How to Prevent Imposter Comments in WordPres
We noticed an issue on our site where spammers were commenting using the usernames and email addresses of our registered users. It’s relatively easy for someone to find this information, especially if they’ve exchanged emails with you. This enabled random users to leave comments that appeared to be from registered users, such as “Syed Balkhi,” when it was actually an imposter. In this article, we’ll show you how to prevent imposters from commenting in WordPress.
If the video isn’t sufficient or you need more detailed instructions, keep reading.
Simply install and activate the Impostercide plugin. Once activated, it will prevent unauthenticated users from using a registered user’s email address or username to sign a comment.
For those unfamiliar with why this matters, here’s a brief explanation. Typically, comments from new users await moderation, while those from registered users are automatically approved. Spammers can exploit this by using a registered user’s username or email address to post comments with the same Gravatar, making it easier to sneak in spam links. On high-traffic sites, moderators might miss these comments because the familiar avatar is misleading. This can be extremely disruptive for your site’s users.
With this plugin, any imposter attempting this will see a message like:
“The name provided (XYZ) belongs to a registered user. Please login to make your comment.”
Impostercide is lightweight and effective, adding no unnecessary code to your site. Get the Impostercide plugin for WordPress to keep your comments genuine and secure.