Why When Joining Ab Can’t A Code Be Sent To The Person Joining To Let The Ab Team Know It’s Genuine ?

[Bobbisox1]

This would help stop multiple IDs and throw away email addresses , I’m not a member of any other group but I’m told this is a procedure they use, just a thought as weekends on AB see Trolls coming out from under their rocks and now it’s happening daily ,

[bednobs]

But a sent code would be available to the "trolls" and wouldn't stop them joining

[Bobbisox1]

You have a point Bednobs, so I wonder how others do it and surely that one email address would be attributed to that user name and as often happened, they go U_ I , if a pattern emerges then they should be watched in that case

[Old_Geezer]

Perhaps they need to enter the code to join, which might mess up the ad bots.

[Bobbisox1]

There’s that O_G but nothing is impossible in this tech age

[Meaghan27]

I'm not a tech genius, but I admin a small Craft forum ,and it's an easy process to block the unique ISP of a user, so that any further tries to join will be blocked.

[Canary42]

I'm not sure how the code system operates, but I think bednobs may be right.

The best way to eliminate trolls is to not feed them.

Unfortunately this is very difficult to achieve, especially as just one or two "responses" would appear to be sufficient to nourish them.

And occasionally a few of our regulars indulge in mild trolling (yes, I'll hold my hand up) and it would be disappointing to ban them for a rare transgression, just report it for removal. :-)

Something we have to live with in social media I fear, and it can sometimes open up an interesting discussion if the topic is right.

[barry1010]

Meaghan, my IP address is dynamic so changes frequently. If I wanted to I could easily change it myself.
Also blocking my broadband IP address wouldn't stop me registering using my phone's data.

[anneasquith]

Threads like this . The trolls love them ,
Ignore them, if they don’t have an audience they will get fed up .

[Meaghan27]

Barry, thanks, I told you I was not a technical genius. On our forum we just have a button to click 'block'. We don't have a problem much with trolling as they are ghosted, and soon give up.

[LadyCG]

How many different phone numbers can one troll have? If a new member is banned for trolling then you can stop them registering a new account with that phone number and if they don't have an alternative, they can't sign up. It seems perfectly simple to me, but maybe that is not the case?

[barry1010]

You can have unlimited phone numbers if you use a service like Skype

[Meaghan27]

I personally would not give my phone number to join an open forum, I don't think many would.

[Zacs-Master]

What would the Code do if it's sent to the new member?

[barry1010]

Nor would I, Meaghan

[barry1010]

Zacs, when you receive the code you go back to the registration page and input the code. This confirms the phone number is yours

[Bobbisox1]

Same as a bank, PayPal etc Zac,prove who you are I suppose

[Zacs-Master]

I think anything complex would put genuine new users off joining.

[youngmafbog]

There is actually very little you can do.

Can stop the obvious duplicate emails and can only accept emails where you must be registered by a phone (so no gmail) but scammers and the like have ways around that. Anything around an ISP is pointless, although if you get them coming from certain countries you can block them.

As Canary says the best way is not to feed them.

[youngmafbog]

//prove who you are I suppose//

And therein lies the problem. It's supposed to be an anonymous site and has to be really to avoid anyone stalking. Also holding too much data can prove problematic with regard to GDPR etc and being sued or fined.