Contact form problem - getting loads of spam

I have been getting about 20 -30 spam messages a day since last week - and the site is not promoted anywhere yet.

I don't understand the mentality of the senders as the content is just jibberish - and only about half the messages have any links in them.

Has anyone else been experiencing this - or more to the point, anyone any ideas or any suggestions how to stop it
(probably difficult if they are physically completing the form).

TIA

pewe:

I have been getting about 20 -30 spam messages a day since last week - and the site is not promoted anywhere yet.

I don't understand the mentality of the senders as the content is just jibberish - and only about half the messages have any links in them.

Has anyone else been experiencing this - or more to the point, anyone any ideas or any suggestions how to stop it
(probably difficult if they are physically completing the form).

TIA

Is it always the same IP? If so, you may want to try and block that IP in cPanel or equivalent.

frank18:

Is it always the same IP? If so, you may want to try and block that IP in cPanel or equivalent.

I thought about that - but unfortunately the spam is from different IP's over a wide range.
Not sure how so many people found the form at the same time - must be a spam club.

I may have to just remove the contact form completely and ask visitors to e-mail enquiries.
But I suppose spammers would just find the e-mail address and use that instead.

Why are there so many irritating juveniles on the web????

Are you using one of Picaflor Azul templates by chance or one using the mega menu?

countrycharm:

Are you using one of Picaflor Azul templates by chance or one using the mega menu?

I use the Picaflor Stirling Grand Responsive Template - does the template used contribute to the issue?

pewe:

I use the Picaflor Stirling Grand Responsive Template - does the template used contribute to the issue?

No, the template has nothing to do with the fact that you are getting spam. None of the contact us related files have even been touched in this template package.

I would recommend installing the google recaptcha module.

Thanks,

Anne

Which version of ZC are you using?

picaflor-azul:

No, the template has nothing to do with the fact that you are getting spam. None of the contact us related files have even been touched in this template package.

I would recommend installing the google recaptcha module.

Thanks,

Anne

Anne - I assumed the template would not be a contributor :hug:- but wondered why countrycharm asked the question. I will have a look at installing the recaptcha modue as today I've had over 60 spam contacts - all from different ip addresses using different e-mail addresses etc.

Design75 - I'm using v1.51

pewe:

Anne - I assumed the template would not be a contributor :hug:- but wondered why countrycharm asked the question. I will have a look at installing the recaptcha modue as today I've had over 60 spam contacts - all from different ip addresses using different e-mail addresses etc.

Design75 - I'm using v1.51

I asked the question because some of Anne's template uses the Mega Menu and a lot of spam emails comes through the contact us form.
Let me make it clear, it has nothing to do with Anne's template but comes from the mega menu. I didn't mean for it to apply if was coming from your template Anne sorry about that.

Here is the solution I use to keep from getting all the spam.

http://www.zen-cart.com/showthread.php?195520-Abbington-Mega-Template-Support-Thread&p=1185194#post1185194

countrycharm:

I asked the question because some of Anne's template uses the Mega Menu and a lot of spam emails comes through the contact us form.
Let me make it clear, it has nothing to do with Anne's template but comes from the mega menu. I didn't mean for it to apply if was coming from your template Anne sorry about that.

The mega menu does not send spam. If you get spam through any of your forms you might want to take steps like adding recaptcha.

Thanks,

Anne

picaflor-azul:

The mega menu does not send spam. If you get spam through any of your forms you might want to take steps like adding recaptcha.

Thanks,

Anne

Just any case I added the solution from chadderuski post from the Abbington Mega Template thread in the above post.

Ive added Google recaptcha to the contact us form which all works OK

BUT

on the menu bar the drop down contact form does not contain the recaptcha code box (although when the form is submitted the contact form page is returned with errors asking for the code.)

I need to now find how I get the recaptcha box into the drop down form.
Any clues that'll save me a bit of time looking for the place to put the code would be appreciated.:P

Thanks

countrycharm:

Just any case I added the solution from chadderuski post from the Abbington Mega Template thread in the above post.

Before adding recaptcha, test that your contact us file is actually using the updated version. Those versions will have the antispam field hidden. So if it doesn't have that field then just merge it in comparing it to a stock file. If it does have it, disable inline styles and test that the antispam field is working by putting anything in. I would do this before going the recaptcha route as you don't want it to be a pain for customers to do an extra step.

yaritai:

Before adding recaptcha, test that your contact us file is actually using the updated version. Those versions will have the antispam field hidden. So if it doesn't have that field then just merge it in comparing it to a stock file. If it does have it, disable inline styles and test that the antispam field is working by putting anything in. I would do this before going the recaptcha route as you don't want it to be a pain for customers to do an extra step.

I agree with you but it not me having the problem's, it's pewe. If he reads the post I post with the link he will know how to fix the mega menu contact us form on the menu.

http://www.zen-cart.com/showthread.php?195520-Abbington-Mega-Template-Support-Thread&p=1185194#post1185194

Thanks for your advise very informative.

countrycharm:

I agree with you but it not me having the problem's, it's pewe. If he reads the post I post with the link he will know how to fix the mega menu contact us form on the menu.

http://www.zen-cart.com/showthread.php?195520-Abbington-Mega-Template-Support-Thread&p=1185194#post1185194

Thanks for your advise very informative.

