Chronoforms and spam

Hi

ref: http://www.bespokevipsolutions.co.uk/contact-us.html

We are getting alot of spam entries from this form even with the captcha allowed. is there anything we can attempt to stop this?

Thanks, Paul

Hello brocars,
I'm not a Chrono professional, but after checking your new post, I think that the following links may help:
How can I stop spam from my form?
How can I add a HoneyPot spam check?
How can I bypass a Captcha or Anti-Spam check?
P.S: I'm just an automated service😉

Hi Paul,

Please check the first link from Prof Calculus.

Please also check that you have an Event Loop set in the pink On Fail box of ther Check Captcha action.

Bob

I have a lot of Russian spammer despite of Captcha turned on.

I checked if I had Event Loop in pink fail box and I did not. I'll put that there now. I hope that was the reason why, I'll keep you updated.

Hi

I am again having problems with spam and noticed that i do not currently have Event Loops set in the On Fail box.

I'll add these but what option should I select from the Target Event drop down list?

Thanks`, Paul

Hi Paul,

Leave the default - which is the form On Load event and will re-load the form. If you don't want to re-load then you can use a ReDirect action instead to send the user to say, the site home page - or some other url entirely.

Bob

many thanks Bob

Paul

Who can help me?

I have a lot of Russian spammer despite of Captcha turned on.
I checked if I had Event Loop in pink fail box and I did.
Am I something missing?

Hi chrono2015,

Please see this FAQ

Bob

Yes, I saw this link before.
Does this mean I have to use Custom Serverside. If that is the case, where can I find this (I am not familair with this).
Thank you.

Hi chrono2015,

If you are using CFv5 then there is a Server Validation action in the Validation actions group. with a selection of standard validations that you can apply. If you used the Simple Wizard then you may need to change the Setup Mode of the form to Advanced on the General tab to see the Action groups.

The Action should be the first action in the On Submit event of your form and should have an Event Loop or Redirect action added to the pink On Fail event to handle validation fails.

Bob

Thank you Bob for your explanation.
I already changed it.
Let's hope we keep the spammers out.

Hi Bob,
I have several forms experiencing "russian attacks" these days, and I want to add the Server Validation. However, I struggle to understand exactly what to enter in the action. You mention standard validations here, and I want to check for any http:// or maybe phone number more than 8 digits etc. Could you give me som hints? I have already added the Server Validation as the first action (before Check Google Recaptcha?) in the On Submit event and the Event Loop in the On Fail.

Best regards.
JanK

Hi JanK,

Did you try the "Event switcher" action ?

You can check any number of fields using PHP code and return the event name you want to run.

Best regards,
Max

Thanks Max, problem is that I'm not into using PHP code.. ;-(

But any suggestions to help me along to a solution would be appreciated. These russians keep bombing my forms with URLs, russian offers, long texts and a lot of rubbish... If I could stop posting URLs in one or several fields, I think it would stop most of these posts, but my abilities in using PHP code stops me..

Best regards,
JanK

HI JanK,

What are the names of the inputs where you want to check for 'http' ?

Bob

Hi Bob,
That could be "Adresse" or "Tilleggsinformasjon", that's address and additional information in English, where they often publish URLs or something in Russian..

Any suggestions?

Best regards,
JanK

Hi JanK,

Use an Event Switcher action with just one event called say 'spam' and add code like this

<?php
$inputs_to_check = array(
  'Adresse,'
  'Tilleggsinformasjon',
);
foreach ( $inputs_to_check as $input ) {
  $text = $form->data[$input];
  if ( preg_match('/[А-Яа-яЁё]/u', $text) || strpos($text, 'http') !== false ) {
   return 'spam';
  }
}
?>

Not tested and may need debugging!!!

You can add a ReDirect action in the spam event, or just a Show Stopper action to prevent any further processing.

Bob

Hi Bob,
Tried this by adding an Event Swticher acion (before or after the Check Google Captcha?) and added your code into the Code text area and added an event called spam. Also added the Show Stopper acion in the On spam. When I test the form, I can still add the http and the form sends the email as normal.

JanK

Joomla reporting issue on phpmailserver but also that this is not effecting Joomla itself. Chronoforms reporting that same is solved with newest release 5.014. Nevertheless I am receiving lot of spam since a few weeks (mainly from Romania) other e-mailadresses in use under same domain do not get these lots of spam only the emailadress which I am using under Chronoforms which forms enables upload of documents. Capcha is switched on and using latest Joomla version.
This headache has started only few weeks ago.
How to solve?

Hi jestyn,

There are two different issues here.

a. There are some security problems with older versions of the PHPMailer library. You should update your site to the current release. This is not a problem with CFv4 (only with CFv5) but your Joomla! version is no longer supported so you will not get an update from them.

b. Spam on your form can be blocked by using a Captcha and by serverside validation. Please see this FAQ

Bob

Hi Bob,

a) I am using the latest Joomla version - likewise the latest Chronoforms verion and spam and spam only started 3 weeks ago.

do I correctly understand that when using Chromoform V4 this issue is not occuring?

b) I am using Capcha on the Chronoforms and problem - as stated - never occured.

c) release of Joomla 3.7 is only expected end of March and understand this will contain a new PHPmailer but do not want to wait for such long time

Hi jestyn,

I'm sorry, you have posted in an old thread and the CF and Joomla! versions I see under your post are not yours.

If you are using CFv5 then the latest release has the patched PHP Mailer library in it.

If you are getting spam despite the Captcha please check that the Captcha is correctly configured and it might help to change the Captcha method and to add serverside validation as in the FAQ I linked to.

Bob

Hi,
Any chance of more help on the code for the Event Switcher, Bob?

I get hundreds of spams everyday from one of my forms.. Stopping the URLs would be great..

JanK

Hi,

Using the Google no captcha actions is the easiest and most effective way to stop spam.

Best regards,
Max

Hi Jkor,

Please see this FAQ

Bob

Same issue here as jestyn. Any solution?

Hi deltafidesign ,

Yes, the same solutions as suggested for jestyn.

Bob