Can you cheat this poll?
23 Oct 2010
Bones Cancelled Shows Glee Grey's Anatomy NCIS Polls Psych SpoilerTV Article Supernatural True Blood Vampire DiariesAs you may or may not have noticed we had some "hackers" manage to cheat on some polls on the site recently.
They were running the poll though proxy servers to change their IP as well as clearing their cookies out etc
As a result I've been working with the Polldaddy developers to come up with better "cheat" detection.
Can you visit the poll below and see if you can vote more than once. Check the message after you have voted.
Please first vote for NO and then try to vote for YES
It should say "Thank you for voting" when it has registered you vote
or "We have already counted" your vote
If you do manage to vote more than once, can you take us through the steps you did to cheat in the comments below :)
I voted no. I closed the page and reopened it. I voted yes and it let me. That's all I did.
ReplyDeleteOpps, double checked. Didn't let me vote twice.
ReplyDeleteFor me it went the same as Judy, my vote wasnt counted twice
ReplyDelete"We have already counted your vote".
ReplyDeleteI pressed no first, then clicked return to poll and pressed yes. No message came up just the result. x
ReplyDeleteSame for me - I admittedly have more time on my hands than the average person, but WHY WOULD I WANT TO CHEAT???? That guy needs serious help.
ReplyDeleteNo problems with it for me. I voted once and when I tried again it told me that it already counted my vote :)
ReplyDeleteThat B_Dawn who commented earlier sounds suspiciously like 'he who shall not be named' to me. Anyone else get that vibe?
ReplyDeleteI guess I can, but only if I kinda cheat and erase cookies or whatever. If I act like a good girl, the "thank you, we've already counted your vote" message appears on the screen.
ReplyDeleteForgive me for being thick but....
ReplyDeleteIf a poll can be fixed then *anyone* can fix it so it could still be fair in terms of percentage. Is there a reason why fans of A would be more likely/able to cheat than fans of B?
Only the first time works for me.
ReplyDeleteHa lol
ReplyDeleteThis is bogus! "No" is WAY too far ahead. "Yes" is obviously the better character but, somehow, all the "No" fanboys have found a way to circumvent the... wait...
ReplyDeletewhat are we doing again?
Are you sure? Not seen any new votes from your IP.
ReplyDeleteWhat does the message say at the top of the poll when you revote?
OK, I was trying to vote many times. And I succeeded. It was just enough to refresh the page.
ReplyDeleteNo, when I tried to vote again it said "thanks, we've already counted your vote". I left the page and came back, tried to vote again, and it says same thing - vote already counted.
ReplyDeleteIOW - it just let me vote twice once. LOL
Nice Dark, I couldn't vote again. :)
ReplyDeleteI hope this will help for future competition and we will not have another Summer Glau episode :)
Thank you, we have already counted your vote.
ReplyDeleteThanks pat, are you able to vote again?
ReplyDeleteI was able to vote twice. First I voted no. Then I went to another URL. Then I came back to this URL and voted yes. It let me vote both times and counted my vote both times.
ReplyDeleteI dont understand what all the fuzz is about.
ReplyDeleteThe PollDaddy exploits have already been fixed way back when it was possible to vote again by reading out javascript values etc.
The only option to vote again is: delete cookie, close browser(new session), new ip (proxy or reconnect whatever).
Which was the case with the SummerGlau polls.
The only possibilityto catch "cheaters" is some kind of automatic check for certain patterns.
For example: 1 vote each x minute(s) via the same ISP/IP-range.
That means PollDaddy would have to log every IP as cleartext, but i guess they dont for security-reasons.
Other than that, you shouldnt underestimate the power of /tv/ & /b/ when it comes to "Summer Glau" :D
She made it far in the EW "Sexy Beast" contest, even though the cheating over there only started during the last 2 polls.
I don't seem to be able to get any more than one. But I'm no whizz :P
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone for helping test this. Much appreciated all
ReplyDeleteGave me the "already counted" message.
ReplyDeleteAm I right in thinking this is about the massive amount of votes for that firefly character?
ReplyDeleteAlso couldn't vote again, though when I'm at uni I might be able to, as there are multiple proxies set up for the uni.
