How Does Reddit Detect Previously Banned Users?

shaddddd said:
GUYS
I found the answer, use GHOSTERY extension on chrome and you'll be fine.
Instead of blocking the cookies and trackers they receive it modifies/changes them.
Been working a treat for me.

I bought a cookie and tracker blocker app to block trackers on my iphone for the reddit app, but for some reason, accounts get shaddow banned instead of banned. Only one i need to figure out
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still working?
 
elfnp2 said:
still working?
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That was posted a single month ago. I'd guess it still works fine. You should try it instead of declaring no solutions were presented and starting duplicate threads. It's free to try, has 2 million installations.
 
CCarter said:
As someone that runs a SAAS, the easiest thing to do is ban by IP Address for a certain period of time.

First ban all datacenters like AWS, Digital Ocean, and known cloud computing datacenters. They publish their IP range to help with bot abuse. There is absolutely no reason someone using an AWS, cloudflare, or cloud computing ip address should be logging into the software. People using VPNs get blocked by this, realistically why would they need a VPN to login to a rank tracker??!

Then next step is to ban by IP Address the user by time periods. Example first offense can be 24 hours, 2nd offense can be 3 days. Then 7 days, 30 days, 90 days, 180 days, a year and permanent.

IP addresses do get circulated but it depends on where you are. Comcast for example gives out long term IPv4 IP addresses to a lot of residents. I’ve had one ip address for 4 years at one location. People in remote areas have had some for 5+ years. The reason I know is because we white list developers to staging sites and some have NEVER had their home ip address change.

A lot of basic firewall software like ufw for linux have these basic time based bans. So if they have it than Reddit which is a multi-million dollar corporation is going to have it at the basic level.

The trouble is when you get users that share ip addresses like AT&T mobile users, Orange in France, lots of European countries like Spain. They have limited IP address allocations so their users share IP. In scenarios like that you can detect by browser configuration to see if multiple different browsers are using a single ip address and prevent permanent banning that IP address.

But if there is a pattern of maybe 5 or less browser configs using a single ip address than it is a single person/household. There is a difference in 5 or 10 different hardware/browser config versus 1000s of users’ config. It’s very very easy to detect a user.

@bernard what you saw was Reddit giving you some leeway until you connected to a bad ip address, now that also taints other ip addresses you used. You don’t even need fancy machine learning, this is simple “if then” statements to detect all your ip addresses by cross referencing backwards.

If you really want to not be banned ALWAYS use your cellular connection and a clean sim. But the second you slip and use your main IP address you will be banned again and it will keep raising the ban score.

To date I have never seen a mobile carrier give out permanent ip addresses to mobile users, so the likelihood of an ip address level ban is low. I just tried turning on and off my cellular signal and immediately got a different IP Address.

This is my experience from a running a SAAS, assume Reddit is a lot more sophisticated in their attempt to block bad guys like @bernard.
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Sorry to resurrect a year old convo chain, but I'm running into a similar issue. Me, my alternative accounts, and my brother's accounts (who I live with) have all been permanently suspended. The reasons are not clear why and the appeals have not worked. We seem to be able to change our wifi IP easily by resetting the the modem. If we just make sure to create new accounts with a new ip via wifi should we be good? That is, reddit would track us and suspend those new accounts too?

shaddddd said:
GUYS
I found the answer, use GHOSTERY extension on chrome and you'll be fine.
Instead of blocking the cookies and trackers they receive it modifies/changes them.
Been working a treat for me.

I bought a cookie and tracker blocker app to block trackers on my iphone for the reddit app, but for some reason, accounts get shaddow banned instead of banned. Only one i need to figure out
Click to expand...
This still working for you? I had an account suspended and then all alternate accounts for some reason that wasn't made clear. Appeals didn't work and family members on the same IP got suspended permanently too, their appeals didn't uphold either. Reddit has some shite admins. Anyways, how you holding up? I'm desperately seeking a solution as every time I go to make a new account it gets suspended permanently within a few hours.
 
Found this thread, decided to add some comments...

IP-bans no longer really work, because lots of people no longer have a public IP in the official IPV4 range, but get one out of the private range (e.g. starts with 10.x.x.x). In such a case, another layer of translation is added by the ISP before the data is sent to reddit.

