Title: Trackback Spam Last modified: August 18, 2016 --- # Trackback Spam * [pezastic](https://wordpress.org/support/users/pezastic/) * (@pezastic) * [20 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/trackback-spam-2/) * Is it possible to automatically get rid of this without having all trackbacks sent to moderation or turning off trackbacks altogether? * The plugins I have installed regarding this are: CG-Antispam CG-Referrer Moderate Trackbacks Spam Karma Mod-Rewrite Trackback Spam Blocker * None of them stop the many trackback spam messages I’m getting on a daily basis from coming through fully. * Any ideas? Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 21 total) 1 [2](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/trackback-spam-2/page/2/?output_format=md) [→](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/trackback-spam-2/page/2/?output_format=md) * Moderator [James Huff](https://wordpress.org/support/users/macmanx/) * (@macmanx) * [20 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/trackback-spam-2/#post-236355) * Try Bad Behavior. I have been spam-free ever since I activated it. * [http://www.ioerror.us/software/bad-behavior/](http://www.ioerror.us/software/bad-behavior/) * [Beel](https://wordpress.org/support/users/beel/) * (@beel) * [20 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/trackback-spam-2/#post-236360) * If some slip through while using CG-Antispam, just do what I do and add them to the blacklist (in the cg-plugins folder) * [Mark (podz)](https://wordpress.org/support/users/podz/) * (@podz) * [20 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/trackback-spam-2/#post-236363) * Be sure you are running the latest Spam Karma 2. drDave is currently at beta 4. * Not drDave the person – I’m sure he’s an official release 🙂 * Thread Starter [pezastic](https://wordpress.org/support/users/pezastic/) * (@pezastic) * [20 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/trackback-spam-2/#post-236432) * Beel, I was continually updating my blacklist with the trackback spam culprits. That didn’t seem to slow them down any. * Podz, thanks for the FYI. I was running an old version of Spam Karma. It appears that the latest isn’t available via dr. Dave’s WP Plugin Manager. That’s weird, because they’re both by the same author. * Anyway, what I have done is removed all the aforementioned spam fighting plugins and installed Bad Behavior only, per macmanx’s suggestion. If that doesn’t work, I’ll install the latest Spam Karma in addition. * [davidchait](https://wordpress.org/support/users/davidchait/) * (@davidchait) * [20 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/trackback-spam-2/#post-236443) * hmmm. I’d be interested at some point to see the actual trackbacks you were getting. The combination of Referrer and AntiSpam should do a pretty darn good job based on keywords alone. 😉 Though, admittedly, I’ve never personally tested against trackback spam (but know that CG-Referrer does SEE the trackback access coming in…). * Ah well. Be good to hear whether BB or SK makes a further difference. * -d * Thread Starter [pezastic](https://wordpress.org/support/users/pezastic/) * (@pezastic) * [20 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/trackback-spam-2/#post-236543) * Sorry David, I wished I had read your message earlier and I could have given you that information. * I’m proud to report that it has been three days since I installed and activated Bad Behavior as the only antispam plugin I have for two WP weblogs and I have had no spam trackback/comment messages whatsoever. (Prior to this, I was getting between 5 and 15 daily with the aforementioned antispam plugin combo.) * So far so good, but if this stellar performance changes, I’ll report back to this thread. * Thread Starter [pezastic](https://wordpress.org/support/users/pezastic/) * (@pezastic) * [20 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/trackback-spam-2/#post-236568) * I got hit with 1 spam comment and 4 trackback comments posted today, six days after activating Bad Behavior. On my second WP weblog, installed in a sub of my home directory, I had 1 spam comment that went to moderation. * So, the Bad Behavior plugin didn’t work in the long run (at least by itself). I will now activate the latest Spam Karma and report back to this thread if that doesn’t work. * [Marc](https://wordpress.org/support/users/marc/) * (@marc) * [20 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/trackback-spam-2/#post-236569) * I’ll second macmanx reference to the Bad Behavior spam plugin. * I have it installed in three blogs for well over a month and have had something less than 10 items of spam in any form during that time. * Moderator [James Huff](https://wordpress.org/support/users/macmanx/) * (@macmanx) * [20 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/trackback-spam-2/#post-236571) * Pezastic, you’re joking right? You get hit by 1 spam comment and 4 spam trackbacks 6 days after install Bad Behavior, and you automatically assume that it doesn’t work? On a good spam day, Bad Behavior stops well over a hundred spam attempts on my blog, but some do get through. I honestly hope that you never encounter real blog spam, because you may just pack your bags and leave the internet for good. But, give Spam Karma a try, maybe you’ll find that to be more