8 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}
8 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}

SPAM in contact forms

by simontts
6 replies
Hi

I wasn't sure what the best forum to post this question on. I have been getting an increasing amount of SPAM via my contact forms (they all have captcha). It's pure gobbledegook:

name: bbbyyiuinmj
email: kekeoo@mwmmewm
message: delk4ekdp4k4kpo4

etc.

It's easy enough to delete but I was wondering whether there is anything more sinister at play because honestly, I just don't see the point of it - it's not like anyone is trying to promote anything.

Should I be concerned?

Thanks in advance
Simon
#contact #forms #spam
  • Profile picture of the author Manie Amari
    Originally Posted by simontts View Post

    Hi

    I wasn't sure what the best forum to post this question on. I have been getting an increasing amount of SPAM via my contact forms (they all have captcha). It's pure gobbledegook:

    name: bbbyyiuinmj
    email: kekeoo@mwmmewm
    message: delk4ekdp4k4kpo4

    etc.

    It's easy enough to delete but I was wondering whether there is anything more sinister at play because honestly, I just don't see the point of it - it's not like anyone is trying to promote anything.

    Should I be concerned?

    Thanks in advance
    Simon
    Have you enabled your anti-spam fields?

    Also may I suggest enabling preview before messages are sent. This could help thwart spam bots.
    Signature

    This will NOT be up for long. Get it now whilst You still can. Btw it's FREE...
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5441010].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author ExcellBlinds
      Banned
      [DELETED]
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5441756].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author skyline34
        Originally Posted by ExcellBlinds View Post

        You could always have an extra field for anti spam which is a simple question that only humans could answer, something along the lines of "Is fire hot or cold?" and then any answers with "hot" would be successfully sent to your email.
        This worked well for us as well on a few sites, we just asked "How many legs does a cow have?" or "How many letters in the word "Spam".... much better than those awful "type what you see" which are often impossible for legit people to read anyway.
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5442294].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author simontts
    Thanks, I'm less concerned with preventing SPAM and more concerned that the strange nature of these SPAM attempts which aren't promoting anything might be an attempt to hack into my site or something similarly sinister.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5441875].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author joymarino
      Originally Posted by simontts View Post

      Thanks, I'm less concerned with preventing SPAM and more concerned that the strange nature of these SPAM attempts which aren't promoting anything might be an attempt to hack into my site or something similarly sinister.
      I am curious... are they doing it and then getting something for free without having to confirm?

      Based on what you've said so far, I am just wondering how they get to your contact page to give that info and what is to be gained by it (by the spammer).

      Again, still learning a LOT about these things.

      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5441913].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author simontts
    I just have a contact form on my sidebar. No benefit or freebies to the spammer whatsoever in filling out the form which is why I'm a little suspicious - there is not even a promotional link in the spam email.

    I'd really like to know what benefit the spammers gain in using their spam bots in this way.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5442221].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author CyberSEO
    Originally Posted by simontts View Post

    Hi

    I wasn't sure what the best forum to post this question on. I have been getting an increasing amount of SPAM via my contact forms (they all have captcha). It's pure gobbledegook:

    name: bbbyyiuinmj
    email: kekeoo@mwmmewm
    message: delk4ekdp4k4kpo4

    etc.

    It's easy enough to delete but I was wondering whether there is anything more sinister at play because honestly, I just don't see the point of it - it's not like anyone is trying to promote anything.

    Should I be concerned?

    Thanks in advance
    Simon
    No, you shouldn't be concerned at all. These are just bots that found your form and decides to bomb it with their rubbish in hope it's some "comments" or "message wall" form.

    However they could be really annoying. So you can use some protection against them. E.g. add a CAPCHA, or simple "encrypt" your form's HTML using JavaScript (works well against 99% of spam bots).
    Signature
    CyberSEO Pro - the ultimate all-in-one autoblogging WordPress plugin, powered by OpenAI GPT-4, Anthropic Claude, Google Gemini Pro, Midjourney, DALL-E 3 and Stable Diffusion XL
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5442270].message }}

Trending Topics