Reddit works with cookies. you will need an extension like "cookie autodelete" for edge/chrome to ensure that all cookies coming from reddit.com are deleted. Never use the same window to switch accounts, because they will be permanently(?) linked then, and a ban on account 1 will lead to another on account 2, if you use that one for evasion. Always close the tab, delete the cookies, ensure the cookies are gone, then go to reddit and switch account

Always create a bunch of accounts using throw away email addresses, and then let them sit around for several days/weeks before using them. Get some karma on big subreddits first (like askreddit) before using them somewhere else. New accounts are always under extra survilance

Don't use the offical reddit app, use a third part one if you plan to surf reddit via phone.

Don't get attached to karma or an account. think of underwear which also needs to be changed after a while. You don't loose anything when your karma is gone due to a permaban. Just create a new one and go on.

More stuff: if you don't want reddit to generate a profile of what you do and what you like, or give a mod in a smaller subreddit the oportunity to compare posts of your account #1 vs the ones of #2 - and then ban you based on similar content and writing style - use shreddit (Python program) to first overwrite your old posts with trash data and then delete the post. Reddit doesn't delete content, it just doesn't show it to you and others anymore. So "delete" is more like "hide", and by changing your comment first, they only can store trash.

Im am in the good position of being able to run another ban evasion test at the moment. I am active in at least one subreddit where they use a shady "dog whistling" rule to ban you. So if you don't write anything exactly according to the style of the group and follow the echo chamber 1:1, your account will be gone very soon, even if you follow all the other rules. They banned one account from the subgroup and also placed a temporary global ban on it. On top they permabanned another account which I think I used by accident without erasing cookies, and now I am curious if I am wrong and they use something else to identify ppl. So it's time to activate another one and run some tests.

About fingerprinting: I don't think reddit uses such a mechanism. While it is good to increase the posibility to identify you, it is not accurate and also requires some overhead and server capacity to run it and store the outcome. if in doubt: ghostery, ublock origin and especially the "trace" tracking protection extension for chrome are your friends.

Two accounts got permaa banned. These were the ones which alraedy had a temporary 7 days global ban running, and I think another cron job kicked in which used the information about the temporyr bans and switched them to "permanent", with "constant breach of content policy" as explanation.

All other accounts - despite being used on the same machine and only cleansing the cookies between the switch - aren't blocked, banned or got warnings.

And for the future I just fired up Python and extended some existing tools which access reddit over the API. Now I can copy&paste all saved comments/submissions and the subscribed reddits to a different account and also erase subscriptions, saved comments and other data if i want.
 
Tests done, final comments:

Reddit really uses cookies to track accounts. I can't guarantee they don't use the IP, too, but at least for any ISP it is not the case where you have a two layer IPV4 translation in place. check the external IP on your router, if it is in a private range like 10.x.x.x you are also behind such a "double layer".

If you use two accounts on a computer and forget to erase the cookies of reddit, the accounts will be linked, and if you use account #2 while acc #1 is banned, both will be banned. The ban won't happen immediately as I am sure a cron job first needs to run through the database and apply the bans. First you get a "temporary global ban" (ban evasion in a subreddit), and 1-2 days after another job changes this to a permaban ("content policy breach").

Use the extensions "cookie auto delete" (and don't forget to enable it - this has cost me 2 accounts) plus "selective cookie remover" if you want to check how many cookies reddits has placed and if the other extension really has removed everything. Don't forget to close the reddit tab, remove cookies, create a new tab and go back.

There is a chance that in some smaller subreddits they track you by looking up your comment history to find similar behaviour and styles of writing across different accounts and ban you, so use a comment eraser which also scrambles the content first (edit comment, then delete). Reddit just hides content and doesn't delete it.

Don't use the official app on the phone, use third party ones.

Don't use fresh accounts but have some laying around for some days/weeks before using them.

Reddit doesn't use fingerprinting methods (yet) to identify you. While it is possible to use such a method to avoid wrong positives and to find wrong negatives, it's not 100% accurate.

Last note: This won't help you if you really don't follow the rules of a sub reddit, because if you don't agree the general consent of a subreddit, you will be banned again after the first comment. This list only helps the many who got picked up by one of the almighty mods who can hide by just not responding and by using very vague rules like "dog whistling", where you simply have zero chance to prove the ban was wrong.

