User talk:Ugochimobi

Several new users are being created on my wiki everyday with no activity
Hello Ugochimobi, if you look at the recent changes on my wiki you will notice that every day there are several new users created, but without exception none of them have done anything whatsoever, what is the cause of this, is it a common phenomenon or some kind of notification bleed over from other wikis? Freighttrain (talk) 07:38, 13 August 2021 (UTC)


 * Hello there! I saw that new users came into the wiki but haven't made no contribution. This happens some times you know, it isn't a problem, they joined the wiki and it's only when they have the time to contribute that's when they can. Don't be afraid it's normal in this case.
 * The user names are unique, otherwise I'd have said they're spammers, but these usernames tends to be different people. Let's wait and give more time to see if they're spammers then, we'd know what to do.
 * Hope this helps :-)) Ugochimobi (talk) 08:30, 13 August 2021 (UTC)


 * Ok thank you for your quick reply, though I don't think they will turn out to be spammers, because if they were they would have done something by now, also I don't think there would be any reason for anyone to want to spam my wiki.


 * Anyway it has been going on for months now, and has started to increase lately, it's just so weird that all those users are being created but are not doing anything, not even editing their user pages, I don't advertise my wiki anywhere and haven't even told anyone about it, so I don't know how they are even finding it to begin with, let alone their reasons for creating users there.


 * Is it possible that user creation notifications from other wikis are somehow being filtered into my own wiki's recent changes log? Freighttrain (talk) 08:37, 13 August 2021 (UTC)
 * Actually, this is how it works, Let's say I haven't visited your wiki before, Once I visit it, It'll show on your wiki's RC that, WHY automatically? Because I am logged in on other Miraheze wikis, so once I visit yours I don't need to create an account, the system creates for me automatically. Now for others, that haven't visited Miraheze before, they'd show as   ‎
 * So I can't say that those users are on Miraheze before at all because I randomly checked on the SUL of some of the accounts and their home wiki is fanfictionwiki.
 * They might probably find your wiki on google or something related. Ugochimobi (talk) 08:51, 13 August 2021 (UTC)


 * Ok then this situation would seem to be more abnormal, since it would make much more sense if they were logged in elsewhere and were just visiting my wiki, also you say in your first reply that their usernames are unique, but I've noticed that basically every one of them is a first name with a surname, usually followed by some numbers.


 * I find this to be highly unusual since most people make strange or funny sounding usernames, it is not so often that someone's username is simply a first name with a surname, it looks as if someone is using some kind of bot program, which randomly generates names in the format I mentioned above (first name/surname/numbers), and the program is set to create new users on my wiki at random time intervals to help create the facade of different people doing so.


 * I can't imagine why someone would want to do this to my wiki, and also what they would hope to achieve by doing so, other than entering a few fake user creations into the changes log which as far as I can tell does not interfere with anything.


 * Though I imagine that this kind of thing is not unknown, do you have any experience with this kind of occurence or could you reference someone here who does? Freighttrain (talk) 08:58, 13 August 2021 (UTC)
 * I looked at the AbuseLog and they seem to be hitting that. They're spam only accounts which we unfortunately do get but we have a large array of systems in place to try and mitigate what they can do. These systems seem to be working. ~ RhinosF1 - (chat)· acc· c -  09:05, 13 August 2021 (UTC)
 * I was almost going to say that they might just be one person using a username generator, but at the same time, not all of these users are having numbers on their usernames. This might be quite confusing for you, But for me, I'd say that let's wait till they start making contributions, if it's something fishy then we know what next.
 * What if your wiki is actually being popular as wikipedia and new users are coming in, Lmao:-)), So let's await their contributions.
 * What do you think? Ugochimobi (talk) 09:09, 13 August 2021 (UTC)
 * But at the same time, maybe doing a CheckUser on one of the accounts from each day would help us. We'll send a steward in to do a check on the accounts. Ugochimobi (talk) 09:13, 13 August 2021 (UTC)


 * Ok I'm not sure what the AbuseLog you mention is, is that a global log or a local one on my wiki? And what do you mean when you say they are hitting it, are they doing something that indicates they are spam users, and what do you mean when you say the systems in place seem to be working when their user creations are successful?