Nop, like always when I voted the second option (No) said "Thank you, we have already counted your vote"
ReplyDeleteCheers :)
ReplyDeleteI did as you asked and it said that they have already counted my vote ;)
ReplyDeleteJust emailed you. I'm on a proxy right now though, and just successfully voted yes again. That's the first of 10 you requested, and it made #64 at 12:14 pm.
ReplyDeleteSure; so damn tedious though. Usually only use proxies to watch youtube vids blocked in my country (not to dupe online polls) ;)
ReplyDeleteI just tried to vote again but it didn't let me. The first time I clicked return to poll then selected yes and it worked, then when I did it again it said "we have already counted your vote"
ReplyDeleteIt let me vote for both :s
ReplyDeleteVote only counted once =)
ReplyDeleteIt let me cheat, twice. Switched proxies an additional time and voted "yes" again just to be sure.
ReplyDeleteDid you check what the poll message said after you voted?
ReplyDeleteI didn't see any new votes
I can. I just refreshed the page and voted again.
ReplyDeletecouldn't cheat :)
ReplyDeleteI did as you asked and it said that they have already counted my vote.
ReplyDeleteHa, we should be starting it again next week hopefully.
ReplyDeleteThanks
ReplyDeleteAh cool :)
ReplyDeleteYep, I've been away, i was wondering where the heck is the final :)
ReplyDeleteIt worked with me, I could only vote once.
ReplyDeleteActually it didn't let me vote more than twice after trying third time.
ReplyDeleteYep, you obviously missed all the drama :)
ReplyDeleteDark, does this have anything to do with River Tam and the insane number of votes she got in all the poles?
ReplyDeleteThanks for trying
ReplyDeleteI couldn't do it. Started with voting no, then reset Safari. That didn't work. Then I tried changing to an old pc I have lying about. Still couldn't do it. But my IP connection isn't dynamic and I know nothing about cheating internet polls. ;)
ReplyDeleteOh, and private browsing didn't do me any good.
Ha true ;) We'll making it as hard as possible for them ;)
ReplyDeleteI doubt anything is really impossible :P
ReplyDeletePeter, can you email me so I can go through with you your exact steps etc
ReplyDeletedarkufo@spoilertv.com
The only problem with this poll is the fact that it'll be the same people as usual who vote in the poll...if Someone (like that one guy who is not allowed here anymore I presume) could hack the poll why would he tell anyone about it? lol
ReplyDeleteTrue, that's why we're trying to make it impossible for people running bots :)
ReplyDeleteThing is, it only takes one computer genius to ruin a whole competition ):
ReplyDeleteCool :)
ReplyDeleteIt looks like worst case you can maybe vote twice.
I tried it and now it says: "We have already counted your vote". Good job, DarkUFO. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Wilson
ReplyDeleteOK I tried all the ways I'd attempt to break it but I couldn't.
ReplyDeleteworking on chrome with incognito as well, only 1 time tho
ReplyDeleteUsing mobile broadband just wipe history/cookies and then disconnect and reconnect again to your provider. They give you a new ip address each time so was able to vote yes every time I tried (5 or 6).
ReplyDeleteCan you try to add around 10+ votes
ReplyDeleteI've managed to cheat it with Firefox's Private Browsing.
ReplyDeleteNope, everything fine, said you 'we already counted your vote' the second time.
ReplyDeleteCan you try to add another 10+ votes
ReplyDeleteHey guys so I did as asked and after i cleaned cookies I could vote again and again (I tried this method twice).
ReplyDelete;) Hopefully you'll fix it soon. Good luck.
No i couldn't, i even tried using a proxy just for testing and it didn't work.
ReplyDelete"Thank you, we have already counted your vote" (but I didn't try to change IP, clean cookies or anything like that...).
ReplyDeleteThank you, we have already counted your vote> this the second time!
ReplyDeleteThanks and don't worry. Most people are not computer geniuses :)
ReplyDeleteAlright, for me the poll is save, couldn't vote twice. BUT: I'm not a computer genius, jfyi :p
ReplyDeletewell I managed to vote twice, not more than that after a quick test tho
ReplyDeletewell, i definitely cant
ReplyDeleteHa lol, no worries.
ReplyDeleteI don't think you're the only one ;)
whooooooooooop i did it i pressed yes the 1st time
ReplyDeleteOMG I can! ? what the hell it but it says : thank you we have already counted your vote..