Don't get attached to your account, don't try to fight the mods. Just move one with a new one and ignore them.
 
You know if you guys just use Firefox or even Microsoft Edge (Chromium based) there are easy setting to auto-delete your cookies, localstorage, and data everything your browser closes. Firefox has had since day 1. In fact all browser except Chrome do.

It's only Chrome that acts like a terrorist and make you jump through hoops to clear cookies and local data.

I sincerely hope for all this effort you guys are using Reddit to generate revenue... because: Reddit users are the least valuable of any social network

Remember Reddit was created for the primary purpose of whining and complaining on the internet. Just keep that in mind as you explore subreddits. Their underlying mission is to complain, not really to spend money. Just scroll through the frontpage and ask yourself when you read each headline: "Is this user whining or complaining?" More then 50% of the time, yes.

You'll quickly realize, unless you are trolling for dollars, you might be wasting your time with that audience.
 
I've been trying to find out how Reddit finds out ban evading users for the past two weeks, but nothing has worked so far.

1. Trying clearing Cookies/Reinstalling Browser = Doesn't work.

2. Tried installing new Browser = Doesn't work.

3. Changing IP and Installing new OS = Works 50%. Some subreddits filter out your comments and posts. (probably due to fingerprinting), you at least dont get banned.

4. Tried using TOR Browser = Same as above. You also get locked out of 6 posts per hour.

5. Tried using VPN = Doesn't work.

6. Using anti-fingerprinting measures to avoid detection = Doesnt work.

7. Using anti tracking methods (EFF, Ghostly etc) = Doesnt work

I have at least figured out how they detect ban evasion. Reddit uses a combination of IP + fingerprinting tracking + account behaviour to detect previously banned users. You can use Tor to go back to Reddit, but you will be locked out of 6 posts per hour and most subreddits you participated will automatically remove your posts and comments.

Seems that the only way to properly ban evade is a combination of creating an account under a New IP + Having Different Computer. Not really worth the effort.

dubs680 said:
Tests done, final comments:

Reddit really uses cookies to track accounts. I can't guarantee they don't use the IP, too, but at least for any ISP it is not the case where you have a two layer IPV4 translation in place. check the external IP on your router, if it is in a private range like 10.x.x.x you are also behind such a "double layer".

If you use two accounts on a computer and forget to erase the cookies of reddit, the accounts will be linked, and if you use account #2 while acc #1 is banned, both will be banned. The ban won't happen immediately as I am sure a cron job first needs to run through the database and apply the bans. First you get a "temporary global ban" (ban evasion in a subreddit), and 1-2 days after another job changes this to a permaban ("content policy breach").

Use the extensions "cookie auto delete" (and don't forget to enable it - this has cost me 2 accounts) plus "selective cookie remover" if you want to check how many cookies reddits has placed and if the other extension really has removed everything. Don't forget to close the reddit tab, remove cookies, create a new tab and go back.

There is a chance that in some smaller subreddits they track you by looking up your comment history to find similar behaviour and styles of writing across different accounts and ban you, so use a comment eraser which also scrambles the content first (edit comment, then delete). Reddit just hides content and doesn't delete it.

Don't use the official app on the phone, use third party ones.

Don't use fresh accounts but have some laying around for some days/weeks before using them.

Reddit doesn't use fingerprinting methods (yet) to identify you. While it is possible to use such a method to avoid wrong positives and to find wrong negatives, it's not 100% accurate.

Last note: This won't help you if you really don't follow the rules of a sub reddit, because if you don't agree the general consent of a subreddit, you will be banned again after the first comment. This list only helps the many who got picked up by one of the almighty mods who can hide by just not responding and by using very vague rules like "dog whistling", where you simply have zero chance to prove the ban was wrong.

Don't get attached to your account, don't try to fight the mods. Just move one with a new one and ignore them.
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Reddit does use fingerprinting. When using my default fingerprinting when posting + VPN, i got banned after three days.

But when i sued ToR default fingerprinting, it did not get banned.
 
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Well, I got two accounts banned after the last post. the reason might be that I swapped between the banned and new accounts too fast, so despite getting rid of the cookies they connected my accounts.

