How to protect a form on a website from spam
The form on the site is often attacked by spam bots: automated messages, fake contacts, links, scripts. As a result, managers receive dozens of useless requests, time is wasted, and trust in the system is falling.
Spam not only hinders, but distorts analytics, creates security threats, and overloads application processing. Forms without protection or on free constructors where there are no basic filters are particularly affected.
In order for the form to really work for the result, it is important to think about its protection in advance. We are talking about the most effective ways that can be applied.
Ways to protect the form from spam
- Captcha (Captcha)
Classic protection: the user confirms that he is a human, not a bot. Most often, this is Google reCAPTCHA — either in the form of a check mark ("I'm not a robot"), or a hidden v3 that runs in the background without user action.
QForm supports both versions:
v2 — requires visual inspection;
v3 — invisible, does not interfere with filling out the form.
- Hidden Fields (Honeypot)
Effective protection against bots without captcha. A hidden field is added to the form, which is not visible to users, but only bots can fill it in. If the field is filled in, the system recognizes it as spam and rejects the request. In QForm, such protection (Honeypot) is enabled by default — you do not need to configure it manually. You can read more about how hidden fields work here.
- Time protection
If the form is submitted too quickly (for example, a fraction of a second after loading), this is a sign of auto-completion. The system may reject such actions. In QForm, such filtering is active at the server level.
- Blocking by IP and geography
Additionally, you can set a limit on countries, IP addresses, or the frequency of sending. This will be useful for projects that work only with a local audience.
- Email and phone verification
The input format, masks, and required fields help to filter out random and fake applications. In QForm, these settings are available in every field: you can set the format, commitment, input template, and even filter by email domains.
How does QForm help protect forms from spam
The platform contains built-in protection mechanisms that work without technical settings.:
Hidden fields are active by default, does not require a captcha.
➔Google reCAPTCHA v2 and v3 — can be connected in 2 minutes.
➔ Restrictions on sending speed and behavior — blocking suspicious activity.
Checking the correctness of the fields — email, phone, name.
Secure storage of server data on the territory of the Russian Federation, compliance with 152-FZ.
Detailed instructions for enabling Google reCAPTCHA: https://ru.qform.io/forms/forma-bez-captcha
Thanks to these measures, you can receive only real applications — without garbage, duplicates and scripts.