Ban, flag as spammer, delete

[Gareth F]

Hi guys

I've got a forum where membership is limited to local practitioners. We ask a bunch of questions on our registration page that help us determine if people applying are appropriate - every membership is manually approved.

I get a reasonable number of spam requests, and have always wondered what the best combination of ban, flag as spammer, and delete is. In the past I have just deleted the account, but wonder if there is a better way? Should I mark as spam first, then delete? Does it not really matter?

 

[Square Wheels]

I do something similar to you.  I have a challenge question, ReCaptcha and one question asking about their profession.  I have email verification and admin approval on.  I prohibit hotmail accounts.  I have 11k members, and rarely does a spammer get in.  I don't delete the spammers, I know email addresses are a dime a dozen, but just in case they try again with the same email address.