Spammers Spamming My Forms

[MommyEnterprises]

I am going nuts. I normally get these spam form submissions daily but they are going crazy with them now. I even deleted one of the forms and I am still getting these weird submissions. ARGH!

[lindastacy]

Most form spam is submitted through a script designed to automatically send the spam and there are ways to combat it.

In your case, the reason you're still getting spam from the form you deleted is because once the script gathers the necessary information it can continue to send the details even if you delete the form. To stop it, you also need to delete or move the file(s) that process your form on your server. (If you look at a the HTML for your form, there will be code containing form method= - either get or post - followed by form action - a URL to your script.)

**Don't remove the form processing file if other forms on your site are using it. Rename it or move it and make sure you update all your website forms.

Renaming the file is a temporary fix. The spammers will find the new information and start spamming you again.

One more permanent solution is adding a CAPTCHA to each form. (A CAPTCHA is a randomly generated text strings that the user has to correctly enter in order to submit the form - spam scripts can't handle them). There are several scripts available that you can probably find via a Google search. It's been a long time since I've used one, but when I did, I used http://www.protectwebform.com/

CAPTCHA's can dissuade some users from completing forms so don't use them on any that are highly important (for example a lead capture form).

Another permanent solution is a form script with built in security features, including the ability to thwart the spam scripts. Again, there are many available. I like Master From V4
http://www.willmaster.com/software/formV4/
(not an affiliate link)

These solutions won't stop human spammers from filling out your forms, but they'll stop the vast majority of the spam because most comes from automatic scripts.

[Ron Killian]

The only bad thing with Capthcha is that those pesky spam bots can read the image, least some.

The most effective form of spam protection I've used is a simple question, like a math question, what is 3 + 4? for example. I've gotten zero spam since using it, for quite some time actually. I'm not going to say it will always stop the spam forever, but it's worked great so far.

[AlexNewell]

I had similar issues a coupla years ago. I set up a forum to help my Internet Marketing members and got piles of **** being dumped in there.

I wish I'd know what you two guys have advised here. I ended up deleting the forum.

It's odd how lawless a place the Internet seems. You can be arrested for dumping litter but dumping **** on the internet is not on the authorites radar.

I heard Ed Dale raging against internet censorship. it can't come soon enough for me!

Alex

[Oregon Coast Guy]

[terrapin719]

[Learning]

[Ron Killian]

I should have just posted the math thing before:



Has worked wonders for me so far.

[Learning]

Thanks so much for this Ron. I will be uploading and activating it on my blog.
Blessings,
Eren

[Learning]

For some reason the math plugin is giving my site an error when in the comments section. I have no idea why
But I'll try to find a way to add it to my site without giving it an error.
thanks anyways
Eren

[allmylovecrafts]

We also went to the PHPBB3 & have had no problems.

The version 3 is getting much better to work with in the last couple of months.

The Captcha does help some.

But we did end up shutting down some older boards because the spam just grew no matter what.

I see many of the boards I used to visit are closing for the same reason.

Sheryl Loch

[Ron Killian]

[Ron Killian]