Targeted paywall bypasses by Russian entities? (4th occurrence)
Has anyone else noticed specific, high-frequency paywall bypasses that seem targeted rather than random?
I’ve had a specific post bypassed four times now. Based on my analytics, the traffic is consistently Russian and specifically focused on one piece of material (a historical military "Black Spot" patch). I’ve set the price point high (around $40), yet they are consistently finding a way through the paywall without a transaction record.
I’m curious if anyone else is dealing with:
Sophisticated scraping: Bypassing the paywall entirely without leaving a "subscriber" footprint.
Region-specific targeting: Persistent interest from Russian IPs despite geoblocking attempts.
Content-specific interest: If you have niche or historical content, have you seen this kind of "intelligence-gathering" behavior?
I’m currently treating this as a security breach rather than standard piracy. If anyone has seen similar exploits or has tips on hardening the paywall against these specific actors, I’d appreciate the insight.