ReplyDeletemaybe someone vted at the same time "yes" aahaa
Edit: I can't do it again though
Yes I can. Tried it a couple of times, every time it counts my vote. But I didn't do anything.... strange.....
ReplyDeleteI cleared everything and it still only counted my vote once. Best wishes on your project!
ReplyDeleteIt only let me vote once. And for the record, people who cheat at polls suck!
ReplyDeleteI meant to add that I was able to vote again the second time by doing this.
ReplyDeleteI emptied my internet cache, deleted my cookies and deleted my history of visiting this page. I normally don't do this on polls, but I know how.
ReplyDeleteIt's OK now. It wrote "Thank you, we have already counted your vote"
ReplyDeleteI'm not smart enough to know how to cheat. Not sure how many other people are either. I guess if everyone were given the steps to cheat then it would be fair, but it's an internet poll. Who has time to do that?
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I could only vote once. Just like always.
Bruce, you always make me laugh. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI did what was asked and I got "Thanks, we already counted your vote." :)
ReplyDeleteIt tells me my vote is already counted, so I feel it works. :-)
ReplyDeleteworked as expected for me.
ReplyDeleteNo problem at all. Thumbs Up!
ReplyDeleteWell evidently some people *do* know and *are* sad enough to have the time to cheat: otherwise this experiment wouldn't be necessary!
ReplyDeleteI can vote as many times as I want as far as it conserns the "No" part....
ReplyDeleteHa lol. I quite understand.
ReplyDeleteIn fact could you email me instead at darkufo@spoilertv.com so I can
try a little experiment.
Ah cool, thanks for checking.
ReplyDeleteCan you try to vote again. Check the message at the top of the poll
ReplyDeleteafter you have voted
Can you see if you can add another 10 votes or so
ReplyDeleteCan you try to vote another 10 times to see if it stops you
ReplyDeleteYes, I could vote twice.
ReplyDeleteAdded another 10 there using same method as above. Worked every time.
ReplyDeleteAdded another 10 there using same method as above. Worked every time.
ReplyDeleteI did as you asked and I got the "thank you, we have already counted your vote" :)
ReplyDeleteI did as you asked and I got the "thank you, we have already counted your vote" :)
ReplyDeleteHopefully if all goes well, Adam will be able to get it going early next week.
ReplyDeleteSounds good to me. Any idea when this competition will be up and running again?
ReplyDeleteYep, but this is the best we can do unfortunately. I've tried running
ReplyDeletesome bots that change my IP and clear cookies and they cannot revote.
We're never going to stop all "cheating" as people can go to their
neighbors house and vote etc etc What we're trying to do is to stop
people writing scripts/bots that they can leave unattended that vote
every few seconds and generate 100's of votes and distort the polls
totally.
Cool :)
ReplyDeleteSaid thanks for your vote second time..it works.
ReplyDeleteThere is a return to poll button at the bottom that lets you keep on voting
ReplyDeleteHmm, can you add another 10+ votes when you get a chance. We're trying
ReplyDeleteto monitor things
Thanks, good stuff :)
ReplyDeleteNo, you'll be fine. If you do, let me know as I know the development team.
ReplyDeleteFeel free to email me with what you are trying,
hey man can I get banned from PollDaddy if I try something?
ReplyDeleteCould you email me mate and let me know how you managed it
ReplyDeleteProbably just someone voting yes at the same time as you. As long as
ReplyDeleteit says " thank you we have already counted your vote" then we are ok
:)
Excellent :)
ReplyDeleteI did what you asked and the second time it came up with 'thank you, we have already counted your vote'
ReplyDeleteThanks Judy, nice one.
ReplyDeleteI did as you asked and it said that they have already counted my vote. So no problems with it on my end.
ReplyDelete"Thank you, we have already counted your vote."
ReplyDeleteCannot cheat it :)
I was able to vote twice by pressing the return to poll button below the poll.
ReplyDeleteThank you, we have already counted your vote.
ReplyDeleteI can't cheat this poll ;D
Its letting me vote over and over again....
ReplyDeleteHa, first I thought the hacking was done by those boards too, but apparently it was only that guy in a lot of polls that seemed to be a lot of people hacking.
ReplyDelete