Hello,

I am fairly new to web design and I recently created my own online storefront which has an order form. Well, as of last week I've been getting spam orders. I've already tried to stop them by blocking the IPs of these spams but they continue coming.

I am wondering if there is a way to block them by including something in the coding of the order form.

All help is greatly appreciated. Thank you very much!

Layoyo

Have you thought of using CAPTCHA - anti-spam images in your order form? If this is being caused by spambots, then that will probably stop them. I don't know the code but you can get someone in the freelance programming forum to code it for you or you can search the net for one.

If the problem is caused by someone messing around (not very likely, but it is possible), then blocking the IP is really all you can do (this might be unsuccessful if the person is using dynamic IP assignment as they may be getting a new IP address everytime they connect to the internet)

I would suggest the Honeypot method of spam control for online ordering. Basically setup another input field but hide it from your users, then when the form is being processed check to make sure that the field is empty, since the majority of spam bots will fill in all the fields.

There are a few issues to consider with the honeypot technique though, but these can be easily resolved, unlike the a CAPTCHA technique which can be annoying for users and might be inaccessible if implemented without alternatives.

Jamie

last week my online contact form keep being spammed. Receive a email every 10 minutes.

what i do is add a javascript, and reques them to answer a question. Bot cant do that.

i also activate boxtrapper and spam assisin. Now they are totally gone.

Yes - answering a simple question is one of the best ways of (potentially) blocking form spam I've seen.

Something like "type hello in the box" and then they must enter hello.

Only thing is I'd be tempted to check it server-side (exclusively, or in addition to javascript) as if you just rely on javascript how does it work for those with it disabled?

I guess it'd either work with no checks, or not work at all... a potential accessibility issue and general usability for some other users too.

CAPTCHA is the best solutions, you can try this free script, its good

http://www.captcha.biz/captcha-explained.html

I think like th eothers have said Captcha is the easiest and BEST way to solve this problem.

Originally Posted by dansgalaxy

I think like th eothers have said Captcha is the easiest and BEST way to solve this problem.

CAPTCHA isn't best because it causes inconvenience to genuine users... it's (usually) inaccessible - which is at best bad practice/immoral, and may also be illegal... depending on who/where is implementing for who/where etc.

To make an accessible version of CAPTCHA usually causes it to be much less effective, and is certainly way harder than some of the alternatives.

The best solutions proposed to this so far are either JamieLewis's or charlesgan's - the former of which would be least intrusive to genuine visitors.

I would recommend implementing JamieLewis's suggestion, and if you still experience a significant amount of spam then try adding charlesgan's to the mix (or a variation of it )

Originally Posted by charlesgan

last week my online contact form keep being spammed. Receive a email every 10 minutes.

what i do is add a javascript, and reques them to answer a question. Bot cant do that.

i also activate boxtrapper and spam assisin. Now they are totally gone.

I would bet your javascript had very little to do with the decline of spam, boxtrapper and spam assassin would have caught the majority. Bots don't run any javascript so they could just make a raw http post and bypass your protection measure.

What is more it means that genuine users who have JavaScript deactivated (increasing slightly) won't be able to use your site.

Jamie

Check your logs and block their IP in the firewall, or, if you don't have access, ask your host to block the IP.

Originally Posted by Layoyo

I've already tried to stop them by blocking the IPs of these spams but they continue coming.

he's doing that but its not effective.

I wonder if the OP will come back and let us know if they've tried any of the suggestions in this thread and if they helped?

nope ¬.¬ i doubt it...


Think happy thoughtd think happy thoughts. think happy thoughts...

i hate people who do exactly this. :P