# \#spam **URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/tag/spam/830.md [Latest](https://meta.discourse.org/latest.md) · [Categories](https://meta.discourse.org/categories.md) · [Tags](https://meta.discourse.org/tags.md) --- ## [Forum Fortress 🛡️ - a fresh take on forum spam prevention](https://meta.discourse.org/t/forum-fortress-a-fresh-take-on-forum-spam-prevention/412350)
**Author:** [@ashs](https://meta.discourse.org/u/ashs)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [September 14, 2026, 10:56am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/forum-fortress-a-fresh-take-on-forum-spam-prevention/412350 "2026-09-14T10:56:25Z")
:information\_source: Summary Anti-spam checks for registrations, public posts, edits and supported profile changes :hammer\_and\_wrench: Repository Link GitHub - Forum-Fortress/discourse-forum-fortress: Forum … --- ## [Discourse AI - Spam detection](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-ai-spam-detection/343541)
**Author:** [@sam](https://meta.discourse.org/u/sam)\ **Replies:** 31\ **Last updated:** [August 28, 2026, 1:39am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-ai-spam-detection/343541 "2026-08-28T01:39:29Z")
:bookmark: This guide explains how to configure and use Discourse AI’s spam detection feature, including the setup process, scanning criteria, classification logic, customizations, and contrasts with AI triage. … --- ## [User Spam - automatic account deletions and domain blacklist](https://meta.discourse.org/t/user-spam-automatic-account-deletions-and-domain-blacklist/408074)
**Author:** [@LotusJeff](https://meta.discourse.org/u/LotusJeff)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [July 21, 2026, 12:42pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/user-spam-automatic-account-deletions-and-domain-blacklist/408074 "2026-07-21T12:42:42Z")
I am seeing a small but consistent number of spam accounts being created on my Discourse forum each day. Many appear to be using fake or invalid email addresses. I am looking for a way to automate the following process: … --- ## [Should Discourse notify users when accounts are deleted for spam?](https://meta.discourse.org/t/should-discourse-notify-users-when-accounts-are-deleted-for-spam/399576)
**Author:** [@haydenjames](https://meta.discourse.org/u/haydenjames)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [July 20, 2026, 2:28pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/should-discourse-notify-users-when-accounts-are-deleted-for-spam/399576 "2026-07-20T14:28:46Z")
I ran into something today while handling a flagged post and wanted to confirm expected behavior. A post was auto-flagged by Discourse AI as spam. The content was clearly unrelated to the forum (non-English, off-topi… --- ## [Registration challenge to stop spam registrations](https://meta.discourse.org/t/registration-challenge-to-stop-spam-registrations/404247)
**Author:** [@spdegabrielle](https://meta.discourse.org/u/spdegabrielle)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [June 2, 2026, 2:42pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/registration-challenge-to-stop-spam-registrations/404247 "2026-06-02T14:42:29Z")
Is there any way to add a registration challenge to the sign-up process to help stop spammers signing up? Last weekend our site was hit by such a concerted effort to signup and post spam that I had to disable sign-up an… --- ## [System flagged old posts as spam?](https://meta.discourse.org/t/system-flagged-old-posts-as-spam/400369)
**Author:** [@one1](https://meta.discourse.org/u/one1)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [April 10, 2026, 3:24am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/system-flagged-old-posts-as-spam/400369 "2026-04-10T03:24:59Z")
Within about three minutes, 10 old posts (between 2021 and 2024) all got flagged by the system. Seven were from a TL0 user (they have been locked there) Here is what is strange: All 10 are old posts, two of them are … --- ## [Flagging mass postings from SPAM attacks is onerous](https://meta.discourse.org/t/flagging-mass-postings-from-spam-attacks-is-onerous/381809)
**Author:** [@emyoulation](https://meta.discourse.org/u/emyoulation)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [January 26, 2026, 3:31pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/flagging-mass-postings-from-spam-attacks-is-onerous/381809 "2026-01-26T15:31:22Z")
The workflow for moderators Flagging a bunch of new postings from a SPAMbomb takes far too long. We, like other Discourse forums, recently had dozens of “airways” and “quickbooks” postings swamp our site. We’ve searched… --- ## [Account left silenced without review when user deletes spam flagged post](https://meta.discourse.org/t/account-left-silenced-without-review-when-user-deletes-spam-flagged-post/392090)