 * Well even if it isn't a bot program, obviously it would still be quite simple for a person to just create five or so random usernames every day, with slight variations to that format such as not using numbers after the first and last names, and I highly doubt that any of those users will suddenly begin editing, since as I mentioned before this has been going on for months now, and when people make a user somewhere they generally intend to begin editing shortly after they do so, so this is highly suspicious.


 * I'm quite certain that they are fake users, are you able to look at their IP addresses and see if they look like they're coming from a cheap VPN or something? Freighttrain (talk) 09:21, 13 August 2021 (UTC)
 * Hi,
 * You can either go to Special:AbuseLog on meta and use the 'wiki' filter or from your wiki. They are attempting to create pages but being disallowed.
 * A Steward will be able to block the underlying IPs and disable the accounts. I have asked Void to look on IRC but he is asleep at the moment. ~ RhinosF1 - (chat)· acc· c -  09:24, 13 August 2021 (UTC)


 * Ok well if they are hitting the abuse log as you say then that would seem even more bizarre, as after a few attempts at creating users and being disallowed each time they try to create a page, obviously they would give up or learn a successful method which would probably not be that difficult, but this has been going on for months so I don't know what to make of it.


 * Though I know of at least one possible suspect, there was a user at the end of last year named DMBFFF who created a userpage there, with some weird spammy-looking links to Youtube videos about some weird girl stuff, and also had references to historical feminist something or other on her page, I tried to have a conversation with her but she seemed a bit weird and was opinionated about some sensitive political topics which I have no interest in, and I haven't heard from her since so I eventually deleted our weird talk.


 * Anyway she seemed to be slightly passive aggressive but in some weird quirky way, the other possible suspect would be the former owner of the wiki DuchessTheSponge, when I adopted it because it had been inactive, though I made sure to contact them first about this to ask if it was ok, it was difficult getting in contact with them but I did eventually and they said they didn't care, though it is possible they seemed a bit annoyed due to their curt response and how difficult it was for me to get a reply from them.


 * Though I can't imagine why they would have it in for me to do something like this, even that weird girl, but those are the only possible suspects that might be doing this, anyway thank you for asking Void to have a look at that problem for me, it does seem weird that they would continue to be using the same method of creating pages when they are disallowed each time, it's as if they are quite literally mindless, but who could be that mindless and able to use a computer, it doesn't make any sense, so it's almost as if they are trying to make some kind of abstract statement or something, let's hope that Void can put a stop to that nonsense. Freighttrain (talk) 09:51, 13 August 2021 (UTC)
 * They are mostly automated scripts. ~ RhinosF1 - (chat)· acc· c -  09:54, 13 August 2021 (UTC)


 * Are you saying that someone months ago began using a bot program and hasn't even been looking to see if it is successfully creating pages? Freighttrain (talk) 09:56, 13 August 2021 (UTC)
 * They're probably trying thousands of wikis/sites at once. They won't expect a very high success rate. They've been doing pretty much the same thing for years from various proxies. ~ RhinosF1 - (chat)· acc· c -  09:58, 13 August 2021 (UTC)


 * It still doesn't seem to make sense, as I imagine that even if they were more successful they still wouldn't be accomplishing much in the way of spamming, could you reference any discussions elsewhere here, where people have been having this same issue on their wikis with the creation of users with that name format? Freighttrain (talk) 10:09, 13 August 2021 (UTC)
 * You can look on pretty much every wiki's abuse and account creation logs. From Wikimedia to Miraheze. ~ RhinosF1 - (chat)· acc· c -  10:10, 13 August 2021 (UTC)


 * Ok well I've also been looking on some Miraheze wikis which are much more well known that mine, and I don't see any issue like this one in particular, anyway if it was occurring on those wikis at some point, it's possible that their local admins noticed it and were able to block the IPs they were using, provided they were able to determine the IP range if they were using cheap VPNs or something, would you say this is how a problem like this is resolved on other wikis? Freighttrain (talk) 10:17, 13 August 2021 (UTC)
 * Playing whack-a-mole with IPs is not reliable and if anything potentially quite dangerous. This is why Miraheze strictly limits it to proven addresses with bad behavior or known open proxies, which unfortunately are a more reliable way to keep the problem down. But in the end IP whacking is really not a sustainable solution. --Raidarr (talk) 11:20, 13 August 2021 (UTC)


