While those of you in charge might have thought of this already, may I suggest limiting account creations to 1, based on IP addresses? Or, could you investigate suspicious duplicate "troll" accounts based on user reports?
That is, if this is an issue.
If limiting accounts is an option in the configuration of this forum, that will work for users with static IP addresses.
If their IP is dynamic, and a random new account is reported as suspiscious, you can check the ISP/location of the user through websites such as IP Tracker, or others. A match between a reported user and one known for causing problem would unlikely be a coincidence.
Chances are he's not just driving around town looking for free wifi to post on here. He is probably either:
A) Changing his IP address by unplugging his modem and waiting for an hour or so.
B) Changing his network card's mac address, then cloning the mac under his router's settings, and restarting his modem to quickly get a new IP.
C) Or most likely, he is using a proxy or VPN.
D) An option I'm not gonna mention because it's pretty damn hard to stop.
A and B are easy. Do a range IP ban on him. It will essentially block everyone in his neighborhood, connected to the same node that he is, even if he is assigned a new IP it will be in the same range unless he switches service providers.
C is more difficult. The who-is IP lookup sites use lists of known proxies and will let you know if he is on one. There are some tools out there that will block all of them, but for the most part, it is usually pretty labor intensive for mods to block all of them, especially since new ones pop up everyday.
That being said, even using a proxy, you are not protected from DNS leaks. For example, your proxy reports you as from Sweden, but your DNS leak shows you as using a comcast DNS. This red flags you as obviously not being who you are claiming to be.
If these things fail, the most effective tool is your own user base. When users report suspected trolls, it shrinks the pool of people moderators have to investigate. It's a lot less work to investigate 10 people that have been reported, than it is to investigate every single person.
Obviously investigating every new user on a routine basis will also stop this guy.
Bottom line is that it's a lot of work for moderators, so we should all cut them some slack, and appreciate that we're not the ones who have to deal with all that crap.