Sorry about that I knew it wasn't you, just clicked the wrong quote button.

pewe:

Ive added Google recaptcha to the contact us form which all works OK

BUT

on the menu bar the drop down contact form does not contain the recaptcha code box (although when the form is submitted the contact form page is returned with errors asking for the code.)

I need to now find how I get the recaptcha box into the drop down form.
Any clues that'll save me a bit of time looking for the place to put the code would be appreciated.:P

Thanks

Let me ask you something. Is the mega menu contact us dropdown needed? Personally I am not a fan of the mega menu and certainly not of the form being in a dropdown. So if it isn't maybe disabling it to a link to the contact page would be better? I will admit that I have never looked at how the code is set for it so can't answer your question on why it isn't showing. But I will take a look at it and see what may be a better fix than recaptcha.

I'll just chip in briefly with my experience:
I too had heaps of spam emails via contact us. I too use one of Anne's awesome templates which has the mega menu. I too tried captcha. I also decided it may have been one too many hoops for the customer. I added the anti-spam snippet to the mega menu contact code (spam decreased but did not cease). So I then went with the option of removing the contact drop down from the mega menu. I didn't remove it from the menu, I simply removed the drop down. Now the customer can still see 'contact us' in the header but clicking takes them to the proper contact page.
Result: No spam at all since (to date).

picandnix:

I'll just chip in briefly with my experience:
I too had heaps of spam emails via contact us. I too use one of Anne's awesome templates which has the mega menu. I too tried captcha. I also decided it may have been one too many hoops for the customer. I added the anti-spam snippet to the mega menu contact code (spam decreased but did not cease). So I then went with the option of removing the contact drop down from the mega menu. I didn't remove it from the menu, I simply removed the drop down. Now the customer can still see 'contact us' in the header but clicking takes them to the proper contact page.
Result: No spam at all since (to date).

Thanks picandnix

I'll try your suggestion and see how it goes.

I liked the option for a quick form from the menu, but using recaptcha was not a clean solution.
Apart from the fact it looked ugly on the drop down form (too wide and also not nice to look at), it also screwed the mobile version as the recaptcha didn't show - which meant that a form would not submit even from the full contact page.

pewe:

I have been getting about 20 -30 spam messages a day since last week - and the site is not promoted anywhere yet.

I don't understand the mentality of the senders as the content is just jibberish - and only about half the messages have any links in them.

Has anyone else been experiencing this - or more to the point, anyone any ideas or any suggestions how to stop it
(probably difficult if they are physically completing the form).

TIA

Started this response earlier, but didn't hit send. Have read through all of the posts to the point of making this one.

The gibberish basically is an attempt to try to break the software and gain access to things that are desired for them not to be able to reach. Typically in Zc1.5.1 (default install anyways) there is a sort of validation check that is done and if the requirements are met the message is allowed to go through. Some templates do not offer that functionality right off the bat, and it is possible that an upgrade was not fully performed and the extra functionality would be missing.

The mega menu is missing the zC1.5.1 anti-spam catch that country charm was referencing. Another solution offered elsewhere was to keep the contact us form drop down, but to feed the resulting information into the contact us form that is normally seen and then to have the customer click submit. Both forms had the "secret field" and spam was significantly reduced. I've implemented the zc1.5.1 field on the mega-menu drop down and have in the last 8 months only had three spam emails. And when they were received the associated ip address was blocked. Still see hundreds of attempts, but only a very few rare have gotten through.

So no the mega-menu doesn't send spam, but it doesn't prevent it like the default ZC1.5.1+ does. The mega-menu doesn't also recognize the use of the drop down send to option either. (Ie. Problems, product inquiries, general questions, etc...) That too is something I added into the mega-menu dropdown. (Not sure if previous versions of ZC even had that option, and if not is a valid reason for it not to be in the default mega menu to maximize backwards compatibility.)

mc12345678:

Started this response earlier, but didn't hit send. Have read through all of the posts to the point of making this one.

The gibberish basically is an attempt to try to break the software and gain access to things that are desired for them not to be able to reach. Typically in Zc1.5.1 (default install anyways) there is a sort of validation check that is done and if the requirements are met the message is allowed to go through. Some templates do not offer that functionality right off the bat, and it is possible that an upgrade was not fully performed and the extra functionality would be missing.

The mega menu is missing the zC1.5.1 anti-spam catch that country charm was referencing. Another solution offered elsewhere was to keep the contact us form drop down, but to feed the resulting information into the contact us form that is normally seen and then to have the customer click submit. Both forms had the "secret field" and spam was significantly reduced. I've implemented the zc1.5.1 field on the mega-menu drop down and have in the last 8 months only had three spam emails. And when they were received the associated ip address was blocked. Still see hundreds of attempts, but only a very few rare have gotten through.

So no the mega-menu doesn't send spam, but it doesn't prevent it like the default ZC1.5.1+ does. The mega-menu doesn't also recognize the use of the drop down send to option either. (Ie. Problems, product inquiries, general questions, etc...) That too is something I added into the mega-menu dropdown. (Not sure if previous versions of ZC even had that option, and if not is a valid reason for it not to be in the default mega menu to maximize backwards compatibility.)

Just for the record, I would be happy to include any code improvements that you have made and are willing to share with the community in future package updates.

Thanks,

Anne

mc12345678 - if you could share your solutions I'd appreciate it too :D