I’m sure many blog owners are frustrated with the tons of spam comments advertising a site called ottawavalleyag.org. So far today I’ve gotten nearly 100 such messages.
The site in question has an IP of 161.58.59.8 which resolves to a service provider called Verio in Colorado. The owner of the domain is supposedly based in Antigua, but the address is more than likely a red herring. I’ve written the following letter to Vario asking them to remedy the situation:
8005 South Chester Street
Suite 200
Eaglewood, CO 80112
To Whom It May Concern:
The domain http://www.ottawavalleyag.org/ resolving to the IP address 161.58.59.8 has been engaging in repeated and consistant attempts to leave unsolicited commercial messages on several blog sites including jayreding.com. As spamming is prohibited under the Verio Acceptable Use Policy, I would ask that this site be placed under review and immediately cease and desist sending further unsoliticited commercial messages.
Jay RedingWebmaster
http://www.jayreding.com/
I’m hopeful this will result in a more thorough investigation of this group, including possible investigation for other fraudulent practices. Companies that choose to send email and blog spam do so at their own risk. As a blogger, I will do what I can to fight spammers and see that they get shut down for their dishonest and potentially illegal activities.
Good luck… I’ve been afflicted also. 2 things I have done to fix it with WordPress:
1. Install the WPBlacklist plugin and activate it. This has been incredible, and has blocked 400+ spam comments without a single false positive or negative.
2. Rename wp-comments-post.php to something else, and change the reference in wp-comments.php to match it. Then create a blank file called wp-comments-post.php so the spammers won’t get a 404 error. Fixes about 80% of the inbound spam, so you don’t even know it is happening.
I talk a bit about it here at Pirate-King
I added a graphic verification thing to my blog the other day. No spam since I did that. I’ve tried lots of blacklisting and other anti-spam measures and this one did the trick.
After everything else I also added the graphic verification, and it has been perfect since. Real nice not getting 60-70 emails an hour coming in. Easy change too… I am thinking about undoing my other antispam protections and just leaving this one!