Thank you, Robert! So to recap (and some lingering questions in-line):

• Definitely Install Akismet
• Definitely Enable "Can pass moderation"
  • I'm curious about the note on the Dashboard > Forum >Tools page that says, "This control don't affect users whose Usergroup has "Can edit member" and "Can pass moderation" permissions." Do both of those need to be set for this control not to affect them? Or just either one. I'm guessing from your replies that it would need to be both, but that's unclear on the page.
• Set "User is New (under hard spam control) during first [x] posts" to 1
  • Will this mean they are forced into moderation for first post? Or just harder scrutiny by spam filters
• Set Spam Suspicion Levels for Topics and posts to 10
  • What do these numbers mean?
  • WHat's the maximum and minimum?
  • And does a higher number mean more scrutiny or less? It's hard to know.
  •  

Thanks!

Maybe it is better to "block" spammers in login/register level than later. Works for me great.

Let me know if you need more details.

Will this mean they are forced into moderation for first post? Or just harder scrutiny by spam filters

The first post will be under hard suspicion and scan. It doesn't mean all first posts of all new users will be set unapproved.

• What do these numbers mean?
• WHat's the maximum and minimum?
• And does a higher number mean more scrutiny or less? It's hard to know.

These numbers starts from 1 to 100. It's the spam suspicion level. If the number is high wpForo Spam control suspicion is also high and it'll set topics and posts as unaproved when it finds some small issue.