Bots and Spammers

This forum seems to have attracted the attention of some bots and spammers. As such, [strike]I'm disabling automatic forum registration via email confirmation. Going forward, new forum accounts must first be approved (by me) before they become active[/strike]. Considering that this is relatively small forum (with a limited number of users), I expect the volume of legit approval requests to be low (thus manageable), but what this will also mean is that new users will experience a day or so delay before they can post and participate in forum discussions. Sorry about the inconvenience, but unfortunately the internet bad guys have made this necessary.

Also, if anyone notices any posts in the forums that they suspect is the work of spammers or bots, please flag it so that I can remove the posts and/or ban the spam account.

Thanks,
hungryghost

UPDATE:
I've made some changes and adjusted the forum registration, which should help prevent bots/spammers. Automatic forum registration is enabled again.

OK, who has some tips on the best ways to spot a bot on a forum such as this? Will I know one when I see one? Thanks.

https://www.talkspace.com/blog/2016/01/how-to-tell-if-youre-talking-to-a-bot-the-complete-guide-to-chatbots/

Thanks for the bot link. My tendency to be sarcastic in a not so humorous way should help me quickly identify bots. And since no one on this site has offered to show me naked pictures straightaway, I need not worry about sleazy bots like that. Also, since I am quite healthy mentally, I don't need to worry about therapist bots. Without mentioning any names or avatars, I do believe that I quickly identified one bot on this forum, but I think "hungryghost" may have already sent that bad bot to his/her grave. It is sad that there are so many bots on dating sites. It's better to go to one of those places where people play musical chairs and you get to meet a different real person every 10 minutes or so.

I've been terrified that my cover would eventually be blown but I guess you guys have finally figured me out.

Take me to your leader.

Нам нужно будет запланировать встречу.

Not to worry, if you are or were ever a bot, you would certainly be one of the good bots.

Leader? Just go to the White House where he resides.