**Author:** [@per1234](https://meta.discourse.org/u/per1234)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [January 19, 2026, 9:38am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/account-left-silenced-without-review-when-user-deletes-spam-flagged-post/392090 "2026-01-19T09:38:06Z")
Priority/Severity: Medium Platform: Discourse version b66fca70d0e3d12ef930398289fac5269cd240c7. Description: Discourse provides an automated spam detection system. The actions performed by the system when a post is det… --- ## [Discourse AI silence link takes you to an inaccessible link as a normal user](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-ai-silence-link-takes-you-to-an-inaccessible-link-as-a-normal-user/391531)
**Author:** [@twofoursixeight](https://meta.discourse.org/u/twofoursixeight)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [December 17, 2025, 2:56pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-ai-silence-link-takes-you-to-an-inaccessible-link-as-a-normal-user/391531 "2025-12-17T14:56:30Z")
This is relatively self-explanatory. The silence link takes you to an admin link. Not sure this is fixable, but I do not think this link can be accessed. --- ## [Spam from "system"](https://meta.discourse.org/t/spam-from-system/386364)
**Author:** [@Mark\_W\_Bennett](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Mark_W_Bennett)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [December 5, 2025, 2:27pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/spam-from-system/386364 "2025-12-05T14:27:42Z")
On our Discourse instance, the “system” account has started sending spam to the forum and the email list. It has happened three times in the last five days. There is no user responsible for “system,” nobody has logged i… --- ## [Tips for Preventing Spam](https://meta.discourse.org/t/tips-for-preventing-spam/264020)
**Author:** [@Discourse](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Discourse)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [December 1, 2025, 11:32pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/tips-for-preventing-spam/264020 "2025-12-01T23:32:06Z")
:bookmark: This documentation provides a comprehensive guide on preventing spam in Discourse forums, and includes information about various settings and tools designed to help maintain a spam-free community environment. … --- ## [Frustrations on AI spam detector](https://meta.discourse.org/t/frustrations-on-ai-spam-detector/388947)
**Author:** [@lilydjwg](https://meta.discourse.org/u/lilydjwg)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [November 21, 2025, 4:21am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/frustrations-on-ai-spam-detector/388947 "2025-11-21T04:21:34Z")
I’m trying to setup the AI spam detector for my own Discourse instance, but have several questions: The system prompt of spam detector persona can’t be edited. I can create a new persona but there is no field to make Di… --- ## [Discourse AI spam detection replaces Akismet plugin](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-ai-spam-detection-replaces-akismet-plugin/354602)
**Author:** [@Saif](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Saif)\ **Replies:** 13\ **Last updated:** [November 4, 2025, 3:00am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-ai-spam-detection-replaces-akismet-plugin/354602 "2025-11-04T03:00:53Z")
Starting today, we will be removing the Discourse Akismet plugin and will instead enable Discourse AI - Spam detection by default for hosted customers on Pro and Standard plans. Why are we making this change? Over the p… --- ## [Just had about 38 bot accounts and posts sign up and spam in the space of 30 mins](https://meta.discourse.org/t/just-had-about-38-bot-accounts-and-posts-sign-up-and-spam-in-the-space-of-30-mins/375297)
**Author:** [@manton](https://meta.discourse.org/u/manton)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [October 12, 2025, 8:42pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/just-had-about-38-bot-accounts-and-posts-sign-up-and-spam-in-the-space-of-30-mins/375297 "2025-10-12T20:42:35Z")
Hi, forum is idmforums.com We have nipped it in the bud quickly, but the numbers were increasing so rapidly that we had to disable new user signups till we can figure out why it’s happening and prevent it. We are runnin… --- ## [Should we tell the AI spam scanner to flag posts containing phone numbers by default?](https://meta.discourse.org/t/should-we-tell-the-ai-spam-scanner-to-flag-posts-containing-phone-numbers-by-default/382681)
