# Handling trolls with multiple accounts over VPNs

**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/handling-trolls-with-multiple-accounts-over-vpns/49489
**Category:** Feature
**Created:** [August 31, 2016, 12:41pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/handling-trolls-with-multiple-accounts-over-vpns/49489 "2016-08-31T12:41:51Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
**Showing post:** 5

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### Author: ![codinghorror](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/codinghorror/32/110067_2.png) [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2016, 11:22pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/handling-trolls-with-multiple-accounts-over-vpns/49489/5 "2016-08-31T23:22:28Z")

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Hmm, how does cookie based tagging prevent people from using incognito or anonymous mode in their browser? Do we really think these people are smart enough to use a VPN to evade IP bans, but _not_ smart enough to enter anonymous/incognito mode in their browser?

It would be a tremendous waste of engineering effort to spend a lot of time on a cookie check when all the user needs to do to evade it, is to tick the “anonymous” or “incognito” mode in their browser…

My suggestion is to lock down new account creation – temporarily require approval for new account signups – and vet each new account.

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