But your answer is interesting, because my current accounts are all fine. However I give them 1-2 weeks testing phase first to see if I missed something and the ones also get banned.
 
dubs680 said:
Well, I got two accounts banned after the last post. the reason might be that I swapped between the banned and new accounts too fast, so despite getting rid of the cookies they connected my accounts.

But your answer is interesting, because my current accounts are all fine. However I give them 1-2 weeks testing phase first to see if I missed something and the ones also get banned.
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I can confirm they track your web fingerpinting because i created accounts using Opera VPN and cooking clereance on a cellphone device with 4G that had previously banned accounts. Albeit it took them a long time (1 week), they caught me.

So the only true way of ban evading is creating an account under a new public IP and on a new computer with different fingerprinting. You can use TOR but i still have issues participating.
 
Just got my TOR account banned. So it seems that Tor does not work to ban evade effectively.
 
Unrelated to any of my main projects, I use a combination of TMAC to change my Mac address, a VPN and an incognito/private/whatever window in an alternate browser that I don't use for anything else to evade bans successfully.
 
JesseEddleman said:
Unrelated to any of my main projects, I use a combination of TMAC to change my Mac address, a VPN and an incognito/private/whatever window in an alternate browser that I don't use for anything else to evade bans successfully.
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I will try that out. But i doubt they use MAC adress

This week i've tried using VPN, anti-trackers and fingerprinting spoofers. Didn't work, but they took one week to ban me.

I will now try using Ghostly and see what happens
 
Tried making 3 accounts with Chrome + Icognito + Anti Fingerprinting + VPN. Accounts got banned in 48 hours.

IDK what Reddit is using to flag my accounts by this point honestly.
 
Draugon said:
VPN
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I don't understand how you guys don't think major operations have a list of VPNs and cloud operations. We talk about this early in the thrread. If you can Google "VPN Provider", I'm sure Reddit engineers can to.

Every single major operation publishes their IP Ranges:


I've got the whole list from OVH, MaxCDN, Digital Ocean, Amazon AWS, and nonsense you've never heard. If I've got it and utilize it to block traffic from Amazon AWS and actual VPN providers, Reddit has it too. It's literally a simple Google search.

So all Reddit does is create a cronjob to go through the newest accounts and who logged into with a "bad provider" and simply ban you. It' why it takes times and the ban is not instantaneous.
 
CCarter said:
I don't understand how you guys don't think major operations have a list of VPNs and cloud operations. We talk about this early in the thrread. If you can Google "VPN Provider", I'm sure Reddit engineers can to.

Every single major operation publishes their IP Ranges:


I've got the whole list from OVH, MaxCDN, Digital Ocean, Amazon AWS, and nonsense you've never heard. If I've got it and utilize it to block traffic from Amazon AWS and actual VPN providers, Reddit has it too. It's literally a simple Google search.

So all Reddit does is create a cronjob to go through the newest accounts and who logged into with a "bad provider" and simply ban you. It' why it takes times and the ban is not instantaneous.
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I agree in principle that they could do this for all of the reasons that you've described here. They may even do exactly this, and I've somehow just been the luckiest man on the planet with it.

That said, in my experience with my own accounts, some of which are 3+ years old, they haven't done what you've described so far. However, if I create a new account on my current computer with my regular IP address, it will generally be banned within a week seemingly regardless of what I post or whether I post at all (the latter of which was particularly interesting to me).

All of that aside, Reddit sucks, and I'm hoping to avoid the whole question sooner rather than later with a combination of a move, a new computer and not discussing politics with NPC types.
 
Ok, got the last bunch of accounts banned two weeks ago, but I provoked it by switching between different accounts (banned/unbanned) in a rapid way after erasing the Cookies each time. So they use something else on top of cookies, and I assume it is a combination of ip grouping over a period of time, with user accounts coming from the same ip at the (almost) same time ending in a bucket and be banned. With such an approach they don't need a database with GNAT addresses and true IP addresses, and this also results in different users (e.g. a family) sharing the same address to be banned.