**Author:** [@awesomerobot](https://meta.discourse.org/u/awesomerobot)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [September 15, 2025, 11:23pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/should-we-tell-the-ai-spam-scanner-to-flag-posts-containing-phone-numbers-by-default/382681 "2025-09-15T23:23:40Z")
It seems like a fairly common variety of spam are unrelated customer support posts, probably trying to get false information to appear in AI or search results? These often contain phone numbers… should we mention phone n… --- ## [How to prevent an influx of spam bots on our forum?](https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-to-prevent-an-influx-of-spam-bots-on-our-forum/382459)
**Author:** [@GamersInternational](https://meta.discourse.org/u/GamersInternational)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [September 12, 2025, 5:21pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-to-prevent-an-influx-of-spam-bots-on-our-forum/382459 "2025-09-12T17:21:02Z")
I’m a moderator of a medium-sized online forum with over 10,000 users. Last night, we had a serious spam attack with various bots posting fake support phone numbers for various airlines, travel companies and a few other … --- ## [Watched words to block recent spam attack](https://meta.discourse.org/t/watched-words-to-block-recent-spam-attack/380420)
**Author:** [@pfaffman](https://meta.discourse.org/u/pfaffman)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [September 10, 2025, 4:26pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/watched-words-to-block-recent-spam-attack/380420 "2025-09-10T16:26:12Z")
I’ve had at least two sites get hit with a wave of spam that looks like it’s designed to poison LLMs. The same attack has also been reported here at least once (Anyone else currently undergoing mass spam attack?). The be… --- ## [Bulk mark messages and posters as spam](https://meta.discourse.org/t/bulk-mark-messages-and-posters-as-spam/325966)
**Author:** [@justin\_gordon](https://meta.discourse.org/u/justin_gordon)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [August 28, 2025, 6:19pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/bulk-mark-messages-and-posters-as-spam/325966 "2025-08-28T18:19:37Z")
My forum Coding Forum - Developers Discussions and Problem-Solving on ShakaCode Forum got overrun with spam in the past few weeks! It’s so much that I can’t manually go into every message. How can I search and bulk … --- ## [Anyone else currently undergoing mass spam attack?](https://meta.discourse.org/t/anyone-else-currently-undergoing-mass-spam-attack/378972)
**Author:** [@WaitroseCarpark](https://meta.discourse.org/u/WaitroseCarpark)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [August 26, 2025, 10:08pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/anyone-else-currently-undergoing-mass-spam-attack/378972 "2025-08-26T22:08:57Z")
First it started with promoting airline helpline numbers, now it’s moved onto quickbooks help. Around 150 threads started in the last 10 hours. I’ve found the discourse spam filtering pretty efficient and don’t usually … --- ## [Spam: Retroactively get AI to review recent posts and then delete the ones marked as spam](https://meta.discourse.org/t/spam-retroactively-get-ai-to-review-recent-posts-and-then-delete-the-ones-marked-as-spam/378956)
**Author:** [@pfaffman](https://meta.discourse.org/u/pfaffman)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [August 17, 2025, 10:09pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/spam-retroactively-get-ai-to-review-recent-posts-and-then-delete-the-ones-marked-as-spam/378956 "2025-08-17T22:09:43Z")
I helped out a site that got hit about about 30 spam posts per hour. We turned on AI Spam, but that didn’t solve the problem of the existing posts. Here’s what I did. This might work for you. It’s not tested on your site… --- ## [What is the best way to deal with recurrent email-in spam?](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-is-the-best-way-to-deal-with-recurrent-email-in-spam/378380)
**Author:** [@nathank](https://meta.discourse.org/u/nathank)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [August 13, 2025, 10:08am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-is-the-best-way-to-deal-with-recurrent-email-in-spam/378380 "2025-08-13T10:08:59Z")
On one of my sites, we’ve got persistent spam/phishing coming in from a single source which I’m struggling to prevent. It gets in via an email-in to a group inbox. It uses a different email and IP address each time, but… --- ## [Immediate actions you can take during a spam attack](https://meta.discourse.org/t/immediate-actions-you-can-take-during-a-spam-attack/347425)
**Author:** [@nat](https://meta.discourse.org/u/nat)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [August 6, 2025, 5:53am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/immediate-actions-you-can-take-during-a-spam-attack/347425 "2025-08-06T05:53:43Z")
This topic is for site owners who are either facing an active spam attack or would like to take preventative measures towards countering spam. My community is under heavy spam right now There are so many spam users and … --- ## [Improving AI spam detection for edits and merges](https://meta.discourse.org/t/improving-ai-spam-detection-for-edits-and-merges/376898)
