(yet another) spam registration issue

Spam bots are excellent in searching and scraping websites via sitemaps and such to find your login page… I even tested it with a blank WP install and the only change I did with a plugin was changing the location of wp-login.php and still I got a lot of spam registrations.

I have found these links that might help:

https://wpforms.com/simple-tricks-to-eliminate-spam-user-registration/#:~:text=To%20do%20that%2C%20open%20up,user%20registrations%20on%20your%20site.

https://kinsta.com/blog/stop-wordpress-registration-spam/

https://www.anarieldesign.com/how-to-stop-spam-user-registration-in-wordpress/

https://www.malcare.com/blog/stop-wordpress-registration-spam/

Maybe these links have the information you are looking for… Or maybe somebody else in this forum.

There are a number of plugins that might help:
https://www.ads-software.com/plugins/search/stop+spam+registration/

thank you but I have implemented all above on a regular basis. My concern is to find and delete a portion of code which must be hidden somewhere. I mean, it’s impossible that I start getting spam the very second I turn the site on. Besides, I wasn’t getting spam before.

It must be a vulnerability in a plugin but of course everyone blames everyone. Reinstalling WP doesn’t help, scanning at server and site level neither.

Where is that nasty code hiding?

Something you could do is go to updates and click the button “Re-install WordPress vx” (x will be your version number), then all files will be the clean core files. And then if the issue presists it’s most likely a plugin or theme issue me thinks.

Or your website is just known in spambot lists… As soon as the first attacks started on the school website I created it only started to increase…

I’m gonna put this topic on “resolved” because I’m not getting anymore spam registrations since my SSL certificate (free “let’s encript” type) updated. I hope it stays so, but I’d appreciate if some expert would throw some light on how can this happen. thanks