Now I have created new accounts, and while I had a look at a banned one once or twice, the accounts are still active despite not using VPN or TOR. All I did/do so far is to wait at least an hour when switching accounts and delete cookies. Plus I don't post a lot - maybe 1-2 comments per day - and I only use them after being created and sitting around without login
 
Hmm I am wondering…

I have a main that was suspended for 3 days due to ban evasion. The alt account was suspended permanently. The 3 day suspension lifted on my main yesterday, but I haven’t posted anything yet. I don’t want to do anything that might trigger another ban because I assume some data was already collected from my alt account. I don’t know if I am IP banned - and if I post, do you think I might get hit by their automod system for logging in the same IP as my alt that already got suspended?

Also, on the topic of bans…I wonder if Reddit’s system erases IP bans and other trackers they use to identify you within a certain number of days? I’ve read that it might be 100 days that IP’s are stored? So essentially, if banned people just wait a few months, they’re able to contribute to Reddit again?
 
GiveMeYop said:
and if I post, do you think I might get hit by their automod system for logging in the same IP as my alt that already got suspended?
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Probably. They're already catching you for evading bans. So whatever it is you're currently doing isn't working. I'd say getting an account banned and then logging into another one that just came out of a temporary ban on the same IP Address is 100% going to get flagged.

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I know this is kind of a moot point since the people in this thread are already banned, but...

Why not just go along with the rules? I've yet to have an account banned. All you need to do is get on there every day, drop a few comments, and submit something to a subreddit you're actually interested in. There's all kinds of subs that are designed to be posted to as well that don't inspire conversation, and this easily gets you past the 10:1 ratio of self-promotion they talk about.

The easiest way to deal with this banning issue is to just use the site like a normal person. It takes 2-3 minutes to drop 2-3 comments, and another couple minutes to submit something.

The key with Reddit isn't mass spamming them anyways. The traffic is worthless (worth less than grandma's stuck in a parked domain loop), so trickles of it don't matter. The real key is to study the user behavior, titles, clickbait aspects, emotional appeals, and get yourself on the front page, if not to #1.

It's way easier than it seems and more lucrative (though still not much, and you won't be doing it every day). I've gotten close but have yet to milk those morons for more than $1k and I've been #1 many times now. That's with your typical display ads, Amazon cookie dropping, etc. They use ad blockers and order a bunch of sex toys, basically. Unless you're doing some kind of GoFundMe scam with fake charity cases or whatever they fall for constantly, I don't see the big appeal in spamming Reddit.

Even if you're doing it for backlinks, they're not going to flip to dofollow without being quality submissions anyways.
 
dubs680 said:
Ok, got the last bunch of accounts banned two weeks ago, but I provoked it by switching between different accounts (banned/unbanned) in a rapid way after erasing the Cookies each time. So they use something else on top of cookies, and I assume it is a combination of ip grouping over a period of time, with user accounts coming from the same ip at the (almost) same time ending in a bucket and be banned. With such an approach they don't need a database with GNAT addresses and true IP addresses, and this also results in different users (e.g. a family) sharing the same address to be banned.

Now I have created new accounts, and while I had a look at a banned one once or twice, the accounts are still active despite not using VPN or TOR. All I did/do so far is to wait at least an hour when switching accounts and delete cookies. Plus I don't post a lot - maybe 1-2 comments per day - and I only use them after being created and sitting around without login
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Ryuzaki said:
Probably. They're already catching you for evading bans. So whatever it is you're currently doing isn't working. I'd say getting an account banned and then logging into another one that just came out of a temporary ban on the same IP Address is 100% going to get flagged.

-------

I know this is kind of a moot point since the people in this thread are already banned, but...

Why not just go along with the rules? I've yet to have an account banned. All you need to do is get on there every day, drop a few comments, and submit something to a subreddit you're actually interested in. There's all kinds of subs that are designed to be posted to as well that don't inspire conversation, and this easily gets you past the 10:1 ratio of self-promotion they talk about.

The easiest way to deal with this banning issue is to just use the site like a normal person. It takes 2-3 minutes to drop 2-3 comments, and another couple minutes to submit something.

The key with Reddit isn't mass spamming them anyways. The traffic is worthless (worth less than grandma's stuck in a parked domain loop), so trickles of it don't matter. The real key is to study the user behavior, titles, clickbait aspects, emotional appeals, and get yourself on the front page, if not to #1.

