Having trubble with a troll - need help

[WTSDS]

G'day,

First time jumping into the deep end here, usually hang out in the Tech section

This time I need a little help that's nuthin' to do with nuts and bolts so outa my scope, but I recall seeing something on The Old Unmentionable site which could be of great use.

Got a really persistent troll screwing up a smallish private web based group of old farts who fiddle with mechanical stuff, open group, anyone can post, and use any name, and, of coirse do the imposter thing, all that shyte. It's pretty much a voluntary thing for the guy who runs it, little time, little money, yada

So, one time I posted a reply to some question ( on the Umnentionable ) next time I dropped in there was my reply with ALL my ISP details and address, URL numbers, maybe even my email addresses ? in a little dialog box.

At the time I felt it a bit intrusive,  and it seemed to be emanating from the guy I answered rather the the Unm itself

Anybody can tell me how to do that ??  If he is a 16 yo kid I'm hoping may just scare him off, at the very least stop the impostering

[Slide Panda]

Well a lot of forum type sites will log user info like your IP address and display it to you, as part of your post.  But only you see it.  Now if your troll has posted that info in an actual post that's a different story.

But - since forums usually log that IP addess of posters - you should be able to ban your problem child by his IP address.  IF this is done he won't just be able to create a new name an log right back on *if* he's got a static IP.  A lot of ISPs will hand out a new IP each time a modem restarts or based on some other criteria.  So banning by IP is not fail safe. 

If you can get real snoopy, you might be able to find out his MAC address - this is basically the serial number of his network card, and he can't change that w/o getting a new card.  So if you can find that info and ban by MAC addy that's a much more definite way to lock your pest out.

[mitt]

1 - set up the board to have email verification to register - more of a pain but can weed out easy trolls. If it is a small group, should not be too much work.

2 - the IP box thing you saw is a harmless script that some people like to download and use to look like a webz geek.  There are other ways to find IP's also.

3 - the forum admin can block IP addresses and email registration, so you can block the troll, but he will try to come back with a different IP, but combining this block with #1, the admin can refuse the registration.



If the troll wants to get back in hard enough, there is nothing you can do about it.

mitt

[amcloud]

Actually, the MAC address is very simple to change or spoof.  VMware is one simple method, there are others.  MAC blocking will only get rid of him if he is a retard.

[slim_grizzy]

If it was in his sig area below his post, then he probably didn't actually have your info.  You can have your sig run a script to reflect the other users info from the forum back to them, regardless of who it is.  No one else sees it other than the person that it's reflecting back to.  I'm not sure if that's what the deal was but I've seen that on other forums where someone thought they were the l33t.  If they actually had the information in their post, then it might be something more serious.  Not having seen the actual post, I can't really say what they did.

[Drunken Monkey]

Post a link to the forum in question and we should be able to tell if he's actually got your particulars or if it's just a script.

And you can never permanently get rid of a troll, but the steps outlined about should make it so he wastes far more of his own time then he does yours.

[faolan01]

Actually, the MAC address is very simple to change or spoof.  VMware is one simple method, there are others.  MAC blocking will only get rid of him if he is a retardyour average script kiddie.

fixed 

[il d00d]

Re: MAC addresses
if you find out a MAC address associated with the troll, chances are it is not the trolls PC, but some routing device in the path between troll and the forum server.  A layer-2 address (like a MAC address) is not used beyond the layer-2 network.
I guess I am saying that is not really an option.  And an IP-based filter is not really all that effective anyways - say you find out one address he is using and you block it.  To get around this, he can either get a new address from his ISP (not hard) or log in at a Starbucks or any open wireless network or a friend's house, etc.  You'll end up chasing your tail, and there is no need to add to your frustration.  I think a software fix is your best bet.  Good luck

[mitt]

Re: MAC addresses
if you find out a MAC address associated with the troll, chances are it is not the trolls PC, but some routing device in the path between troll and the forum server.  A layer-2 address (like a MAC address) is not used beyond the layer-2 network.
I guess I am saying that is not really an option.  And an IP-based filter is not really all that effective anyways - say you find out one address he is using and you block it.  To get around this, he can either get a new address from his ISP (not hard) or log in at a Starbucks or any open wireless network or a friend's house, etc.  You'll end up chasing your tail, and there is no need to add to your frustration.  I think a software fix is your best bet.  Good luck

IP blocking in conjunction with email registration works.  It is more work from the admin end, but you can decrease troll accounts.

mitt

[Popeye the Sailor]

IP blocking in conjunction with email registration works.  It is more work from the admin end, but you can decrease troll accounts.

mitt

And yet you continue to let Joel post here. 

[herm]

the only way to get rid of a troll is to ignore them

[WTSDS]

Thanks everybody, advice greatly appreciated.

Can see our group is an easy target for this creep, guess we will have to become a closed group with registered member ID.

I will pass your info onto the web adminstrator -  it's  a PITA when a bunch of really nice guys have their hobby trashed like this.

[cyrus buelton]

blocking IP addresses can be got around.

Don't ask me how I know.

[ducpainter]

the only way to get rid of a troll is to ignore them

Probably not the only way...

but the best.

[mitt]

blocking IP addresses can be got around.

Don't ask me how I know.

No one is saying opposite.  But, if you block IP's, and screen user requests, then it can work 98% of the time.  Of course there will be trolls slip through, especially on a big forum, but on a small forum, it should be easy.

Why, are you admitting you were a troll 

mitt