makes exploitation attractive.
 
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