**Author:** [@Max\_Salishchev](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Max_Salishchev)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [August 1, 2025, 4:48pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/improving-ai-spam-detection-for-edits-and-merges/376898 "2025-08-01T16:48:09Z")
Hi there, We recently encountered an issue with the AI spam detection system. When posts from users with Trust Level 1 or lower were merged, moved, or edited, the AI flagged them as spam— even though they weren’t flagge… --- ## [Difficulties reporting unusual spam across multiple forums](https://meta.discourse.org/t/difficulties-reporting-unusual-spam-across-multiple-forums/374716)
**Author:** [@simon-smart88](https://meta.discourse.org/u/simon-smart88)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [July 18, 2025, 5:52pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/difficulties-reporting-unusual-spam-across-multiple-forums/374716 "2025-07-18T17:52:23Z")
A few weeks ago, I noticed an odd post on a forum that lead me to uncovering a vast reputation management operation that I’ve documented some of on GitHub. It involves new users asking basic questions while repeatedly me… --- ## [Statistics on spam flags reported by AI triage automation](https://meta.discourse.org/t/statistics-on-spam-flags-reported-by-ai-triage-automation/368319)
**Author:** [@pedro](https://meta.discourse.org/u/pedro)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [May 31, 2025, 10:48am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/statistics-on-spam-flags-reported-by-ai-triage-automation/368319 "2025-05-31T10:48:29Z")
This SQL query provides statistics about spam flags reported by the Discourse AI - AI triage automation. It calculates the total number of flags, how many were approved or rejected, and the corresponding percentages. Thi… --- ## [How to prevent spam posts?](https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-to-prevent-spam-posts/365660)
**Author:** [@numbqq](https://meta.discourse.org/u/numbqq)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [May 22, 2025, 12:34am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-to-prevent-spam-posts/365660 "2025-05-22T00:34:24Z")
How to prevent spam posts? Different users and different spam posts. --- ## [Filtering spam/troll accounts](https://meta.discourse.org/t/filtering-spam-troll-accounts/361124)
**Author:** [@haydenjames](https://meta.discourse.org/u/haydenjames)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [April 15, 2025, 11:20am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/filtering-spam-troll-accounts/361124 "2025-04-15T11:20:37Z")
Is there a way to disable email-only signup? I would like to set up so that signup can only be via GitHub, Twitter or Discord. I have a user who is using VPNs to repeatedly log in and troll or post 4h1t content. With p… --- ## [Strategies for filtering spam / AI user accounts?](https://meta.discourse.org/t/strategies-for-filtering-spam-ai-user-accounts/356631)
**Author:** [@scztt](https://meta.discourse.org/u/scztt)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [April 9, 2025, 9:59am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/strategies-for-filtering-spam-ai-user-accounts/356631 "2025-04-09T09:59:38Z")
A forum I help with has been experiencing a tidal wave spam account registrations in recent months. These are almost for sure AI bots, as they seem to be able to fill out some registration form (basically, box checking),… --- ## [A recaptcha plugin?](https://meta.discourse.org/t/a-recaptcha-plugin/358118)
**Author:** [@trusktr](https://meta.discourse.org/u/trusktr)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [March 20, 2025, 6:31pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/a-recaptcha-plugin/358118 "2025-03-20T18:31:51Z")
I keep getting a bunch of signups, and they post jibberish posts (often meaningly random junk) that go to my review queue taking my time and DB space. Is there something we can do? Maybe recaptcha will help? For example… --- ## [What's the cheapest/best AI to use for AI Spam?](https://meta.discourse.org/t/whats-the-cheapest-best-ai-to-use-for-ai-spam/357655)
**Author:** [@trusktr](https://meta.discourse.org/u/trusktr)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [March 18, 2025, 8:20pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/whats-the-cheapest-best-ai-to-use-for-ai-spam/357655 "2025-03-18T20:20:18Z")
I’m trying to save some money. :slight\_smile: Any recommendation on which AI will be cheapest, yet do a good enough job with Spam handling? I have little experience comparing AIs, and this will be my first time using t… [Next page](https://meta.discourse.org/tag/spam/830.md?match_all_tags=true&page=1&tags%5B%5D=spam)