It's way easier than it seems and more lucrative (though still not much, and you won't be doing it every day). I've gotten close but have yet to milk those morons for more than $1k and I've been #1 many times now. That's with your typical display ads, Amazon cookie dropping, etc. They use ad blockers and order a bunch of sex toys, basically. Unless you're doing some kind of GoFundMe scam with fake charity cases or whatever they fall for constantly, I don't see the big appeal in spamming Reddit.

Even if you're doing it for backlinks, they're not going to flip to dofollow without being quality submissions anyways.
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Well for my case, I’m actually not trying to make new accounts to troll on subreddits. My main was banned from a sub for difference of opinions. My mistake was that I made an alt and continued posting regular comments on a live thread, no arguments no nothing. I didn’t read about the ban evasion part from the automod message as I quickly skimmed through it. The alt was the account that was permanently suspended, followed by my main that was only suspended for 3 days (they are on the same IP). I am able to do everything as of now on my main (give awards, send chat messages), but I have not posted once yet. I’m worried that once I do, I’ll get flagged.
 
JesseEddleman said:
I agree in principle that they could do this for all of the reasons that you've described here. They may even do exactly this, and I've somehow just been the luckiest man on the planet with it.

That said, in my experience with my own accounts, some of which are 3+ years old, they haven't done what you've described so far. However, if I create a new account on my current computer with my regular IP address, it will generally be banned within a week seemingly regardless of what I post or whether I post at all (the latter of which was particularly interesting to me).

All of that aside, Reddit sucks, and I'm hoping to avoid the whole question sooner rather than later with a combination of a move, a new computer and not discussing politics with NPC types.
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Like the dude above, i'm trying to get back into Reddit because there are subreddits i want to participate, and i still haven't found a site replacer. It's incredible easy to be banned on the platform, all you have to do is type something a mod doesnt like and you are gone.

Alias, i can agree, the site sucks and it's the only one i had issues with banning before. Once i do find a replacer, i will stop using it since it's not really worth participating in that website and doing all this crap just to come back. Reddit has been going an extra mile to stop Tor/VPN users on participating and they clearly dont give a shit about privacy.

On the topic. Seems that TMAC + VPN + Anti tracker + Fingerprinting spoofer has worked. But i will require more testing and should have an awnser in three days.
 
Ryuzaki said:
I don't see the big appeal in spamming Reddit.
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I don't see a single instance where these people are making money, serious money, from Reddit. I think it's just procrastination and some hobby shit for the people that seem to want to waste time with the platform.

It was literally created for whiners. How much money do you think you can make off of them??!?

Can someone explain to me why you people have such a hard-on for Reddit?

How do you even get banned? It's like saying you got banned from Xbox Live for being rude...

lK7QgZu.jpg
 
CCarter said:
I don't see a single instance where these people are making money, serious money, from Reddit. I think it's just procrastination and some hobby shit for the people that seem to want to waste time with the platform.

It was literally created for whiners. How much money do you think you can make off of them??!?

Can someone explain to me why you people have such a hard-on for Reddit?

How do you even get banned? It's like saying you got banned from Xbox Live for being rude...

lK7QgZu.jpg
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Can speak for others, but in my case: reposting, then for ban evasion. I've once been banned for asking to approve a post, that's how easy it is to get banned.

99% of people who spam on that website do it for a hobby, and since there is no competitor peopel flock to there.

Also, earning money is agaisnt the ToS, but everybody knows that top mods do it. but it's basically impossible to use reddit to generate revenue unless you are a big and old time mod with millions of karma.
 
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JesseEddleman said:
Unrelated to any of my main projects, I use a combination of TMAC to change my Mac address, a VPN and an incognito/private/whatever window in an alternate browser that I don't use for anything else to evade bans successfully.
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I just tested it. Seems to be the right track, i was banned from a subreddit but not by the website and i was also able to post somewhat 'normally'.

Do you have any apps for anti fingerprinting and anti-tracking? If i manage to get a randomized browser identity and a proper VPN would probably work.
 
Draugon said:
I just tested it. Seems to be the right track, i was banned from a subreddit but not by the website and i was also able to post somewhat 'normally'.

Do you have any apps for anti fingerprinting and anti-tracking? If i manage to get a randomized browser identity and a proper VPN would probably work.
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No, that's really all I do, but at the same time, I'm posting about once a week at the most as well.
 
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