Banned active users with no posts or blog entries?!

[IslandWalker]

This is the weirdest ban I've ever seen:

http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/member.php?u=44255

This user is active (if you hurry up and see), has no posts or blog entries, and is banned. I'll be referring to the user as "it" to make stuff simple.

So I have a load of questions:

1. How exactly did this user get banned without posting anything?
2. Can its IP be seen and/or compared? Perhaps it is a sockpuppet.
3. How can you tell if it's a spambot or not? Is there some sort of flag? No IP? Not sure about this.
4. How can it be active if it's banned? Did it get banned just a few minutes ago? Or can banned users roam the forums?

Just some random questions. I'm not asking WHY it was banned, which IIRC is against the rules, but I'm just curious about this. Sorry if it's a stupid question, but I find no possible explanation. Thanks in advance!

EDIT: Came up with a theory:

The post that caused it to be banned was deleted.

And it's no longer active.

 

[AiedailEclipsed]

This account, as you might have seen, was created in October. We've had spambots create accounts, and then not post for years.

I'll try to answer your questions.

1) The posts were likely deleted.
2) It's IP can be seen.
3) You can generally tell by a wacky username, or we can use a website called StopForumSpam to help.
4) Banned users can log-in and "be active." They can't really see anything though.

 

[Every Breaking Wave]

This is the weirdest ban I've ever seen:

http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/member.php?u=44255

This user is active (if you hurry up and see), has no posts or blog entries, and is banned. I'll be referring to the user as "it" to make stuff simple.

So I have a load of questions:

1. How exactly did this user get banned without posting anything?
2. Can its IP be seen and/or compared? Perhaps it is a sockpuppet.
3. How can you tell if it's a spambot or not? Is there some sort of flag? No IP? Not sure about this.
4. How can it be active if it's banned? Did it get banned just a few minutes ago? Or can banned users roam the forums?

Just some random questions. I'm not asking WHY it was banned, which IIRC is against the rules, but I'm just curious about this. Sorry if it's a stupid question, but I find no possible explanation. Thanks in advance!

EDIT: Came up with a theory:

The post that caused it to be banned was deleted.

And it's no longer active.

1. Likely a spambot. If it posted a spam message that would lead to a ban and the post would be deleted; thus, banned with zero posts.
2. IP addresses can be checked, yes; that's how some sockpuppets are caught.
3. There are always clues; usually the biggest one being their posts.
4. Whenever a banned user tries to view the forum, they show up as being active. I don't think they can see much beyond the main page, but in the case of temporary bans (such as the 2-day one that comes from accumulating 10 infraction points) they may be trying to log on towards the end of that period.

 

[IslandWalker]

Thanks for the help. Looks like my theory turned out to be true. Thanks!

 

[Ivysaur]

In this case of this particular "user", then yes, it was a spambot, only it was banned before it managed to post anything. Aside from IPs, spambots can also be detected before they post through their Email, which are sometimes listed on StopForumSpam.

 

[Satoshi-chan]

As the others have said, this was indeed a spambot. It has two posts, both of which were deleted so it's showing 0 posts for this user. That's what we do with all spambots, delete all their posts and blogs before we ban them.

Both of this user's posts were in Chinese, and were advertising various products.