Omega Owners Forum
Chat Area => General Discussion Area => Topic started by: Migv6 le Frog Fan on 12 July 2022, 18:19:52
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Just had contact from Migalot which mentioned that he tried to login to the forum this morning and had a message which said " Sorry Migalot, you are banned from this forum. This ban is not set to expire."
An innocent mistake somewhere ? A software glitch ? or something people outside of the admins know nothing about ?
Seems a bit odd. ???
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Think I suffered that problem a few years ago but cant remember how it got sorted.
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Suspect collateral damage, as I can't see targeted bans in the last week for that user, let me look at it.
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Is he using a VPN or some kind of distributed network access?
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Is he using a VPN or some kind of distributed network access?
I remember now, thats what kippered my account, had to format and re-install windows to regain acess.
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Is he using a VPN or some kind of distributed network access?
Have sent an email asking the question. Will post up the outcome. Thanks. :y
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Apparently he does use a VPN but has ben using it for years.
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Apparently he does use a VPN but has ben using it for years.
I found the ban he's hitting, and it is an IP based one, covering an entire VPN/CDN provider. Due to the number of fake accounts we are getting from people hiding behind that service (lots, every day), we have banned that entire range.
That is the trouble with VPN based services, spammers and hackers use them as well.
Does it work for him if he chooses an alternative VPN provider (though many are blocked by us now), or no VPN at all (even if just for a test to prove it is being caused by what I think it is thats blocking him)?
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Thanks for spending the time to find out the cause of the problem. I will ask the questions. :y
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Thanks for spending the time to find out the cause of the problem. I will ask the questions. :y
Surely he can still see the forum, even if he can't log in. So should be able to view Jaime's posts.
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I would have thought so. Anyway, I emailed the info about VPN etc. and got this reply. " Cleared cache, disconnected VPN and still get the same message. And login button not working. "
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Thanks for spending the time to find out the cause of the problem. I will ask the questions. :y
Surely he can still see the forum, even if he can't log in. So should be able to view Jaime's posts.
I'd have to check that, as it might just display a "you're banned" and not show you anything.
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I would have thought so. Anyway, I emailed the info about VPN etc. and got this reply. " Cleared cache, disconnected VPN and still get the same message. And login button not working. "
So he's moved from vpn provider cdn77 to vpn provider m247. Who are also banned. To be honest, you will be hard pressed not to find a vpn provider who isn't banned, as the automated tools that the spammers use get regular updates with new vpn providers...
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I would have thought so. Anyway, I emailed the info about VPN etc. and got this reply. " Cleared cache, disconnected VPN and still get the same message. And login button not working. "
So he's moved from vpn provider cdn77 to vpn provider m247. Who are also banned. To be honest, you will be hard pressed not to find a vpn provider who isn't banned, as the automated tools that the spammers use get regular updates with new vpn providers...
Ah yes, as I understand it VPN’s are being used by scammers to show they are living in say the USA, whilst actually being based in somewhere like Nigeria. In the case of dating web sites, they pretend to be someone like a senior USA military man, pursue a poor woman to “lend” them money in the thousands of pounds, but really are a call centre barstard in Nigeria working in a scamming syndicate.
One wonders why anyone, apart from the scammers, would use VPN’s. Is there a legit reason why they should? :(
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One wonders why anyone, apart from the scammers, would use VPN’s. Is there a legit reason why they should? :(
I use one when abroad. It allows me to watch BBC iPlayer, which is blocked if you try and access it from a foreign IP. And yes, I do have a TV license.
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I used one when I lived in Vietnam a few years ago as websites like Facebook and some western news media sites were banned by the Vietnamese government. :)
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One wonders why anyone, apart from the scammers, would use VPN’s. Is there a legit reason why they should? :(
I use one when abroad. It allows me to watch BBC iPlayer, which is blocked if you try and access it from a foreign IP. And yes, I do have a TV license.
This^^^
The options are download Netflix etc to go, or use a VPN. ::)
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I would have thought so. Anyway, I emailed the info about VPN etc. and got this reply. " Cleared cache, disconnected VPN and still get the same message. And login button not working. "
So he's moved from vpn provider cdn77 to vpn provider m247. Who are also banned. To be honest, you will be hard pressed not to find a vpn provider who isn't banned, as the automated tools that the spammers use get regular updates with new vpn providers...
Ah yes, as I understand it VPN’s are being used by scammers to show they are living in say the USA, whilst actually being based in somewhere like Nigeria. In the case of dating web sites, they pretend to be someone like a senior USA military man, pursue a poor woman to “lend” them money in the thousands of pounds, but really are a call centre barstard in Nigeria working in a scamming syndicate.
One wonders why anyone, apart from the scammers, would use VPN’s. Is there a legit reason why they should? :(
Originally, VPN - Virtual Private Network - allows you to create a "private" network over a larger public network. So, for example, a company with 2 branches could use a VPN to link their 2 offices' internal networks via the Internet without paying for an expensive leased line. Also, it allowed remote employees to connect to distant remote networks, something many of us have only just started doing since the pandemic.
However, a later development was an Internet to Internet VPN, designed to hide your real IP and mask it with something else. These should be used with care, and you have to implicitly trust the VPN company, not only ethically, but also technically. For example, a popular one, NordVPN, famously hit the headlines a few years back as they lacked the competence to run servers and left all their baseboard management controllers Internet accessible with default credentials (which means anyone could see and do anything running through those servers). There are far better and far more secure ways of trying to achieve this kind of IP masking, such as Onion Routing (aka, Dark Web). Generally, this type of VPN isn't needed, and is a case of marketing by scaring people into it.
