Probably a bot. There is a spamming script which signs up to forums and pm's all the members. If you use phpBB 3.0.6 you can activate the newly registered members group and disable them from sending PM's until that post a certain amount in order to be dropped out of that group. That is what we use here and we have not been hit by any mass PM spammer.
Most bot scripts can get past email activation and the default CATPCHA of softwares. That is why you need to make your registration different and unique.
IP blocks tend to be useless as they change IP's quite often. If it was a human then IP bans might be more beneficial but it terms of spam bots they discard and change IP's often as there is so many available for them to use.
If its a bot, there's always a person behind it who has programmed it, so if a forum isn't responding, the bot will most likely be configured to move one, otherwise it would be wasting its time.
Actually changing IP is as simple as a click of a button (reset router). 🙂
Incorrect, I don't think there is a way past reCaptcha which is what I have on my board, so I am guessing they are using an auto-form filler which Internet Explorer has, and it will auto fill any Username, email address fields with the information you want it to with 1 click.
She registered on my board with the name LadyXAdmin.
The username will be changed often. Spam bots don't use the same username for ever. They use it for a short while then change it. As for IP's they probably have a list of proxy IP's that they can use and just use one for a short while and then move on and use another.
The way they enter all the information is shown in this video. It is outdated but it does give you an idea of how a spam bot works and how easy it is - http://www.botmaster.net/movies/XFull.htm