 * Ok well I'm saying that they are probably using something like an open proxy with a cheap VPN, and even if they are not using an easily determined IP range or whatever, IP whacking local to my wiki would be sustainable and would not effect other wikis, as at the rate of about five per day that those users are being created on my wiki, it would not be a terrible inconvenience for me to do personally, though I would probably need instructions on how to do so as it's not something I've tried before. Freighttrain (talk) 11:41, 13 August 2021 (UTC)
 * If Stewards find they are using a proxy then NOP blocks will be made. ~ RhinosF1 - (chat)· acc· c -  11:56, 13 August 2021 (UTC)


 * Ok well we'll see what Void says when he's on. Freighttrain (talk) 12:32, 13 August 2021 (UTC)


 * I was just having a look at Encyclopedia Dramatica's recent changes, and noticed the same pattern of username creation, though these do not seem to be disallowed from editing their user pages there, here are four examples from today: ValerieMoench1, MichalFowlkes, KandiceSheehy69, InesMadgwick


 * They are clearly fake users as they all provide a link to their dodgy looking 'personal website' after a brief introduction, so it is probably some kind of malware site that whoever is using the bot program is trying to get people to visit, this would've been what RhinosF1 was talking about when he said they are probably trying thousands of sites with low expectations for their success rate.


 * Anyway now that we know exactly what we're dealing with the rest should be more straightforward. Freighttrain (talk) 12:58, 13 August 2021 (UTC)


 * Could someone please instruct me on how to view a user's IP address on my wiki and how to ban it, though would this be effective against the spambot users? Freighttrain (talk) 12:03, 16 August 2021 (UTC)
 * Ow! Sorry for late reply.
 * Viewing the IP address of any user on Miraheze is restricted to one and only one user group which is either a s|steward or a Checkuser which are global rights, although we can have a local checkuser, but they'll have to pass the Requirements listed at s|this page.
 * Hope this helps Ugochimobi (talk) 12:08, 16 August 2021 (UTC)


 * Ok I figured as much so I won't bother with that then, though is there a way for me to delete the spambot users so that they no longer appear in the recent changes and user creation log? Freighttrain (talk) 12:33, 16 August 2021 (UTC)
 * There's no need of deleting the userpages of the spambot, as the AbuseFilter of your wiki has already taken care of them, They do not have access to editing the wiki. Ugochimobi (talk) 13:00, 16 August 2021 (UTC)


 * I know they can't edit the wiki, now I just want to know how to delete their user pages, as a delete option does not appear under the tab 'More' to the left of the search bar. Freighttrain (talk) 13:20, 16 August 2021 (UTC)
 * Well, for that, the reason you can't see a delete button is because the userpages was never created, I mean, the User Page was not created at all, It's only the account that was created. Ugochimobi (talk) 13:24, 16 August 2021 (UTC)


 * Ok so how could I delete the spambot users so their pages such as this one ShanonTalbert do not exist, and instead say 'User account "ShanonTalbert" is not registered.'? Freighttrain (talk) 13:55, 16 August 2021 (UTC)
 * You mean deleting the user account, I bet you don't have access to that as "For the Wikimedia Foundation, It is against their policy", I'm sure the same applies to Miraheze unless stated otherwise. Ugochimobi (talk) 14:30, 16 August 2021 (UTC)


 * I don't know about that, but I'll ask if there is a way he could do it that would not involve manually clicking each entry, as I wouldn't want to inconvenience him, or that if I could be temporarily granted the ability to do it manually myself. Freighttrain (talk) 14:54, 16 August 2021 (UTC)
 * MediaWiki does not support the deletion of accounts (not officially or nicely anyway). ~ RhinosF1 - (chat)· acc· c -  15:20, 16 August 2021 (UTC)
 * So I was correct afterall. Ugochimobi (talk) 15:24, 16 August 2021 (UTC)


 * I will just block their IP addresses, and I've figured out how to remove their entries in the user creation log, so that will tidy it up as I wanted. Freighttrain (talk) 15:34, 16 August 2021 (UTC)

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