effective. I will continue to use Bad Behavior, because it has always stopped 99.5% of all blog spam. * [error](https://wordpress.org/support/users/error/) * (@error) * [20 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/trackback-spam-2/#post-236573) * As the author of Bad Behavior, I will say that I run Bad Behavior and Spam Karma 2 on my own blogs. * Spam Karma 2 will definitely catch pretty much every bit of spam you might ever receive at your blog. The problem is, there’s so much of it! You may well receive hundreds or thousands of spams in a single day if your blog has been around a while. * That’s why there’s Bad Behavior. By cutting out 99% of the spam before it ever hits your site, you don’t have to deal with dozens of Spam Karma email messages and thousands of spams. On a really bad day, SK2 might catch 30 spams that got by Bad Behavior, while BB stopped the first 2,000. * Not to mention the possibility (and it happens) that Spam Karma 2 will mark a legitimate message as spam. You’ll have to go rescue it. And it’s much easier to find that message in a queue of 30 spams than a queue of 2,000 spams. * I’d call that pretty decent. * [Marc](https://wordpress.org/support/users/marc/) * (@marc) * [20 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/trackback-spam-2/#post-236576) * And once again I’ll second macmanx: * > Pezastic, you’re joking right? You get hit by 1 spam comment and 4 spam trackbacks > 6 days after install Bad Behavior * On one blog alone BB tosses out, on average, 1800 spam attempts every seven days. * If that is not effective enough for you Pezastic I would also suggest you say a fond fairwell to blogging and the internet. * [angsuman](https://wordpress.org/support/users/angsuman/) * (@angsuman) * [20 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/trackback-spam-2/#post-236578) * Sometimes I wonder if these plugins actually attract spam. I have heard it mentioned somewhere on this forum that spammers seems to be more attracted to blogs proudly displaying some sort of identification messages – like x amount of spam eaten by so-and-so spam buster plugin. This makes sense as it helps them to target these blogs and spend resource to find ways to intrude through these plugins. * As, some of you know, I use neither Spam karma nor Bad Behavior, which are heavyweights in this arena. * I use a [simple system](http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/how-to-keep-your-wordpress-15-blog-spam-free/) with [referrer bouncer plugin](http://blog.taragana.com/wp-content/upload/noreferer.zip) and Hashcash plugin along with inbuilt WordPress spam prevention capabilities. Both of the plugins mentioned above work silently and do not leave a tell-tale signature behind unlike their heavyweight counterparts. * [I am 100% spam free](http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/how-to-keep-your-wordpress-15-blog-spam-free/) in the last 5-6 months. No need for manual spam moderation either. And I used to receive at one point over 600 spams a day. * Moderator [James Huff](https://wordpress.org/support/users/macmanx/) * (@macmanx) * [20 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/trackback-spam-2/#post-236579) * Yes, when I was using Spam Karma and displayed the “Spam Karma has eaten x number of spams” message, I experienced a 50-100% increase in comment and trackback spam. * Thread Starter [pezastic](https://wordpress.org/support/users/pezastic/) * (@pezastic) * [20 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/trackback-spam-2/#post-236582) * That’s interesting that antispam plugins actually actract spam. I’ll try the Spam Karma/Bad Behavior combo and see if it works. When I say “works” I am talking about 100% spam free. No, I won’t give up weblogging because a few spam messages get through, but I do believe it can (and should) reach a point of being 100% spam free. * If that doesn’t work, I’ll try the setup angsuman suggested. * Moderator [James Huff](https://wordpress.org/support/users/macmanx/) * (@macmanx) * [20 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/trackback-spam-2/#post-236583) * > That’s interesting that antispam plugins actually actract spam. * No, anti-spam plugins don’t attract spam, but “proudly displaying some sort of identification message” for the anti-spam plugin(s) may attract spammers who wish to test their spamming systems. * > I do believe it can (and should) reach a point of being 100% spam free. * You’ll be the first. Currently, the only way to be 100% spam-free is to completely disable comments and trackbacks. Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 21 total) 1 [2](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/trackback-spam-2/page/2/?output_format=md) [→](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/trackback-spam-2/page/2/?output_format=md) The topic ‘Trackback Spam’ is closed to new replies. ## Tags * [trackback](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/trackback/) * 21 replies * 10 participants * Last reply from: [pezastic](https://wordpress.org/support/users/pezastic/) * Last activity: [20 years, 7 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/trackback-spam-2/page/2/#post-236669) * Status: not resolved ## Topics ### Topics with no replies ### Non-support topics ### Resolved topics ### Unresolved topics ### All topics