Understanding Spam Account Creation
Spam accounts are created by bots or individuals attempting to access your content without paying, test stolen credit cards, or commit other fraudulent activities.
These accounts can negatively impact your business by:
Inflating your user numbers with fake accounts
Potentially leading to chargebacks and payment disputes
Creating security vulnerabilities
Causing unnecessary support inquiries
ℹ️ INFO: Spam accounts are a common issue for membership platforms with free content or trial offers. Implementing preventive measures is essential for maintaining a healthy user base.
Uscreen Prevention Measures
Uscreen employs several automated systems to help protect your business from spam accounts:
Email verification: We require email confirmation for all new accounts before they can be used, adding an extra layer of verification to prevent automated bot registrations.
reCAPTCHA integration: We provide reCAPTCHA on checkout pages and account registration forms.
Advanced fraud detection: We employ advanced email recognition systems to monitor for spammy-looking purchases and suspicious patterns.
Payment verification: Our integration with payment processors includes verification steps that help identify potentially fraudulent transactions.
Suspicious activity monitoring: Our systems monitor for unusual patterns of account creation or purchase attempts that might indicate bot activity.
IP tracking: The system tracks IP addresses to identify and potentially block sources of suspicious activity.
Geo-blocking capabilities: The platform allows for blocking registrations from specific countries where you don't expect to have customers.
Stripe Radar integration: We support Stripe Radar implementation, which provides additional fraud prevention tools.
Blocking known disposable email domains
Using spam scoring to identify suspicious accounts
Filtering high-risk accounts from your People page
Preventing marketing and transactional emails to suspected spam accounts
📝 NOTE: Despite these protections, no system can block 100% of bots, which is why we recommend additional security measures like enabling Stripe Radar block rules.
🔗 Learn more about Stripe Radar
Preventing Spam Accounts
Enable CAPTCHA
One of the most effective ways to prevent bot-created accounts is to enable CAPTCHA in your security settings. This adds a verification step that distinguishes between real users and automated bots during sign-ups and logins.
Navigate to Settings > Security
Toggle the option to enable/disable CAPTCHA
ℹ️ INFO: Google's reCAPTCHA v3 assigns a trust score to user interactions and automatically blocks suspicious activities without interrupting the user experience.
🔗 Learn more about CAPTCHA
Enhanced Protection System
Uscreen uses a sophisticated spam detection system to identify potential spam accounts. The system monitors various factors, including:
Email domain reputation
Registration behavior patterns
Account activity after registration
Payment information verification
Accounts identified as potential spam are filtered from your main People page and will not receive marketing or transactional emails.
📝 NOTE: The system is designed to minimize false positives. As users engage with your content (watching videos, making purchases), they're less likely to be flagged as spam.
Finding Filtered Accounts
Accounts flagged as potential spam are now visible in a dedicated Spam section within your People page. This makes it easier to:
Review accounts that have been automatically flagged
Mark legitimate users as "not spam" if they were incorrectly flagged
Confirm suspicious accounts as spam
To access this section:
Navigate to People
Click the ellipsis (...)
Select Show Spam
Review the accounts listed there
ℹ️ INFO: This enhanced filtering system helps maintain a clean, focused view of your audience while still preserving all user data for your business needs.
Enable Stripe Radar Block Rules
If you're using Stripe for payment processing, enabling additional verification can significantly reduce fraudulent sign-ups:
Log in to your Stripe account
Navigate to Payments > Radar
Go to the Rules tab
Scroll down to Block Rules
Enable CVC Verification and Postal Code Verification, and other conditions you may want to add
💡 TIP: Enabling these Stripe verification methods is one of the most effective ways to prevent fraudulent payments while still allowing legitimate customers to sign up.
Block Specific Payment Methods
You can block specific credit card numbers in Stripe to prevent known fraudulent cards from making purchases on your store, with or without Stripe Radar.
This is particularly useful if you notice repeated attempts from the same card.
🔗 Learn more about Blocking a Specific Credit Card Number
📝 NOTE: If, while in Stripe, you notice that the fraud accounts are coming from a specific country where you do not expect to sell content, you may consider geo-blocking your site for that country.
🔗 Learn more about Geo-Blocking
Handling Existing Spam Accounts
Spam Accounts Without Payment Information
You can delete the spam accounts manually through the People page.
Navigate to People
Click the ellipsis (...)
Select Show Spam
Open and edit the account you want to remove
Click the ellipsis (...) at the top-right
Select Delete
🔗 Learn more about Deleting User Accounts
📝 NOTE: For Uscreen Plus stores, you may request a bulk removal of spam users through our Support Team. Bulk requests of this nature can take up to 7-10 business days to be fulfilled. Please reach out to us with the list of users to be removed in a CSV file, with the user ID and/or user email in separate columns.
🔗 Learn more about Exporting User Reports
Spam Accounts With Payment Information
For accounts that have made purchases but appear fraudulent:
Review the payment information and transaction history
Look for warning signs like multiple failed payment attempts
Contact Uscreen Support for guidance before taking action
⚠️ WARNING: Always exercise caution when dealing with accounts that have made payments. Removing these accounts incorrectly could lead to customer complaints or disputes.
Handling Disputes
If you receive a chargeback or dispute from a suspected spam account:
Gather all relevant information about the account and transaction
Respond promptly to the dispute through your payment processor
Consider implementing stronger verification measures to prevent future issues
🔗 Learn more about Disputes & Chargebacks
FAQs
Why did my user count decrease recently?
Why did my user count decrease recently?
Uscreen has improved the People page to filter out accounts with high spam scores. These users still exist but are now shown in a separate spam page rather than your main People list.
Will legitimate users ever be marked as spam?
Will legitimate users ever be marked as spam?
The system is designed to minimize false positives, but it can happen. As users engage with your content (watching videos, making purchases), they're less likely to be flagged as spam. You can also manually mark users as "not spam" if they were incorrectly flagged.
How can I tell if a user has verified their email?
How can I tell if a user has verified their email?
Email verification status is visible in the user details section of your People page. Users who haven't verified their email may have a higher likelihood of being spam accounts.
Why aren't some users receiving my emails?
Why aren't some users receiving my emails?
Users identified as potential spam will not receive marketing or transactional emails from your site. If legitimate users report not receiving emails, check if they've been incorrectly flagged as spam and manually mark them as "not spam" if needed.
What happens when I mark a user as "not spam"?
What happens when I mark a user as "not spam"?
When you manually mark a user as "not spam," their spam status is cleared. They will immediately begin receiving emails and appear in your main People list.
Are users invited by admins ever marked as spam?
Are users invited by admins ever marked as spam?
No, users who are directly invited by admins through the People tab should not be marked as spam.
What email domains are blocked by Uscreen?
What email domains are blocked by Uscreen?
Uscreen maintains a list of known disposable and high-risk email domains that are automatically blocked from registering on your site. This list is regularly updated to protect against new spam sources.
How can I tell if an account is spam?
How can I tell if an account is spam?
Look for these common indicators:
Email addresses with random characters
Accounts that haven't verified their email
Multiple accounts from the same IP address
Accounts with suspicious payment information
Users who sign up but never access content
Can I prevent spam accounts completely?
Can I prevent spam accounts completely?
While no system can prevent 100% of spam accounts, implementing the recommended measures in this article can significantly reduce their occurrence and impact on your business.