Official "I got flagged as a spambot" thread

[Cthaeh]

@Cthaeh: I didn't hear a thing about this. Why am I not informed when something strange happens to the site ?

Umm... I guess I'm still stuck in the mindset that "strange" things are normal around here, and I'm not used to the fact that there someone who could fix something that's a nuisance (it wasn't broken really).

[kokuto]

I'm constantly unable to change my own password as I've been flagged as a spammer for some unknown reason.

Actually, all the emails I used have this thing.

[LiTTleDRAg0]

when I browsing the forums, I was prompted to change my password, but I was flagged as spammer and unable to proceed.
already tried to change email address but no avail
anyone can help me about this?

[Cthaeh]

There is a recurring issue that emails (and IPs) are erratically flagged by the spam blacklists, it can usually be resolved by trying repeatedly until it works. I recently had to change my password and it didn't work until the fourth attempt.

This has been ongoing for a while, but I do want to get it fixed. To help determine if it's a specific set of external blacklists that are problematic, or some other bug/issue, it would be helpful to record and post which blacklists are triggering. It should give a message like the following:

The e-mail domain yahoo.com you have used for your e-mail address has been blocked because it is blacklisted. For details please see http://spameatingmonkey.com/lookup.html?check=yahoo.com.
An entry on the blacklist may have several reasons:
1. You are a well-known spammer.
2. Last time a well-known spammer was using the dynamic IP address which you got from your ISP (Internet Service Provider), your e-mail address or the username you have choosen.
3. Your ISP is well-known for a lot of spamming customers and is not fighting against spammers enough.

So the "http://spameatingmonkey.com/lookup.html?check=yahoo.com" is the part I want to keep track of. I had three different ones come up the three times it triggered when I changed my password.

[LiTTleDRAgo]

thank you cthaeh, at least I'm able to login after tried several times

[Kemm]

It's not exactly that my account has been flagged as a spambot (I think), but that it doesn't let me log in by stating that "my password is incorrect" an it doesn't let me change the password.

• Where: Wiki
• Message shown:
  • On login attempt:

    Login error
    Incorrect password entered. Please try again.

  • On password resetting attempt:

    Internal error
    Your IP address is blocked from editing, and so is not allowed to use the password recovery function to prevent abuse.

[Cthaeh]

It's not exactly that my account has been flagged as a spambot (I think), but that it doesn't let me log in by stating that "my password is incorrect" an it doesn't let me change the password.

I tried triggering a password reset for you. We'll see if that works.

The not letting you change your password part seems like what happens when your ip overlaps with someone else who has been blocked, but when that happens it usually says who the blocked user is, so that I could go and unblock them, or at least uncheck the part that targets matching IPs. Thought maybe it only gives a message when it blocks page edits or account creation.

[Kemm]

It worked, thanks.

[elpsychris]

I used to be like you, then I change to another ISP and boom... everything is ok now. It said that my old provider was in the black list. Hope it can help you.

[Saronin]

For some reason I can't create an account, or edit, on the wiki, from any of my devices. The message I keep getting is that my IP has been flagged as an open proxy. I can't change the settings for the WiFi network, because it's provided by my dad's work, what should I do?

Edit: Tried again today, and it worked, I don't know why it didn't the first few times.

[dalek]

I got this when I signed up! Using SaskTel High Speed! Fixed when I reloaded.

[Tsuu]

I tried to register to the forums and I got an error saying that my IP belongs to a spammer.
I never made an account before though.
Wiki account is also Tsuu.

[dalek]

Oh. Probably somebody on your ISP/network is a spammer. Not me. I live in Canada so I can't get further than 400 meters of WiFi. SaskTel is crap for upload but great for download.

[Cthaeh]

I tried to register to the forums and I got an error saying that my IP belongs to a spammer.
I never made an account before though.
Wiki account is also Tsuu.

Without seeing the exact message it gives you, I can't be 100% sure of the problem, but it's likely an issue with the external spam blacklist (external sites that collect spam ip's so other sites can block them). If that's the case, then there are two things that could be up: 1. is that your ip has in fact been flagged as a spammer because of some reason (in which case you could try a different ip or vpn), or 2. a recurring bug in these forums is acting up.

I'm guessing it's number 2, in which case my best recommendation is to try again. It usually works after some number of tries (within 5 or so). I think it would be good if that bug could be fixed, but that's beyond me, and there's other issues people are distracted by now too...

Also, I don't think it actually helps, but I put your ip in the 'exclude from ban list' for a couple of weeks on the off chance it does help.

[dalek]

Well, if you are in Saskatchewan, use SaskTel. Your IP is something like this:68.69.215.210. You get the error once and then reload. Fixed. Dawek (cute way of saying Dalek) out.