We are hit with more spammers than I care to count so new accounts also require manual approval. So it's really a matter of showing there's a real human with a valid interest behind the account. If I am unable to determine "Yea" or Nay" for a new account it sits in the queue awaiting moderation. I can sometimes ferret out more details after time passes but if I can't tell there's a human being with an interest in the site the account stays unapproved for *a while*. Eventually I send email to these new accounts requesting a reply with a few relevant details so I know there's a real person there. Finally the account is moved to "banned." I used Banned for these accounts because it's much easier to unban the account than to recreate it from scratch if someone eventually contacts us later.

Think about this: Someone signs up for your EFI forum with username HiBob and email THCForever@ gmail.com. Spammer or not? How do you prove not? How about "BobS" and "BobSmith@ gmail.com" or "1fastZ28" and LS_SWAP_Z@ gmail.com?" Who are you more likely to approve quickly and why or why not?

Interesting to note: People will ignore all attempts to contact them while they are awaiting approval, but they seem to reach out almost instantly if they believe they are "Banned." Maybe I should just send an automated reply after the confirmation email with "You've been Banned!!" to get more responses?