How Can I Stop Spam from Contact Form WordPress?

17 replies
I use a couple of different contact form plugins on my wp sites so which one doesn't seem to matter. The form works just fine for real contact attempts from real people. But, for every 1 contact form submission, I get another 15 or so fake submissions to my email. Somehow these seemingly automated scripts are sending through the contact form using its fields but yet the fake submissions do NOT get recorded in the database. They come into my email with the same subject line and question headings that I ask for in the plugin settings like:

Here's an example:

From: hogan sito ufficiale
Email: iuogva@(i removed email)
Phone: hogan sito ufficiale

Message:
<a href="http://www.(iremovedurl).com
outlet.asp">hogan
olympia uomo</a> <a href="http://www.(iremovedurl).com

Any idea how to stop these? I get usually about 50 a day.
#contact #form #spam #stop #wordpress
  • Profile picture of the author CynthiaC
    Try using captcha

    That should cut down the spam.
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  • Profile picture of the author Hossain
    You can use a paid CAPTCHA service. Alternatively there are lots of free plugins (like this WordPress › Captcha « WordPress Plugins) available which will let you sleep seamlessly at night. I said by by to my nightmares by installing a plugin which makes the bots busy with calculating theory of relativity (I pity most of the time they doesn't know e = mc^2)!
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    • Profile picture of the author lerxtjr
      but doesn't a captcha just keep the normal people out from actually completing the form with their spam?

      This is different. Some automated script is going around the form, sending the form contents, but the contents never hits the form database. It just somehow comes into my email like 10 at a time.
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  • Profile picture of the author Tim Franklin
    Yes, Bots, they are a major pain, check your server logs because if you are seeing this kind of activity its a good bet they are trying to get into your wordpress installation.

    I found a server just yesterday where someone gained access and redirected the main page using an .htaccess, when I looked at the server logs I saw a few things that was not only surprising but alarming.
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    • Profile picture of the author lerxtjr
      hmm, so what does one do to stop bots? and stop their scripts from sending me 15 emails through the contact form?
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  • Profile picture of the author ManFromUncle
    I simply used Askimet, the plugin which is already on wordpress upon installation. The Key they want can be gotten for free.

    Failing that, I use the Facebook commenting system. Whilst it doesn't control swearing I find I receive less spam by using it.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jdunhin
    Try this Stop Spammer Registrations Plugin or the captcha.

    But first try Akismet the plugin that is on every wordpress install.
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  • Profile picture of the author ali2mdj
    I would recommend you to use any captcha plugin. For contact form 7(wp plugin) use plugin named "Really simple Captcha" this will definitely cut down the spam.
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  • Profile picture of the author Tim Franklin
    It is a challenge, I have tried so many different plugins, none of them really work well to prevent the comments from being posted to the que, (you can shut off the email notification but that is only sticking your head in the sand)

    One week with askimet installed, I saw 324 spam messages come into the Que.

    Registration, Yep another bone of contention, you can turn off registrations and some how they seem to figure out how to do it anyway, (sometimes it may be in the theme, others you have to manually edit the files,; but they can still get in)

    If you run multiple wordpress websites, this can really drain your time, just dealing with fake registrations, spam, not to mention this kind of thing tends to draw out the hackers.

    I just got tired of spending so much time trying to deal with all the issues, So I found a very simple solution, I created a plugin, that I am using in my network of wordpress blogs, and now I have much more time to do what I really want to do.

    So far (still testing it out)

    I have not seen any registrations and zero spam messages, (posted to the Que)

    I did run into one website that was using an older copy of a theme, they were able to post, three messages, so nothing is 100%

    But to go from hundreds of messages to three in one week, thats a good thing.
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  • Profile picture of the author laurencewins
    I had that issue and deleted the register link so I can log in but nobody else can. That solved it fully.
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  • Profile picture of the author moshirait
    i often use difficult captra
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  • Profile picture of the author iklangratis
    I have same problem too
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  • Profile picture of the author Humbee360
    I have started deleting Akismet, they changed a while back, the free service really was not producing much in the way of quality results. Sorry, I know there are a lot of fans here but in my experience, unless you (Pay to Play) your not going to get the result you want, so for the past year, I have been (NOT) using Akismet and I found something interesting as a side effect, when I started to delete the Akismet plugin and started using my own custom plugins, the largest part of the spam stopped.

    Makes you wonder, if the spammers are targeting blogs that have this installed, )

    I will qualify that statement with the qualifier, that I am using protection, LOL, .

    Just not akismet.
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  • Profile picture of the author peterachutha
    I just began marketing a new Contact Form and its on offer at http://www.warriorforum.com/warrior-...wordpress.html. You could try the 30 Day Free Version and let me know how it works. It is not installed as a WordPress plugin. Bots should not be able to post spam due to captcha and also need click on a confirmation link sent to their email address. I have been using it on my WordPress site and my other PHP sites for about less than a year.

    If you need any help let me know.
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  • Profile picture of the author annabelle123
    using the captcha or verification and conformation for mail set to your wordpress theme and apply all the form pages.
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  • Profile picture of the author wondercoder
    The best way to use capcha which is not just an image but having moving characters or random questions.
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