There are use cases, such as that described above, where you need to "change" your IP for geolocation purposes, and VPNs fit the bill for that, better than Onion Routing because the later can have an indeterministic endpoint.
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I would have thought so. Anyway, I emailed the info about VPN etc. and got this reply. " Cleared cache, disconnected VPN and still get the same message. And login button not working. "
So he's moved from vpn provider cdn77 to vpn provider m247. Who are also banned. To be honest, you will be hard pressed not to find a vpn provider who isn't banned, as the automated tools that the spammers use get regular updates with new vpn providers...
Ah yes, as I understand it VPN’s are being used by scammers to show they are living in say the USA, whilst actually being based in somewhere like Nigeria. In the case of dating web sites, they pretend to be someone like a senior USA military man, pursue a poor woman to “lend” them money in the thousands of pounds, but really are a call centre barstard in Nigeria working in a scamming syndicate.
One wonders why anyone, apart from the scammers, would use VPN’s. Is there a legit reason why they should? :(
Originally, VPN - Virtual Private Network - allows you to create a "private" network over a larger public network. So, for example, a company with 2 branches could use a VPN to link their 2 offices' internal networks via the Internet without paying for an expensive leased line. Also, it allowed remote employees to connect to distant remote networks, something many of us have only just started doing since the pandemic.
However, a later development was an Internet to Internet VPN, designed to hide your real IP and mask it with something else. These should be used with care, and you have to implicitly trust the VPN company, not only ethically, but also technically. For example, a popular one, NordVPN, famously hit the headlines a few years back as they lacked the competence to run servers and left all their baseboard management controllers Internet accessible with default credentials (which means anyone could see and do anything running through those servers). There are far better and far more secure ways of trying to achieve this kind of IP masking, such as Onion Routing (aka, Dark Web). Generally, this type of VPN isn't needed, and is a case of marketing by scaring people into it.
There are use cases, such as that described above, where you need to "change" your IP for geolocation purposes, and VPNs fit the bill for that, better than Onion Routing because the later can have an indeterministic endpoint.
Thanks TB, LC0112G, DG and Sir Tigger, your explanations have helped me understand why people use VPN :y :y.
Just a pity that such a useful IT tool is being used by corrupt indviduals. >:(
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I can log on with my VPN 8)
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Migalot cant even with the VPN switched off. :-\
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Migalot cant even with the VPN switched off. :-\
He can send you his posts by email, you can post them and he will still be able to see the replies. Easy, and it will give you something to do :)
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Migalot cant even with the VPN switched off. :-\
As far as I can see, he is *NOT* switching them off, just trying different ones. Last attempt seemed to be coming from 188.241.157.187 which is Hydra Communications, and also banned.
Can you ask him to try directly from his home broadband or mobile phone, with no VPNs in place?
We are looking at moving away from our current manual ban system, as its onerous and time consuming, to a more automated one which hopefully means we don't blacklist* such vast swathes of the internet. Whether or not this will improve things in reality is open to debate...
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I will try and pass on the info I got. Switched VPN off and checked isp at whatsmyipaddress,com.
81xxx24xxx BT PLC. xxx is for confidentiality. Still says banned.
Then. Edit thats ipv4 not ipv6. Jaime will understand.
Its all witchcraft to me. :D
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I will try and pass on the info I got. Switched VPN off and checked isp at whatsmyipaddress,com.
81xxx24xxx BT PLC. xxx is for confidentiality. Still says banned.
Then. Edit thats ipv4 not ipv6. Jaime will understand.
Its all witchcraft to me. :D
I'm not seeing any attempts (recently) from 81.x.x.x from Migalot. Last request for Migalot I saw was from 37.x.x.x at 12:26 today, this IP belonging to UK Dedicated Servers Ltd.
Was that him, or am I somehow tracking the wrong account?
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hmmm, can you ask him to try again and PM me the entire IP *and* the exact time, and I'll go through the server logs...
...I'm wondering if the forum software is telling me porkie pies...
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He said he was going to try and view this thread as a guest on his phone today, so will wait to hear from him after that. :y
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I'm back! :y :y
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I'm back! :y :y
Yay, glad you got it sorted :)
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I'm back! :y :y
Yay, glad you got it sorted :)
Thank YOU, Jaime! :y :y
Sorry to give you so much grief!
I'm working on getting the PC access sorted. Having done a web search, I found a suggestion that changing browser might work. I normally use Firefox, so I tried on IE and bingo!
I will try to figure that one out, but at least I have proper PC keyboard access now! :)
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I'm back! :y :y
Yay, glad you got it sorted :)
Thanks you, Jaime! :y :y
I'm working on getting the PC access sorted. Having done a web search, I found a suggestion that changing browser might work. I normally use Firefox, so I tried on IE and bingo!
I will try to figure that one out, but at least I have proper PC keyboard access now! :)
Just needed to clear OOF's cookies and here I am on Firefox. Also, I had suspended my VPN for 15 minutes and forgot about it, so it automatically reconnected and here with my VPN :y
What a saga. Glad it's over. :)
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Great to have you back. Now I can just ban you >:D
;D
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Please dont do that ffs ! ;D
Glad its all sorted now Migalot. :y
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Great to have you back. Now I can just ban you >:D
;D
I dare you!
I hope you don't. ;) ;D
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Please dont do that ffs ! ;D
Glad its all sorted now Migalot. :y
Thanks once again for your help! :y
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Well, you know, spirit of OOF and all that. ;)