Forum problem regarding bogus topics

[BlackIP2]

We seem to be being increasingly targeted by scammers on the forum. Is there anything the tech team can do to purge it please, or perhaps shut down the forum briefly to put them off?
I have stopped looking at anything on the forum at the moment as there is clearly something going on that is not right.
The scam the Guzzi club had on its forum earlier in the year was triggered by accessing a bogus topic which then froze your computer and a screen message popped up demanding a fee to reinstate it.

[site admin]

Hi,
Please can you point me in the right direction
Graham.

[johnbirchjar]

Hi Graham,looks like they have progressed from "General Discussions" to "Technical"J.B.

[johnbirchjar]

Hi Graham,seems like you have "Done your thing" and dispatched the "Gremlins",many thanks,rgds,J.B.

[johnbirchjar]

Ooops,looks like I spoke to soon, they'r back ,J.B.

[kanonkopdrinker]

Hi all,

We are being hit by bogus attempts to join the forum to the tune of several 100s a day!!

Unfortunately, any genuine attempt to join is unlikely to be spotted and can often get deleted along with all the other bogus ones; for that reason, I often ask a member to advise me if they are attempting to join the forum so that I can look out for their entry especially.

David