Is it possible to track a user who uses a VPN?

Question

Hello everyone, good night, I hope you are well!

I am the coordinator of a small forum about game development and we are facing a problem with a particular member. He was banned from flooding, spamming, but started to create several fake accounts to continue accessing the site.

The forum team members and I have to ban this same user every day as he uses the VPN of the Opera browser to circumvent the locks. Unfortunately I do not know what else to do to ban it from the forum permanently, so I'd like to know if it's possible to get real IP through VPN and track that user.

The individual is a minor and we just want to find out who their parents are and let them know what's going on. If it helps, the forum uses the SMF system, version 2.0.15, however any method of tracking would be welcome.

Thanks for the attention, guys. o/

Answer 1

@NOOB I know that it uses a VPN because I have access to the forum's administration boards and I can see the IPs it uses and the browser in question. I have already contacted the Opera team, but they would hardly provide the actual IP of a client without my having legal support for it. The same goes for his internet provider. In fact I'm not an expert in the field, so I'm asking for help here. :D

Answer 2

You'd have to ask the VPN provider and they won't give you the IP easily. Some of them don't even keep logs so they literally can't.
Even if you have the IP you won't get his name, you'd have to ask the guy's internet service provder for that and they won't tell you anything either unless you have legal support.

You can IP-ban his VPN. Alternatively, here's a tried and trusted method to deal with forum trolls: Don't mention their name, quietly clean up after his stuff. in a week he will be bored and stop.

Answer 3

@Schindlabua We are banning for IP, but since the VPN it uses is the internal Opera browser, other members who use the same browser are already being affected. In all, more than 150 IPs were banned. :(

@Gus E I do not think it's possible to ban a MAC address, but I'll search on it.

Thank you both for the answers and excuse me for the bad english. :D

Answer 4

@Gus E But in that case it would only be possible on the local network, right? Because I do not even have how to get the MAC of that user or information about his machine (such as serial number of the motherboard etc) that could be useful. My only contact with him is through the forum.

Answer 5

you can get an IP trace through a VPN although it is exceedingly difficult why don't you just ban his Mac address

Answer 6

@NOOB As I already said, we are banning / deactivating all the accounts that the member creates. The point is to prevent him from creating new ones. And I do not know what you mean by the last sentence.

Answer 7

it's actually fairly easy to ban a Mac address you just have to do it through your router security settings

Answer 8

Why don't you just deactivate his account? Yes, MAC addresses only work in the local network. Stop spreading such half-knowledge.

Answer 9

How do you even know he's using a VPN? Just contact the VPN provider. By that I mean that many people spread their garbage on the Internet (not you) although they have no idea.

Answer 10

What about reviewing all new accounts before they're allowed to post? I know it's sounds like a lot of work but perhaps a script could be inplimented to help with reviewing.